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A Two-Pumpkin Night / Halloween 2022 Story //

Synopsis: Raze zones out on his way walking home from a long day at work, and finds himself on someone's private property...
Pages: 4
Word Count: 2059

A cold breeze gently jostled the loose ends on the front of Raze’s tall, black mohawk. He never did quite get those shorter leading strands to stick up with the rest. He never really minded.

The evening had just shifted to night, with the slightest dark purple gradient silhouetting the buildings on the horizon into a mix of tall and short structures, broken up by small scattered patches of trees. City lights drowned out what otherwise could have been a dazzling display of starlight, and the sky above was instead a thick haze of desaturated orange glowing up into the light drizzle falling from the heavy black above. The rain wasn’t enough to soak through one’s clothing, though it would annoy most folk who didn’t want a layer of freezing water droplets on the edges of their fur. As a result, the tan sidewalk along which Raze silently padded was deserted, and the urban setting would have seemed entirely devoid of life had it not been broken up intermittently by a vehicle’s lights speeding by,, or a frustrated caw of an avian flying overhead, arriving home from work later than expected and caught in the damp weather.

It was Raze’s ideal type of night. Though he admitted that he’d rather be at home, claws propped up, sipping a dark beer and gazing out into the cold night instead of walking outside in it. He let out a soft sigh, a cloud of his breath puffing from his angular snout, and tucked his paws tighter into the front pocket of his black hooded sweatshirt. He balled his fingers into fists to keep warm shrugged his shoulders up a bit, keeping his gaze ahead of himself on the sidewalk. He mused over his day. Like the annoyed avians caught in the weather, he too had worked a longer than usual day, his time stretched between multiple projects. Rather than rideshare, he opted to take the long walk home. Not that getting home a few minutes early would help much had he not.

Raze took every opportunity he could to walk or otherwise squeeze some exercise in. His days were typically sedentary, either sitting or standing in a small area, so the physical movement was a welcome change of pace. He took the time to slip his pair of custom-made earbuds into his tall, pointed ears, and lost himself into his favorite trap playlist, the beats taking his mind off of other, more pressing personal musings. He held his phone tightly in his paw in his pocket, despite knowing it was secure - an overprotective tick of his. With his mood lightened a bit, he propped his chin up and surveyed the area a bit. The otherwise bright, sunny streets were darkened and broody in the darkness. What were usually rolling park hills were mere shadows of benches and bushes, quickly disappearing into total blackness the farther he looked. The sidewalk itself was broken up into patches of sheer orange light from the poles overhead, into masses of black thrown from the shadows of the short trees spaced unevenly apart alongside him. Even the two-tiered wooden fence was nearly invisible in the completely shaded areas.

A particularly large drop of icy water smacked Raze on the right side of his head, jarring his attention upward to the trees. It was then that he realized he’d missed his turn to the path to his home, and by quite a long shot, by the looks of it. He again sighed, his breath dissipating into a bright cloud of fog as the bright light of his phone illuminated his bust as he took it from his pocket. Later than expected. Too late to order delivery, so it looked like he was on the hook for a frozen meal. He slipped out his earbuds and tucked them alongside his phone in his pocket, gripping them in his right paw again. He grumbled, a deep sound in his throat, frustrated with himself for not paying better attention. Easier said than done these days.

He stopped his walking and stood alone on the sidewalk, glancing around. His left paw brushed the pocket of his black slacks, a dusting of cold water sticking to his fingers. To his right was, from what he could tell, more parkland. Ah, he thought. A quick shortcut. The dinodog figured he could cut directly through the park to the next street over, enroute to his home. The streets run parallel, he thought, and there shouldn’t be anything between them.

In one easy step, he swung his legs over the short wooden fence. Tall obstacles were barely a challenge for his lean legs, and his thick tail ensured he kept his balance. His toes splayed into the wet grass off of the sidewalk, his pawpads sensing the contrast in temperatures from warm to cool. Still irritated with himself, he tapped his right raptor claw a couple of times into the grass as a sign of discontent. His orange eyes narrowed, staring up the slight hill across the black landscape at the row of streetlights on the parallel street. Even through the misty drizzle, he could make out the blocky silhouette of his building some ways away. Another twenty minute walk, he figured.

Raze’s strides were longer, yet more deliberate as he trudged through the grass. Without lights, the park land was almost entirely dark, and the last thing he needed right now was a stubbed toe or to tramp onto the sharp end of a stick dropped off by a canine. He leaned forward a bit to make his way up the slight hill, swinging his thick tail gently to counterbalance, and keeping his eyes on the glowing patch of lights and fog ahead. The grass and foliage beneath his feet gradually changed as he continued, from finer blades of grass to what felt like thicker leaves and a root or two. The drizzle was constant, and he–

THUNK.

Raze froze in place and held his breath, still as a statue. His large foot had just destroyed…whatever it was he’d stepped on. All he felt was a smooth surface, suddenly followed by a POP, and a strange, squishy texture on the bottom of his pawpads. What the HELL, he thought, his eyes wide. He looked down at his right foot, still behind him as he was mid-stride, and still stepping in whatever…it was. Of course he couldn’t see it, it was entirely dark. He snorted in indignation, a pissy raptor huff, and retrieved his phone from his pocket, sliding on the flashlight app.

