I get up in the freezing four a.m. to wrap my papers. There will be no warmth in the house until Mom gets up to light the fire in the wood stove. I shiver and wrap the big Wednesday papers, full of grocery ads, and put them in my bike bags. It’s a relief to finish and put my mittens on.

I throw the bags over the back fender of my bike. The waxing moon is low in the sky. The sun won’t be up for a couple of hours. It seems like the stars twinkle more in the icy air.

All the trees and plants have sparkling frost to match the stars. Every time I look up at the stars I have to pull my knit cap back down over my ears because it slips off.

I ride on a dirt road past a huge pumpkin field on my way to the houses on my route. I get in trouble for being late to school sometimes. I like looking for the biggest pumpkin. I have a stash saved for the pumpkin sale Farmer Wilkins has every fall. I want to have the biggest jack-o-lantern on my street this weekend, for Halloween.

This October morning, looking for my prize pumpkin, is the first time I see the man in the field. At first he doesn’t notice me. He’s looking for something. He’s the biggest man I’ve ever seen. He is a dark silhouette, but he has long dark hair that’s braided back. I try to keep my bike balanced, but my foot slips on the pedal. The man looks up and sees me on my bike. He disappears as if he was never there.

I sit with my foot balancing me on the ground, too afraid to move. I start to worry that he’ll come after me, so I jump up on my pedals and go as fast as I can down the road to my first delivery.

I’m out of breath and think to the sun, “please come up, please come up,” though it will not be up for a while. I sweat in my heavy coat, so I unzip it. The icy air feels good. I finish my deliveries.

When I get home, Mom has the fire going and I have a mug of hot cocoa and some oatmeal.

The kids at school will make fun of me if I talk about the man, so I keep it to myself.

On my way home from school I ride by the pumpkin patch and stop to look at the place I saw the man. I want to look for footprints.

The vines are thick and it’s hard to walk through without stepping on them. There are places that look smashed and when I move the vines I see big footprints. I can fit both of my feet, toe to heel, in one of the prints and still have room.

Thursday papers are light. I wrap them quickly and head out into the chilly early morning.

I stop in the road by the pumpkin patch and look for the man. I don’t know why I expect him to be there.

Instead of the man I see something black crawling quickly under the vines. It’s bigger than me and the moonlight reflects green on its back.

I can’t move. It’s the biggest tiger beetle I’ve ever seen. It raises up on its hind legs. It has two sets of arms. It reaches up to its head and wipes its antennas. Lightening comes out of nowhere. The bug topples over, stiff, feet up. The man appears and shoots something that makes a cage of light around the bug.

The man disappears again. I don’t know if he saw me, but I peddle as fast as I can toward the trees down the road.

I stop near a large oak tree and turn to look behind me. There is nothing unusual. I wish I had a drink of water. I deliver my papers. The sky is getting light in the east, though it’s still a while before the sun will be up.

When I ride past the pumpkins again, the bug and the light cage are gone and the patch is quiet.

At school I tell my best friend, Harv, there’s something going on in Wilkins’ pumpkin patch.

“What is it, Lander? Is The Great Pumpkin coming to life?” he laughs.

“Nothing like that. It’s weird, you have to come see. I can’t really explain.”

“Come to my house after school. I have to tell my mom if I’m going anywhere.”

Our bikes lie on the side of the road as we walk through the pumpkins. I find the one I want. It’s taller than my knees.

“Look over here, Harv,” I say. I show him the foot prints. We also find odd marks, like someone had three broom handles and pushed them into the soil every few feet.

“What do you think they are?” asks Harv.

“You will laugh,” I say. “I think I saw a giant tiger beetle, and a really big man caught it this morning. The man is so big, he could touch the roof of my house.”

“Lander, are you getting enough sleep? My mom always tells me twelve year-olds need eight hours of sleep. You know, you get up so early.”

“You can see the foot prints, what do you think?”

“You could have made those.”

“Why would I spend all that time making foot prints, in the dark?”

“For a Halloween prank,” says Harv.

“Sure, and how did I burn a grid into those leaves?”

“I don’t know, but I’m sure you need more sleep, Lander.”

“There’s all this time I can sleep and make foot prints and burn a grid into leaves and deliver papers.”

“O.k. It is strange. Maybe the farmer has equipment that makes those prints,” says Harv.

“Believe what you want,” I say.

I walk back to the pumpkin I want and try to push it. It’s heavier than I thought it would be. I kneel down to push it and it’s as tall as my shoulders. I will bring my wagon to get it home on Saturday.

Next to the big pumpkin, under the vine, is a very small pumpkin. It’s smaller than an orange. I pick it up and it shines in the sunlight, like a pumpkin shaped gemstone, and it’s heavy for it’s size. I quickly put it in my pocket. I’m too annoyed at Harv to show it to him.

“I have to get home, Harv. I’ll see you tomorrow,” I say.

“See you.”

At home I put the pumpkin gem in my top drawer. It’s not the best hiding place. After Halloween I’ll go to the library and look up what kind of stone it is.

Friday papers have the weekend entertainment section. Halloween weekend has plenty of events in our town. There will be a carnival and craft fair in the town square. Mom has a jewelry booth with two of her friends in the craft fair.

I don’t think I will see the man again. He already caught his bug, but I wonder where that big bug came from. We don’t have bugs that big here. Maybe in the rain forest or something, but I don’t think so. I don’t think we have bugs bigger than people on our planet.

Out in the pumpkin patch I see a blue light, going back and forth across the pumpkin vines, like a firefly only bigger. I’ve never seen fireflies in October. I hurry down the road to deliver my papers.

