“Is that Harvey’s pumpkin?” Lucrecia walked by the table, flipped her woven white hair and scoffed with the other pumpkin snobs. “Cute!” They all followed her while keeping their amused eyes on the dwarf gourd.

Harvey hid behind the fairground tent, embarrassed of his pumpkin. If the contest rewarded the smallest pumpkins, he’d be the winner every year. His patch was in the center of a few others and he always performed the worst at the fair. The pumpkins he brought to display were ridiculed year after year.

Listening for announcements, Harvey packed up while everyone’s backs were turned. Lucrecia won the fair, again. She trounced onto the rickety stage and grabbed the squealing microphone.

“I’d like to thank Harvey Tien. He makes this contest so much less competitive for the rest of us. Thank you Harvey!!” Everyone turned to see Harvey sheepishly packing up. He heard laughter and pity, dropping objects in a hurry to leave.

At his house, Harvey looked out his bedroom window at his patch. He looked around at his neighbors as well, noticing, even from the distance, that their pumpkins were significantly more impressive. The following year, he knew he had to redeem himself.

As the season rolled in and everyone prepared their finest pumpkins for the fair, Harvey grew his own. They grew large and he stayed with them until deep in the night.

When all the neighbors were sleeping, Harvey crept from patch to patch and with a dropper, poisoned lightly the roots of all the biggest gourds. He didn’t intend to kill them, just to stunt their growth enough for him to win. He started with Lucrecia’s patch, having seen her leave in his direction earlier and fearing she may come back soon. Her largest pumpkin was already twice his height, so he gave it an extra few drips of the solution he picked up from the general store.

In the morning, Harvey regretted his nefarious acts as he saw blue and red lights flashing across the way. All the largest pumpkins around turned gray and caved in or slumped over. The solution was too powerful; Harvey had gone too far.

Neighbors all pointed at Harvey as the police interviewed them. He watched from his window as they yelled and correctly blamed him for the sabotage. The authorities made their way over to his house and knocked on the door, so Harvey slipped out the back door into the pumpkin patch.

As the cops investigated the house, Harvey saw his chance to hide. His prized pumpkin, that he yearned to get in front of the town, would be his disguise. He cut the top off quickly and hopped inside, replaced the top and crouching quietly inside. Voices of police went back and forth, and Harvey began to feel dizzy. His breathing was short and his vision blurred. The smell was familiar. Poison!

Harvey, in his final moments, realized that Lucrecia had been cheating all along and tainting the pumpkins he grew. The toxic air was rapidly killing him and the pumpkin around him. He took his last breath with violent anger. As his spirit left his body, it refused to move on. It stayed with him, inside his masterpiece. 

After a few days, the contest was held. Everyone showed with their second best pumpkin and enjoyed simple festivities. Lucrecia, however, was rotting with hatred. She climbed on stage as the judging was ending.

“We can’t complete the judging without Harvey, are you nuts!? Let’s go everyone. Even if he’s too afraid to face the police, or to show his face here, we have to give his little tiny pumpkins a chance.”

The people would have been happy to move on and enjoy the fair, but reluctantly agreed to allow the old woman to carry out her bullying. They all walked down the street towards Harvey’s home. 

Lucrecia approached the patch, guiding the entire fair. The crowd walked onto a putrid field of death and decay. Lucrecia held her nose and tip toed further, determined to make a fool out of Harvey. The skies seemed to darken and the footsteps seemed to be upon flesh below.

“This must be it!” Lucrecia announced, walking up to the enormous pumpkin deep in the patch. “Sad, if he didn’t cheat, he may have had a chance to win.”

Everyone watched as Lucrecia stood in front of the grand pumpkin arrogantly. It spun in place ever so slowly, revealing a face that resembled Harvey. It was grotesque and evil in appearance. It began to breathe murky, thick air - in and out. On the next inhale, Lucrecia turned to feel her soul tearing away from her body.

