THE PUMPKIN PATCH CURSE.

Danny stumbled into the pumpkin patch on the night before Halloween. Beneath the moonlight, he spotted the biggest, finest pumpkin in the field.

He snapped its stalk, lifted it into his arms and hurried towards the gate.

“Taking something that doesn’t belong to you?”

Danny stopped. An old man stood between the rows, leaning on a crooked walking stick.

“It’s only a pumpkin,” Danny muttered.

The owner smiled.

“Then you won’t mind a little change.”

He tapped his stick against the earth.

Scarlet light curled around Danny’s feet. He dropped the pumpkin as his jeans became a long skirt, his jacket softened into a white blouse, and a red cloak settled across his shoulders. Long hair brushed his cheeks.

“What have you done?” he cried in an unfamiliar voice.

In a puddle beside the gate, a beautiful young woman stared back at him beneath a scarlet hood.

“Little Red Riding Hood,” the old man said, looking pleased. “A fitting costume for someone who wanders where they shouldn’t.”

Danny reached for the cloak, but its fastening would not open.

“How do I change back?”

The old man placed a wicker basket in his hands.

“Deliver this to the cottage beyond the woods before midnight. Its owner has been expecting you.”

Behind Danny, the gate creaked open onto a narrow forest path that hadn’t been there before.

From somewhere among the trees came a long, hungry howl.

The old man stepped aside.

“And do keep to the path.”