Most of us have probably heard the story of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman. There's one part of that story that has never been explained. The real reason the headless horseman was always carrying a jack-o'-lantern with him. Of course we know he was always throwing them at Ichabod but there is another reason. He was looking for just the right one to replace his missing head!
The night before, the horseman had kidnapped Henry and 
Fred off the streets of town. He hung them on the wall in his dungeon to use later as pumpkin targets. All they had to do all day was watch the mummy who lived there with the horseman chase after his head. It seemed everyone in this place had a missing head problem!
Zuto was the top wizard of the wizard world. Everyone listened to 
what Zuto had to say. He was the wisest of all the wizards. The headless horseman went to see Zuto to find out how he could get his head back. Zuto pronounced that the horseman would have to select just the right jack-o'-lantern. It had to be a very special one. This jack-o'-lantern must be bright, with brains to know right from wrong. Kind, to feel gentleness toward others. Above all else have the ability to love. Without that no creature on earth is worthy of existing!
As the horseman headed back toward town, he spotted 
Midnight. He was Wilma the Witch's cat, and the horseman knew that meant Wilma was close by. He looked up in the sky and sure enough there was Wilma flying in. The horseman thought maybe he could get Wilma to mix him up a brew that would make finding the right jack-o'-lantern easier.
Wilma had this big pot she cooked up her special brews in. The 
ingredients depended on what her customer wanted. Wilma knew that this had to be a very special brew, to find a new head for the horseman! She told him it was going to take quite awhile to get a brew this special cooked up. She suggested he go out to the farm where jack-o'-lanterns grew and see if anything looked like it would work for him.
The horseman stopped by farmer Tom's to talk to him about his 
pumpkins. It was obvious that farmer Tom's busy season was over. He had stood in the same spot so long, the crows were landing on him like they did his scarecrows. That's the funny thing about scarecrows, they don't scare crows at all! As a matter of fact his last scarecrow got so fed up with the crows pecking on him he came to life and simply walked off the job!
He woke up climbed down off that pole, a little wobbly at first 
but once he got started he walked away and joined a carnival to travel the world. No more hanging around in a corn field for him! The crows kind of missed Mr. Wobbles, as they began to call him. They didn't have a good place to sit and rest anymore. The corn field was getting pretty bare so farmer Tom was going to have to do something soon.
Farmer Tom had a great year of crops and food for his family 
but he needed to save the rest of the corn for his chickens and the animals to eat this winter. He decided he'd better put up another scarecrow. Maybe, since it would look new and different the crows would be afraid of it.
Farmer Tom took the time to show the headless horseman his nice crop of 
pumpkins. Some of the pumpkins got a little upset and afraid when they saw the headless horseman. Like most of us, they had never seen a headless man before. Of course there are show offs in every crowd, so some of them were going out of there way to get the horseman's attention.
Farmer Tom's new scarecrow was watching all this and thought, what a 
bunch of show offs. One pumpkin was so angry he didn't get chosen he was turning red in the face. There was only one pumpkin not paying any attention at all. He was sound asleep. The sweet little scarecrow wasn't having much luck either. He was so nice the crows loved him right away. Well, at least he would never be lonely!
The new little scarecrow just had to hang there and watch 
while the crows kept eating the corn. He knew Farmer Tom had to have some for his chickens and other animals so he hoped he'd get some of it to save for the winter months. Just in time, farmer Tom decided to get to work and pick up the rest before it was all gone. Out he went to save some of the corn for his animals.
Farmer Tom got his tractor out of the barn and headed 
for the corn fields to pick up the rest of the corn before the crows ate it all. His chickens and other animals that liked corn would have all they wanted this winter. The little scarecrow was so glad. He didn't want to think about any of the animals going hungry and farmer Tom wasn't going to let that happen.
As the horseman was leaving the farm, an owl wizard zapped 
him and said "go back and see Zuto he is the wisest wizard around and will help you find your answer." Along the way back the horseman passed a wizard friend of Zuto's riding on his pet dragon. When he arrived at Zuto's he found him in a battle with another dragon.
The worst kind, a fire breather. Zuto just turned his magic 
staff and shot a few zaps at him. That dragon was out of there very quickly! Whatever it was that Zuto's staff fired, it sure didn't feel good! Zuto told the horseman he wasn't quite finished with his magic to get him a new head yet and suggested he come back a little later.
The horseman found Wilma still in the middle of creating her brew 
also. She was busy stirring and tasting making sure it was just right. While he waited he decided to go down to the pumpkin patch and take a look around to find a pumpkin that looked right for a head. When he got there the pumpkins were very excited.
In the world of pumpkins there are three ways to become 
famous. Become a jack-o'-lantern for Halloween, a pumpkin pie, or be a pumpkin the headless horsemen throws. The horseman saw some really good looking pumpkins but nothing that he thought would work well as a new head. He turned and started back for wizard Zuto's enchanted home.
Zuto took one look at the horseman and started dusting all around 
him with a special miracle dust. Suddenly the most perfect jack-o'-lantern appeared. It could even speak, was bright and intelligent. This the horseman was sure would be the one to take the place of his missing head. The horseman even thought the jack-o'-lantern was very handsome.
He grabbed the pumpkin and rode off down the street. He 
was so proud of his new head, he held it high for everyone to see. He got off his horse and waved to the crowd, who cheered for him. They could all see he was immediately a nicer person and knew they would never have to be afraid of fiery pumpkins being thrown their way again.
The horseman even sent his friend the grim reaper to free Henry and 
Fred from the wall of his dungeon. The reaper did free Henry and Fred, all though he wasn't sure why he had to do it. He just couldn't help himself, on the way back to town he chased along behind a man just to scare him a little! Well, I guess we can only expect to fix one monster at a time and make them nice. Someday maybe they will all be our friends!
ONE DAY MAYBE WIZARDS WILL NOT BE NEEDED TO MAKE ALL PEOPLE NICE, MAYBE KINDNESS TO ONE ANOTHER WILL BE ENOUGH!
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