Screaming in pain, Lucrecia reached for help from the others. Everyone was frozen with terror, watching her body dissolve into the ground as the glow of her spirit was sucked into the mouth of the pumpkin. When her corpse was fully gone, a little tiny pumpkin popped out of the ground. Her face, frozen in horror, was screaming for someone to help.

The grand pumpkin took all the neighbors who once scoffed at him. Everyone else ran and never returned.

Many years later, the area of decay spread to the entire empty town. Children would occasionally visit the urban legend, and if they went to lend aid to a horrified pumpkin, it would guide their soul to Harvest.

A henchman barged into the office, interrupting Big Dino’s mid day nap. He hid his blanket as fast as possible and stood from his massive chair to hear the messenger out.

“Boss, we got a problem.”

“We always got a problem, Ziti.” BD sighed. “What’s goin on?”

“It’s those farmhouses outside of Big City. I’ve sent five guys to collect. Not one has come back.” Ziti replied.

“Who’d you send? Some softies?”

“The last guy I sent was Guzo.”

“Guzo’s missing?”

“Gone.”

“Guzo’s gone, huh?” Big Dino stood tall and put on a jacket over his shirt and vest. “You think someone’s got Guzo?”

“Someone coulda grabbed Guzo… all I know is Guzo’s gone.”

“Come with me Ziti. We’ll deal with this ourselves. You don’t let a guy like Guzo go. Some backwoods farmers think they’re gonna push back on us?”

“No way, boss.”

“No way.” Big Dino repeated.

“We gotta get Guzo.” Ziti added.

“That’s enough. You always do one too many.”

“Sorry, boss.”

Big Dino and Ziti hopped in the car outside, which awaited the mob boss at all times. They departed Big City and made for the rural areas to the north where the guys had gone missing. Where Guzo might have been.

“Stop here.” Big Dino told the driver. He and Ziti stepped out of the vehicle and stared down the first of many large farm houses. “This one’s yours.”

“Alright, boss.” Ziti walked up to the door of the home and knocked hard three times.

It took a while to hear anyone coming to answer the door. Ziti looked around and noticed the nearest farm house was completely burned down. He was unsettled seeing the charred ground which seemed to have been sitting there untouched for some time.

“I already paid ‘em. Get on now.” the frail voice of an older man came from behind the rickety door.

“We’re not collecting. Open up.” Ziti kindly demanded.

“Just a moment.” he sighed. The door began to open, revealing a shrunken elderly farmer. “What’re ya here for?”

“My guys.” Dino stated loudly from beside the car.

“WHOA. What’s that?” the farmer removed his glasses to squint at the literal triceratops standing in his street.

“That is of no concern to you, so long as you answer my questions.” Ziti reigned in the man. “My last five guys haven’t come back from this street.”

“Maybe someone got tired of the intimidation.” the farmer replied bluntly.

“Intimidation? You mean protection?” Ziti scoffed, turning his head to check in with Big Dino, though his confidence was waning.

“You couldn’t protect your own guys, hehehe.” the old man snickered.

“Ziti, let’s get moving.” Dino commanded.

“Thank you, sir. See you next month.” Ziti told the farmer.

“Unless you don’t come back either.” he laughed and attempted to slam the door, but ended up shoving it closed after it got stuck.

Ziti got back in the car and was quickly yanked out by Big Dino.

“We’re walking.”

“Right, boss.” Ziti straightened out his suit.

The car waited as Big Dino and Ziti walked down the dirt-covered road to the next farmhouse. The whole time, they looked over to the burnt farm, creeped out by the immaculate eggplants that still stood amongst the ash.

Further down the road, they reached the next house. Big Dino put his hand in front of Ziti. “This is how you squeeze, Ziti.” The triceratops mobster walked up the driveway and was greeted with the barrel of a shotgun.

“Move along now.”

Big Dino put very little effort into putting his hands up and grinned. “That’d do some real damage to Ziti over there. But me? Probably wouldn’t even feel it.”

The farmer lowered her weapon. “What’re you here for?”

