I missed Susanna Leonard Hill’s Halloweensie fest last year, so I’m glad to participate again this year. The prompt is to “write a 100 word Halloween story appropriate for children (children here defined as 12 and under) (title not included in the 100 words), using the words candy corn, monster, and shadow. (Candy corn will be counted as 1 word.) Your story can be scary, funny, or anything in between, poetry or prose, but it will only count for the contest if it includes those 3 words and is 100 words (you can go under, but not over!)”
I’ve always wondered where candy corn comes from–and now I know the answer! Read on to find out the true story, as told by yours truly:
Farmer McMonster’s Halloween Harvest
Farmer McMonster planted some seeds.
He watered and hoed, he yanked out the weeds.
Monster-sized crows assembled and waited.
When corn stalks grew skyward, they cackled, elated.
They clustered like storm clouds, a shadowy herd–
McMonster’s old scarecrow did not scare one bird.
They settled on corn ears and tore off each shuck.
Poking and pecking, their black beaks got stuck!
For Farmer McMonster had hoodwinked those crows,
and now he had candy corn growing in rows!
He shooed off the crows (they winged out of sight)
then gathered his crop for Halloween night.
–©Buffy Silverman
Be sure to stop over at Susanna’s blog and read some Halloweensie Treats!
Great rhyme, great story, Buffy! Love the Farmer’s trick in growing his treat 🙂 Masterful fooling of the naughty crows! Thanks for joining in the Halloweensie fun!
And thank you, Susanna, for hosting another fun Halloweensie!
What a great story. That very clever farmer….loved it!
Farmer McMonster thanks you for the compliment!
Awesomely cute and unique! And now I know where my delicious candy corn comes from!
You heard it here first, Penny! Thanks for stopping by, friend.
enjoyed this much! creative and wonderful rhythm
best of luck!
Thank you, Vicki–and thanks for stopping by to read!
Clever Farmer McMonster! Very funny and nice twist.
Thank you, Delfina–he is a clever one, that McMonster.
haha! I love this 🙂 What a fun twist and fantastic Halloween tale.
Thank you, Kizzi!
You and I had similutakes on the contest words this year! I enjoyed yours very much!
I’ll have to look for your story, Ingrid. I haven’t read many yet, but hope to tonight.
Haha. Love it.
Thanks, Johnell!
Great poem!
Thank you, Virginia!
Love the tale and now I know the true story of candy corn!
You do indeed–only nonfiction on my blog (er…most of the time!)
Very cute! Love the story.
Thank you, Tracy!
I need to plant some of Farmer McMonster’s corn. =) Good luck!
We have heaps of candy leftover from last night, so no candy corn seeds for me. Thanks for stopping by, Gregory!
I knew this was gonna be good as you are known for your poetry. Great job. Reads well and tells a quirky story. Good luck.
Quirky is my middle name–thanks for reading, Sherri!
Well, done! Nice twist.
Thanks, Diane! And thanks for stopping by to read.
This is SO funny. I loved the way he beat the pesky crows. Ingenious crop for Halloween night. Even snuck a little science in there too. Best of Luck!
Thanks Maria–glad you stopped by to read!
Sweet story! Love how the farmer hoodwinked the crows. The lines scan well. Great job!
Ha–glad you noticed hoodwinked. After I wrote a draft of this I read a blog post that referred readers to Tara Lazar’s list of cool words. And there was hoodwinked, which I quickly borrowed!
Very nice job… unique and great meter.
Thank you, Cindy–and thanks for stopping by and reading!
I love it, Buffy! I can just imagine the giggles when kids read this. You are so talented!
You make me blush, Linda–I hope it would make kids giggle. Maybe I’ll send it to a magazine…
This is very clever! I like imagining those birds waiting for their corn, only to be surprised! Really good job. I think you could win with this one.
Thank you, Cathey–glad you could “see” my crows!
So much fun!
Thanks, Ann!