The shiny orange surface glinted back up at him, highly reflective due to the light rain and bright, tiny LED light. The pale innards splattered over Raze’s wet, black claws and pieces were stuck in the dark gray fur of his toes. The dark green leaves and shreds of grass seemed to mock him with how woven into the longer black and aqua fur on his ankle they were.

A pumpkin.

Raze’s surprise quickly turned to relief, then indignation. Phew. Though the cool temperature ticked him off that he didn’t just accidentally step on someone, as a predator, he was always a bit more conscious of his actions. But his indignation of seeing, of all things, a pumpkin, here, pushed him into yet another tier of irritation at his situation.

But all those emotions faded when he thought more on it. Pumpkins don’t just grow anywhere around here. Clearly somebody had planted this. And if somebody had planted this, then he was clearly in a pumpkin patch. Which meant that he was on private property. In his area, trespassing meant a steep fine or worse, depending on the owner’s species. Raze realized a quick escape was his best option. Though innocent, the situation was his fault due to him not paying attention during his walk, which he was still mentally beating himself up over. And, of course, dealing with an angry herbivore - surely someone large and strong enough to harvest pumpkins - was the last thing he wanted to end his already long day with.

Raze glanced up ahead of himself toward his home. He was just over mid-way to the street, meaning his shortest route of egress was straight ahead. He wasn’t sorely worried, knowing that he would outrun almost any would-be opponent in a quick dash due to his innate speed, being a mix of raptor and doberman. Keeping his phone out as a flashlight, he waved it ahead of him to clear his immediate path for obstacles. He just needed to sprint forward-

Raze lunged forward and lurched, swinging his arms ahead of himself and stiffening his tail behind him. His left foot planted hard in front of his chest where he nearly fell over, sliding slightly against the wet leaves surrounding him. Snarling, he glanced back at his right foot, still embedded in the pumpkin. Swinging his arm around to shine the phone’s light back at himself, he saw the pumpkin, and thus his foot, were thoroughly tangled in the thick pumpkin vines, which caught him as he attempted to step out of it.

‘WHO IS THERE?!’

The dinodog snapped his head over to the right, the sharp voice alerting him. Damnit, he thought, realizing that his prior flailing his phone with the flashlight on likely alerted the property owner.

‘What are you doing?! I have a knife!’

Less threatened by the warning of a knife and more shocked and angered at the way his entire day was going, Raze snarled and leaned forward again. In one smooth motion, he wrenched his entire right leg up, thigh nearly to his chest. He felt the vines stress, and then finally snap in a series of ‘pops’ along the knuckles of his thick toes, his raptor claw being the last to slide free. The force of him yanking his leg lifted him into the air slightly, and as he glared down at his right foot, he realized he wasn’t the only one coming free…but the remains of the pumpkin were lifted with him, sticking triumphantly to his fur and the hooked ends of his claws.

The sensation of adrenaline-fueled slow motion ended in a sudden SMASH as Raze stomped the pumpkin remains free from his right foot, dashing in a straight line the rest of the way up the hill. He deftly used his long claws to grip at the slippery foliage, completely ignoring the threats shouted his way by the property owner far behind him. With a loud clacking sound, the dinodog’s claws finally met the rough, textured concrete of the sidewalk of the parallel street. Feeling solid ground beneath his pawpads, Raze leaned forward, tail straight behind him, and belined in a full raptor sprint up the remaining sidewalk and cut between some apartment buildings, putting them between himself and the apparent pumpkin patch in what he assumed was a public park.

He wasn’t soaked, but was uncomfortably misty by this point…Raze grumbled, plugging his phone and earbuds into their chargers and scraping his pawpads on his mat to get the worst of the grass and vines out of his long ankle fur. The hot shower was welcoming, and he treated himself to some dark beers. After all, it had turned into a two-beer night.

Below Raze’s building in the pumpkin patch, the huge, lumbering reptile made their way slowly through their pumpkin patch. They muttered to themselves about putting up ‘no trespassing’ signs. They thought about it before, but never mustered up the energy to actually take care of it. They gripped their flashlight in their disproportionately tiny hand, held close to their sausage-like body, until the pale light illuminated the silhouette of a wide dinodog footprint, lined with the remains of a smashed pumpkin.

The blue tongue skink shook their head. Furries, the scaly hissed to themself. Pumpkin leaned over, picking up the remains of his now-crushed pumpkin, and tossed them into his mouth, flattening them with a single bite and swallowing them whole. They started to make their way back to their hut before another pumpkin caught the glint of the flightlight, shimmering in the still light drizzle. In spite of themself, Pumpkin reached over, gripped it with their tiny claws, and tossed that into their mouth too.

After all, it had turned into a two-pumpkin night.

—---

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-Type of Piece / Toony Style //
-Shading Style / Flat Colors //
-Weapon of Mass Construction / Adobe Photoshop Elements //
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