“Considering the welcome we just got, we may be here for you.” Big Dino got closer and the farmer kept her gun close while backing up slowly. “A few guys dressed like that…” he pointed to Ziti. “...came through here recently.”

“Yeah. Paid ‘em just like everyone else.” she replied.

“Paid ‘em with cash? Or with lead?” Big Dino asked, trying not to be threatening, though her answer could have changed that.

“You think I killed your guys?” she asked. BD nodded and she continued, “If they haven’t come back, they’ll be on that farm.” she pointed to a farmhouse off in the distance, then smirked. “You don’t find ‘em there, come back and see me.”

“Why don’t you come with us, just to make sure nobody gets lost.” Big Dino slyly demanded, not wanting her to flee if she was, in fact, the culprit.

“We don’t go there. You can. We don’t.” she motioned to indicate none of the farmers ventured to that area.

“Alright. Well, stick around. Maybe we’ll speak again.” Big Dino put his cigar back in his mouth and smiled, walking back to Ziti.

They passed many houses with people peeking out of their windows behind curtains. At the home the farmer designated, they noticed the area was much darker, though it was mid-morning. There was a stench in the air. Big Dino ripped one of Ziti’s sleeves to cover his nose. The chill in the air put out his cigar before they stepped up to the front door.

Before Dino knocked, he got nervous as numerous screams rang out repeatedly. “You go.”

“O-okay, boss.” Ziti said, shaking.

Nothing responded to knocking or pounding on the door, so the boys went around back to the farm. The air got thick and visibility just walking there was not great.

“Where are we?” Big Dino asked Ziti, his tough guy accent fading from fear.

Ziti went to respond, but another voice came from the wind. “HELL.”

The boys huddled together and looked deeper into the farm. From the vapor in the air emerged a pumpkin the size of a basketball. It was carved like a jack-o-lantern, but with very specific features. They watched the mouth move as it spoke again.

“ZITI! BOSS!”

“Guzo!?” Big Dino shrieked.

“OH I’M SO GLAD YOU’RE-” the face was pulled backwards abruptly.

The thick air cleared to show Guzo-kin was attached to something larger, obscured by shadow and fog.

“Flee…join…it all ends the same.” a gloomy voice said. They both knew it came from the large thing in the center of the farm.

“Let’s flee.” Ziti suggested.

“BD don’t flee, Ziti…” the tough guy act was back in full force as imagining Guzo trapped in a pumpkin forever hurt Dino to his core. He felt he failed his top guy. “Let’s get our boy.”

Big Dino turned to see Ziti had already fled. His second up, the unshakeable Ziti, running in terror. “I gotta get new guys.” he sighed.

Through the thick fog, Dino got closer to the creature who took Guzo. He saw more pumpkins upon stems connected to a massive pumpkin monster. Many more pumpkins.

“Join.” the pumpkin moaned. All of a sudden, Big Dino felt as if he was being pulled towards the great pumpkin. He resisted physically, but the more he did, the stronger the pull on his soul.

Big Dino took out his pistol and blasted some of the stems, including Guzo’s, setting them all free. He watched the souls ascend from the pumpkins. Then he began to shoot at the main pumpkin, not even breaking the warped, thick skin.

Once Dino’s soul was fully disconnected from his body, the terrible pumpkin exclaimed, “HARVEST.”

Big Dino fell backwards onto the death and dirt below. He looked up at what he thought were his last moments, only to see Guzo’s spirit flying back down. His top guy took hold of the massive dinosaur soul flying into Harvest’s mouth and hauled it painfully back into Dino.

“Here, boss.” Guzo said. Dino watched him get caught into the pull of Harvest once again.

“Guzo!” Big Dino shouted.

“Go.” Guzo said calmly.

Big Dino honored his henchman’s wish, vowing to return one day. He charged on all fours out of the farm, down the road, past the lady farmer who chuckled seeing the mob boss scared out of his mind.

The boss ran all the way to the car and silently sat next to Ziti, lighting his cigar before deciding to just not smoke it right then.

“Yeah, Guzo’s gone.”

“Guzo’s gone.”