The day before Halloween is the most exciting to me. I am going to dress as a scarecrow tomorrow. I’ll wear some of Dad’s old clothes and hat and stuff a bit of straw here and there. Dad won’t mind me using his clothes, since he isn’t with us anymore. Mom thinks he would actually like me to wear them. Harv and I are going to wear our costumes all day so we don’t have to change after the carnival.

Scary movies are on television tonight. Mom let me make popcorn and stay up late. There’s no paper on Saturday so I can sleep in, but I want to be the first one to Wilkins Farm to get my big pumpkin, so I don’t stay up too late.

I get up at seven a.m. and eat my breakfast and then I get my old wagon out of the garage and walk down the road with my stash in my pocket. Several folks from town are already going over the pumpkins, but happily no one has bought the big one.

I pull the wagon load home and realize I need help to set the pumpkin on the porch. Mom is getting ready for the craft fair but she hasn’t put her nice fair clothes on yet. She helps me set the pumpkin up and she gets some wooden shims to level it so it stands up straight.

“After you carve your pumpkin, save the seeds. We’ll roast them later,” she says.

“Sure, Mom.”

“I want you to check in with me when you get to the fair.”

“I will.”

I carve my pumpkin with a scary scowl and dig out a place inside to hold the candle. I put the seeds in a bowl and set them on the kitchen counter for later.

I go to my room to put on my scarecrow costume. There’s a light glowing through the cracks in the top drawer of my dresser. I open the drawer and the pumpkin gem is glowing as brightly as a lamp. I wrap it up in one of my T-shirts and shut the drawer.

Harv is waiting at the water fountain for me. We take our bikes to my mom’s booth. She and her friends are fussing over what goes where in their display.

“Have fun at the carnival, boys,” says Mom. “Don’t eat too much carnival food. Remember the stomach ache you got last time.”

“O.k., Mom. I want to save room for some candy anyway.”

“Oh Lander, come give me a kiss,” she says.

Harv and I ride every ride and go through the haunted house twice. It’s sundown when we decide to leave and go trick-or-treating.

Some of the houses are decorated and some aren’t. I remember I haven’t lit up my jack-o-lantern. “Let’s go to my house and light up my pumpkin, Harv. I didn’t get to see it yet.”

“Alright, I’ll race you.”

We ride down the dirt road by the pumpkin patch. Again there’s a blue light going back and forth.

“What is that?” asks Harv.

“I don’t know. I saw it yesterday too.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You didn’t believe me before.”

The light goes off before we get past the pumpkin patch. We ride faster than ever.

I go in my house to get a candle for the pumpkin.

“Do you think your mom can give me a ride home later?” asks Marv. “I’m too afraid to ride past the pumpkins again.”

“She might. I’d ask you to stay over, but I have papers to deliver in the morning. You’d have to get up at four a.m. to help me.”

“I’ll go home. I don’t want to go near the pumpkin patch in the dark again.”

“That’s fine,” I say.

A few older kids from my neighborhood come for late trick-or-treat. I’m glad there’s candy for them. Harv and I wait on the front porch until Mom gets home.

“I sold almost all of my jewelry, Lander!” she exclaims.

“That’s great, Mom!”

“Thanks son. Hello, Harvey, are you staying over?” she asks.

“No, Mrs. Hammit. I have to be home tonight. Can you give me a ride?”

“What about your bike?”

“I’ll get it tomorrow.”

While Mom takes Harv home, I go up to my room and dump my candy out on my bed. I separate all the things I like and throw away the hard butterscotch disks and licorice. I open a chocolate bar and eat it all. I put the stuff I like in a tin I got some popcorn in last Christmas.

Mom makes a quick dinner of pancakes and canned chili. I go to bed so I can get up at four a.m. to wrap the Sunday papers.

I wake somewhere around midnight. My top dresser drawer is jiggling and the area in front of the dresser is shimmering in the moonlight.

I start to get up to check on the pumpkin gem. The shimmering area turns solid. It’s the man! I freeze on the edge of my bed, not breathing.

“Take a breath,” the man says. “I won’t harm you.”

The man is so tall, the top of his head touches the ceiling. I can’t tell for sure in the moonlight, but his skin looks blue. He wears black body armor and boots.

“I am Sergeant Teko, Intergalactic Police. I have arrested the criminal, Yerb Zet. I cannot leave your planet because I lost my fugereon crystal, which supplies power to my star jet. I have tracked it here.” He waves a blue light over the dresser. “Please unlock this box for me.”

“It’s not locked,” I say. I reach over to slide the drawer open. My T-shirt is brown and brittle. I take the little pumpkin gem out and hand it to Sgt. Teko.

“Thank you,” he says. “I want to give you something for your trouble.” He opens a compartment on the side of his leg and scoops out several sparkly stones.

“These are blue diamonds from a mining planet in Andromeda Galaxy. They are not rare, but they would have value on this planet. What do you call your planet?”

“Whoa, thanks! Our planet is Tellus.”

“One more favor from you,” says Sgt. Teko. “Will you show me a bigger way out? The window was a hard squeeze for me.”

“Sure,” I say. I lead him to the front door and finally come out of my stupor.

“Where are you from?” I ask.

“A planet called Borga, in Andromeda Galaxy.”

“Wow! Do you think I could go there someday?”

“What is your name?” he asks.

“Lander Hammit.”

“Lander, I don’t know if you will ever leave your planet. I wish you well. Thank you for your help. Good bye.”

“Good bye,” I say as I watch him shimmer in the moonlight and disappear.