Johnny Duncan's Scarecrow-Funny Campfire Kids Story

Johnny Duncans' Scarecrow

(Full Audio Version of this Story is Located at the bottom)

It was late in the Fall in a little town nestled in a ravine. The air was cool letting the town people know that winter will soon be here. Nothing really seemed to happen in this small town. The biggest news was who was going to win the Halloween House decoration contest this year. People were scurrying around town gathering whatever items they could find to create the most elaborate Halloween display that they could. Delivery drivers seemed to be constantly on the move going from house to house. Dropping off packages containing whatever crazy unique items the internet could provide to help people win the contest. The Grand prize winner of the contest this year was going to be awarded a full house extreme make over, fully equipped with all the newest state of the art appliances and movie theater room with custom built in Dolby surround system and high H.P projection system. Valued to be well over over $10,000.

On the outskirts of town lived Johnny Duncan. He wasn’t poor by any means, but he definitely didn’t have the financial ability to decorate his house to the extent that everyone else was doing. However, he did pride himself with his custom scarecrow with a hand carved face and hand stitched clothing. Other than that, the most he could put out was some Jack-o’-Lanterns, pumpkins and some cheap cardboard tombstones that had some funny names and phrases on them.

Some of the local boys seemed to make it a point to ride by his house to make fun of his decorations, smash his pumpkins and knock over the flimsy tombstones. Being a humble guy, Johnny Duncan would just put the tombstones back up and set some more pumpkins out that he gathered from his garden.

The night before Halloween, sometimes called “Devils Night” was one of the most tense nights of the year for town. People would stand guard all night protecting their Halloween Displays from kids and adults alike. Most of which were looking to destroy the elaborate displays and hopefully gain an edge on the competition. Some families would even hire armed guards from neighboring towns to watch over their displays while they slept. Johnny Duncan was the only one in town that never really seemed to care about the contest and just treated “Devils Night” like any other night. I mean who would even care about destroying his display? He posed no threat to anyone in the contest. Plus, the local kids kept messing with what little he had up anyway, so it was no big deal if they did it again.

Night had fallen and the town was on full alert. The mayor had even issued a town wide curfew in hopes to keep people at home and off the streets. Police patrolled up and down the streets, shinning their spotlights down any dark alleys and around houses. People could be seen walking around their houses with flashlights and baseball bats to keep intruders away. Neighbors who were friendly with each other could be seen talking while keeping watch on each other’s houses while discussing who was going to win the Halloween contest.

4 a.m. came rolling around, but you would still think night had just fallen. People were still active and moving around their houses. Police were still patrolling, and neighbors were still talking. Then a faint smell of smoke started to fill the air. Then on the outskirts of town an orange glow started to fill the night sky. Soon, the sirens of fire trucks and police could be heard roaring their way through the night.

The Duncan house was engulfed in flames. The Jack-o’-lanterns on the front porch were roasting and black with oddly distorted faces and the tombstones in the front yard were burning like small campfires. Out in the field was Johnny’s scarecrow. It looked like it was scorched but not too badly burnt because it was set up away from the house. It took the fire department hours to extinguish the flames. Day had broken and a smoldering skeleton of a house remained. The police and fire department had searched every square inch of the charred remains of the house but could not find the body of Johnny Duncans anywhere. Assuming his body had burnt to ashes due to the extreme heat of the fire, they ended the search and reported Johnny Duncan as deceased. Firefighters had ruled out any accidental cause for the fire and were going to be starting up an investigation of who burned the house.

Of course, in a small town, news travels fast. People from all over town had gathered just around the house to witness the devastation and place flowers and as a memorial to Johnny Duncan.

Later that night, at the towns Halloween festival, the mayor addressed the town and the shared grief everyone felt for the tragedy at the Duncan house, and to the loss of Johnny Duncan.

“He was a humble man,” spoke the mayor. “Everyone loved Johnny! We all knew him for his quirky homemade tombstones”, people chuckled remembering what some of them said. “And his pumpkin patch where we all got our pumpkins from, and not to mention, that amazing scarecrow he made with his bare hands. Let’s take a moment to remember Johnny and pray that he is welcomed to the kingdom of Heaven.”

Everyone bowed their heads and said a prayer for Johnny.

“Amen.” the mayor broke the moment of silence.

Trying to lift the spirits of the crowd, the mayor proceeded to announce the winners of the Halloween decoration contest.

“Third place goes to the Jones family”, announced the mayor. “They are awarded a $200 Amazon gift certificate.”

A labored applause was given, and Mr. Jones somberly approached the podium to accept his reward.

“Second place goes to the Stevenson family”, called the mayor. “They are gifted with a $500 visa gift card and assorted meat package from Delmonico’s Butchery worth over $200”.

A Wow came over the crowd and Mrs. Stevenson accepted the award appearing excited yet not too excited given what happened earlier that day.

“Runner Up goes to the Zeike family”, the Mayor called out with a little more enthusiasm. “Their prize is a weekend stay at the Sandles resort in Miami Florida and $500 spending cash.”

A big applause erupted from the crowd and Mr. And Mrs. Zeike were all smiles and high fiving people as they went up on the stage to accept their prize.

“Last but not least, the winner of the Grand Prize of a full house extreme make over, fully equipped with all the newest state of the art appliances and movie theater room with custom built in Dolby surround system and high H.P projection system goes too…”, the Mayor paused, he looked up past the crowd. His jaw dropped and he gasped. Everyone turned to look to see what the Mayor was looking at.

Walking down the street was a man. Smoke was billowing off him like he was on fire. His head was down, and a hood was covering his face. Everyone started muttering trying to figure out who it was.

He started getting closer and closer. Some people started getting a little nervous and started scurrying away. Closer and closer he came. You could see the man was dragging what looked like to be a body by the arm.

Finally, the man got to the back of the crowd. He hoisted the body up in the air, it was a scarecrow. Then he flung the hood off head.

It was Johnny Duncan!

“Mr. Mayor,” he yelled. “Someone ruined my favorite scarecrow, and I may be grasping at straws here, but he should win the Grand Prize because he was Outstanding in His Field”!

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Johnny Duncans’ Scarecrow

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Fun Halloween Decorations

(To Beat Johnny Duncans' Decorations)

Funny Graveyard/Yard Decorations. (10 piece)

4.5 Ft. Animatronic Scarecrow

72 in Hanging Cocoon Corpse

4Pcs Fourecent Outdoor Skeleton Cats

These are just a couple Halloween decorations to help you outdo Johnny Duncan. As an Amazon associate, I do earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. Ultimately I just hope you enjoyed time sharing the story with your kids around the campsite or at home.

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