By Hannah Carter
“Coppelia Potts, Nightmare Hunter.” Coppelia extended her business card, which proudly proclaimed her name and profession. “You called about a little… pumpkin infestation?”
The farmer’s daughter examined the card and nodded.
“I’m Abby. Where’s your brother? Shouldn’t he be here?”
“Wolfgang’s sick, so I’m going solo today.” Coppelia pulled her bright orange hair into a ponytail—the first step to solving a case. “Why don’t you take me to where the incident happened?”
“Come on. We’ll go out the window because it’s closer, and that’s where I was sitting when I saw it.” Abby shoved open her bay window, clambered outside, and motioned for Coppelia to follow her. “It happened last night,” Abby began. “It was a full moon, so I saw everything.”
Coppelia landed on the soft ground and squinted at the rows of tilled fields. A scarecrow in a ratty plaid shirt loomed to the right, while the problematic pumpkins stretched out to Coppelia’s left. “And you say you saw… these gourds or whatever…” She strode over to one and slapped its large top. “… dancing in the moonlight?”
Abby crossed her arms over her overalls and narrowed her eyes. “Does the nightmare hunter not believe me?”
“Oh, I do.” Coppelia bobbed her head. “But I tend to assume that there’s a rational explanation for all nightmares. You know, things that kids are scared of at night make perfect sense in the day.”
Abby scrunched up her freckled nose. “I’m not a kid. I’m almost ten—and how old are you? Twelve?”
“Thirteen. And I’m a professional.” Coppelia tucked her hands behind her back. “I’m not doubting that you saw something, but pumpkins don’t just come to life on their own, especially not to dance. I mean, maybe I’d believe you if you heard somebody say ‘bibbidi-bobbidi-boo, off to the ball with you,’ but as it stands… Oh, no.”
As if to prove her wrong, a carved jack-o’-lantern face rose up from its plot. It was attached to a body clothed completely in black, even down to gloved hands and chucks. A deep voice boomed from inside of the head. “Who dares mock the Pumpkin King?”
Abby shrieked. “I told you! I told you! And nobody even said, ‘bibbidi-bobbidi-boo!’”
The Pumpkin King tossed one of his subjects at them. Coppelia tackled Abby to the ground, and the pumpkin exploded next to them, splattering the girls with its guts.
Coppelia shoved herself off the ground and wiped the innards off her t-shirt. “That’ll teach me to wear white after Labor Day,” she grumbled underneath her breath.
The Pumpkin King danced around before picking up another, which he lobbed at Coppelia.
She rolled to the side, popped up in a sprint, and charged at the Pumpkin King, arms spread.
The figure gave a very un-kingly yelp and darted away. He stopped once to try and grab another pumpkin, but after a few unsuccessful heaves, he gave up and continued running.
After a few paces, he tripped over a snaking vine. Coppelia vaulted over the tops of the last few squash like an Olympic competitor. At least that’s how she imagined it.
“I’ve got you now!” she crowed.
The creature kicked one of the pumpkins behind him, but his foot lodged inside the fruit, and he tottered and swung his arms as if to regain his balance.
With a roar, Coppelia tackled him. They both tumbled down, and the pumpkin head cracked open and split wide enough for Coppelia to see…
“Wait a second.” She disentangled her arms from around the Pumpkin King’s body. “You’re… you’re just a boy!”
“No!” the boy cried. “I’m the Pumpkin—oh, no. You can see me?”
Coppelia rapped her knuckles against his broken helmet. “Obviously. Why don’t you tell us just what this is all about, Pumpkin King?”
Coppelia released the boy, who sighed as he sat up. “It was just a joke. Nobody got hurt.”
“These poor pumpkins might disagree.” Coppelia swung her arms around to the mutilated field. “This isn’t a set where you can reenact hokey episodes of Goosebumps.”
“Sorry,” the dethroned Pumpkin King grumbled. “I wanted to scare someone. But I didn’t mean any harm. It was just a prank.”
Abby wiped her arm underneath her nose, but a seed still clung to the tip. “I’ll show you a prank.” She strode over and kicked the boy in the shins.
The miscreant howled, and Coppelia chuckled. “Technically, that’s not a very good prank either, Abby.”
Abby held up her fist to the boy. “Wanna see another?”
Coppelia nudged Abby towards the house. “If you ask me, I think the best revenge would be to go back and get this boy’s parents. Why don’t you go get my cell phone and we’ll do that? I left it in your room.”
Abby sneered at the boy as she marched away. She grumbled about pumpkins and full moons and wasted adventures all the way back to her window.
Once the little girl was out of earshot, Coppelia whirled on the hooligan. “Did you catch the hobgoblin, Wolfgang?”
“How come I’m always the one that gets beat up during our cases? First you, then Abby…” Her brother unlatched something invisible at his side—a charmed satchel, undetectable to the untrained eye, although Coppelia could see it shimmer if she stared hard enough. He withdrew a jar from his bag and held it up for her inspection.
“Because you’re the younger brother, and therefore, the punching bag.” Coppelia tapped her finger against the glass, and the tangerine hobgoblin banged his tiny fists against the cage, chittering in his faerie language. “You’re under arrest, Mr. Hobgoblin, for wanton exposure of magic to humans by enchanting pumpkins to dance.” Coppelia slugged Wolfgang. “Good work. I think we can officially label the ‘Potts and Pumpkins’ case closed.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nice story! I did wonder where it was going after Abby disappeared. Dang hobgoblins!
nicely done! clever diversion by Coppelia and Wolfgang away from the real magic.
Ah, siblings…
XD
Love it!
I’m always amazed when authors can compress a story, characters and intrigue into such a tiny format.
Well done to miss Hannah Carter for coming out of such endeavour with brillant creativity.
Already in the first sentence, I could smell the comedy and cute elements that I would soon be bathing in: “proudly proclaimed”, “a little… pumpkin infestation?”.
From that moment, I knew I would be smiling from the innocent corner of my heart.
And the ending, what a plot twist. I really didn’t expect it. I thought I had already seen what was to see, only to be disappointed, or rather amused at what is to me, the beginning of an interesting story.
First and last question, do you plan to write the book of Coppelia Potts’ adventure?
Thank you for sharing the story with us.
I enjoyed the story and the reason they had to distract Abby from the real magic. I just felt more than a little sorry for Wolfgang. Hopefully he can take the lead on the next case!
Great story. Nice twist at the end.
This reminded me of the show Supernatural, but in a whimsical kids’ version. Loved it! Thank you for an entertaining read, though I feel bad for those poor pumpkins!
Woohoo! Clever way to both catch the hobgoblin and deter Abby’s suspicions about the dancing pumpkins