Hey folks!  Happy Halloween Week!  Hope the pumpkins are carved and candy bins resupplied, because the little ghosts, goblins, superheroes and Disney Princesses will all be making their rounds very soon.   It’s not wise to disappoint.   As the old saying says– “Trick or Treat!”  I find treat wrappers a lot easier to clean up the next morning than dried up trick leavings.

Speaking of Halloween and the Autumn Season, what do October, fall harvest time, sweet potatoes, Missouri Mules, old wagons, hay bales, cornfields, crows and a scary character in a dilapidated old barn all have in common?  They’re all featured in a new, original short story, of course.  It’s entitled “Haystack Harry” and appears under the “Free Reads” heading at the top of the page.  Is it scary?  Is it not?  You’ll have to read to find out for yourself.  Here’s a little bit to get you started.

“Sunday. Thinking back, yes, I believe it was a Sunday. An exceptionally warm day as I recall now. Maybe even a little hot for an early October morning on my Uncle Coley’s farm outside McKittrick, Missouri.

“I had traveled out to the country that morning with my parents to visit and look for a Halloween pumpkin, and we were not surprisingly recruited into digging sweet potatoes from the field and storing them in the root cellar. “Gotta beat Ol’ Jack Frost!” he barked while bringing the mules up to hitch. It seems Uncle Coley always had a “helping out” chore to “lend a hand” on when visiting.”

Here’s a quick link to read the rest of the story →  “Haystack Harry” Short Story.

“Haystack Harry” is a farm and country story for all ages.   Please feel free to read to little ones, and pass along to share with others.   Hope you enjoy the story.

Thanks as always for the visit and reading! — Jim

“Crows in Cornfield”– Artwork by Teresa Tanner, Landscape Artist