Read if you dare - 5 autumn mini tales and photo inspirations

Fall is THE best time of year.  Autumn tints.  Trick-or-treating wee goblins.  Apple picking.  US Elections (NOT!).

My imagination went a little crazy as I turned to  photographs for inspiration. Get ready for shivers and giggles in this quintet of #spookynotscary mini-tales for kids and grown-ups.

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Berry Condundrum
© Cat Michaels @catmichaelswriter.com

The old woman surely won't mind
if I sample a berry from her garden. 

​Reaching to pluck the fruit,
​a black cat appears at my side. 

​"Are you certain?" it asks.

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The Stack
© Cat Michaels @catmichaelswriter.com
 
OOOOOOOooooo!  The little boy and his mom are coming closer!  Maybe they'll  pick me!  I'm perfectly orange, and my shape, well, my shape is smooshed on one side.  But I'm firm and ready for carving.  Please, please, please take ME home. 
 
No way!  I'm the biggest in the stack.  Surely they'll take ME!
 
Bah!  Boy wants a petite-sized ME for school.
 
"Decision time, Jake.  Which is to be our jack-o-lantern?"
 
"Let's keep looking, mom.  I don't see any pumpkin I want in this stack."
 
"OK, sweetie.  We'll search more.  But it's starting to shower, so let's hurry to the car to stay dry."
 
No, not a rain shower. 

We're shedding Pumpkin Tears.

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Watcher
© Cat Michaels @catmichaelswriter.com

Dusk steals the last sparkle of autumn sun.  She's running late.  Missed the last bus.  Taking the short cut to reach home faster. 
 
But that brings her to the edge of the meadow and the Old House. 
 
Dry leaves crunch underfoot as she approaches.  The house is dark but looms large in the graying sky.  A sudden wind cuts the air. 

She shivers and grips her coat tight, but it's more than cold making her quake.  Hurrying, she passes the rickety front gate and glances up.  Is that smoke from the chimney? 

Nonsense, she tells herself.  Nobody's lived here for years. ​

Then why does it look like a face staring at me from the window?  And a shadow moving behind it!

Running now, she leaves the house behind and slips gratefully into the safety of street lights beyond.
 
"Aw, ma, why couldn't I have me a taste of that one?" the shadow cries.
 
"Behave yourself, boy!  As long as there's a breath in me, I'll be protecting innocents who pass by my house from your witless hunger."
 
"But ma," the shadow protests.  "You don't have a breath.  We're dead."
 
"Don't talk back to your mother!"

Photo: Courtesy of Leigh Emery Shearin

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Big Red
© Cat Michaels @catmichaelswriter.com

October's sun still warms my face.
Morning dew shines up my petals.  
​Frost coming soon but til then I'm feeling it ---
​ FLOWER POWER!

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Bridge Work
© Cat Michaels @catmichaelswriter.com

"Something's strange ahead on the old bridge," the woman warns as she passes by.  "My dogs barked non-stop and nearly leapt from their leash, but I didn't see anything."
 
I thank her and resume my walk. I reach the old bridge.  It's quiet, and I hurry over it without a glance back, eager to enjoy my stroll on a perfect fall afternoon.
 
Under the bridge, the troll sighs.  No work today.  Another early voter I can't scare with the evil noise of political ads.

Photo: pixabay.com

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