Just Call Me Jack

A student in a classroom proves to be a Halloween horror. 300-word flash.

Just Call Me Jack

“I’m sure you all know, the original Halloween lanterns were turnips…” Ms. Thornby started to tell her class. Jackson threw up his hand the minute she stopped to take a breath. Holding on to her patience, she acknowledged him.
“Yes, Jackson, did you have something to add,” she said.
“There’s more to the story,” he began.
“Perhaps you can enlighten us, come to the front of the class.”

Jackson stepped forward and turned to the class. “When people first came to North America from other countries, they used common vegetables from their own country. The Irish often used potatoes and the English turnips.
“What was common were the awesome faces on the hollowed-out lanterns to scare away ghosts who might try to come into their homes. They were always lit inside no matter what they were made of. Eventually, the pumpkin took over because they were plentiful and offered flesh and seeds to eat later.

“Today, the hollowed-out pumpkin is more than a lamp in a window, it has joined the other monsters on Halloween to scare the living daylights out of humans,” Jack continued.
“Jackson, we are not discussing horror,” Ms. Thornby interrupted.
To her and the class’s amazement, Jackson’s head swelled up until it was much larger than his body and arms and legs. Those appendages withered and shrank until they looked like vines. His facial features turned to black holes that began to glow with unearthly light. The class sat frozen as he said in a crackling voice:
“Just call me Jack of Jacks. I am King of All-Hallows Eve. The war against humans who treat us like disposable things begins now!” He roared and spat fire.

“It’s a perfect disguise for trick-or-treating, look at them run,” he hissed as the classroom emptied.