The Patch

Jack just gambled her family's future on seeds. Too bad they only bring her a cursed pumpkin patch full of ghosts. Jack, a shy and sensitive high schooler, is desperate to do whatever she can to save her family's farm. Unfortunately for her, the pawn shop cons her into trading her family's heirlooms for three old pumpkin seeds on the promise they will solve all Jack's problems. But when the seeds sprout overnight into a haunted pumpkin patch, they bring more problems than they solve—like a hundred-year-old witch's curse. Hopeful she will uncover the secrets of the patch, and maybe solve the farm's financial problems, Jack enlists her best friend Lucy's help to investigate. But then a malevolent ghost kidnaps Lucy, and Jack learns the dark history of her home, a history steeped in betrayal and revenge. With Lucy's life on the line, can Jack confront the spirit, break the curse, and save her friend? Or will the witch kill them both and reign for another hundred years? The Patch is part of a collection of standalone fairy tale novellas, Seasons of Magic, and is a retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk. If you like spooky stories, autumn magic, and pumpkins, you will love Selina J. Eckert's bone-chilling tale!