Jack of the Lantern

Globe Soup offers a monthly 100-word micro-fiction contest for its Facebook followers.

And unsurprisingly, this month’s theme was Halloween.

My submission, Jack of the Lantern, takes on a spooky remembrance, introducing the reader to Jack’s suffering, and speaks to the myths surrounding his eternal wander across a dark Earth absent Heaven’s light.

Results are due near the end of October.

Update October 24, 2023 - no dice! Still, it was fun to write. Here’s the story.

JACK OF THE LANTERN

My silver tongue swindled tithes from honest churchgoers, cheated children for bowls of cream, and convinced Satan never to claim my soul.

But, when the Reaper called, neither Heaven nor Hell would have me. Tricked, I wandered the Earth in darkness, forever devoid of Heaven’s radiance.

The Devil taunted me with a scalding lump of coal, so I encased it in a hollowed-out turnip to guide my way.

Allhallowtide dawns, and the coal’s hellfire rages. Find me in the shadows, yearning to be remembered — my mortal sins, my eternal suffering, the endless night — for you’ve long forgotten who I am.