The Jack-o-lanturn ~ Chapter Two: The powers of the bracelet

by Marie Lynn in the little place that exists over the rainbow

"Hey, Annelise!"
"Oh, hi, Jackelynn. What's wrong? You look angry."
"I'll tell you what's wrong!" stormed Jackie. She looked terribly livid; her face was beet red, her eyes were blazing with fire, and her hair had come undone. She held up the bracelet in front of Annelise's face.
They were in the costume store, and Annelise had been in the middle of smoothing out a skeleton costume with herh ands.
"Your bracelet, the one you gave me, actually - actually like CONTROLLED me or something, and forced me to hang my necklace on the tree! Explain, please, what happened!!!"
Annelise's eyes flashed once more before she answered. "Well," she said slowly, hanging up the skeleton and avoiding eye contact with Jackie, "the bracelet, our friendship ones, have extroadinary powers. One of them is, that if you whisper a command, then the person who is wearing the other bracelet will be forced to obey it."
Jackie was stunned. "What other powers do they have?" she asked eagerly.
"Oh, lots more," said Annelise with a smile. "One is to disguise yourself as anybody. My eyes are flashing, if you haven't noticed, because my bracelet. You can change your appearance anytime you want.
"Another is, you know automatically whether or not somebody is lying. Your bracelet flashes brightly when they're lying. And, if your bracelet gets lost, it will disappear and reappear right next to you.
"You can also bring inanimate objects to life, so they have personalities and can talk to you and stuff like that. Well, that's about all of them. Try them out when you get home, won't you, Jackie?"
"Yes," Jackie said dryly. "but still, why did you make me put my necklace on the tree?"
Annelise flushed. "It was so pretty," she said mournfully. "And I wanted it soo badly. I thought that I would come and collect it in the morning from the tree, but I realized that it would be wrong to steal from you."
Jackie turned away. She headed slowly home, mulling over what Annelise had told her, and when she arrived, she found the bracelet she had thrown in the street sitting there on her coffee table.

"Honey, come help me set out our Halloween stuff," called Mr. Grace from the living room.
"I'm busy," replied Jackie. She turned the bracelet over and over, and then slid it onto her wrist. She yearned to try it out, to see if what Annelise had said was true.
A jack-o-lanturn was sitting on the desk, set aside by her mother hours before. Curiously Jackie picked it up, feeling it's smooth sides. I can bring this pumpkin to life, she thoughth excitedly. But how?
"Come to life," she demanded, staring at the jack-o-lanturn. It remained lifeless. Jackie hopefully gave her wrist a small flick.
Suddenly, the candle inside burst into the flame, and with a groaning sound, the jack-o-lanturn's carved mouth began to mouth, and it uttered a sharp cry of shock.
"Uuhh...wha...?" It's voice was deep, and sounded strange, as if two male voices weer speaking at once.
"You're alive!" cried Jackie, toppling backward off her chair.
"Yup, girly, I am!" gurgled the jack-o-lanturn happily. His triangular eyes widened and his toothless mouth grinned. "Wow, I have sat for years and felt no emotions and was not able to move, but now...! I can feel, hear, see, and maybe even taste!!!"
Jackie swayed on the spot, feelign as if she were about to faint. The jack-o-lanturn sensed it, too. His mouth curved into a frown and he said worriedly, "Now, now, girly, don't do that."
Jackie recovered and said in awe, "I've never seen a talking jack-o-lanturn before."
"Me neither," said the jack-o-lanturn.
Abruptly, Mr. Grace sidled into the room, and his eyes fell on the jack-o-lanturn.