Devil Man
There was peace in Phantown, once. There was peace, but no prosperity.
Phantown was a peaceful town with no farmers, not by choice, but because the land was useless, nothing would - or could - grow there. Until he came.
One day, as the people of Phantown gathered in the square to confirm yet another reduction of rations. No food supplies had arrived in the last month from the nearby farmtown, and the people were in serious need of supplies. Then, a stranger walked into the square, a straw farmer's hat on his head, a bag of feed on his shoulder, and a farm scythe in his hand. As he walked into the center of the square, he hummed a subtle tune, Hmmhmm hmmhmm, hmhm hm hmhm, hmmhmm hmm hm hmmhmm hmmhm.
When he reached the center, the mayor asked him who he was, and he responded, 'Why, I'm just a quiet farmer from the nearby farmtown and I heard you could use some help with your crops.' The mayor thanked him by saying, 'Thank you sir for the offer, but you must have heard that nothing can or will grow on this land.' The farmer glanced up at the mayor from under his farmhat with yellow eyes, 'Then you really mus not know who I am sir. I am Lucien Crooke, and I can plant anything anywhere. I'll get you your crops sir, all I ask is that your townsfolk stay off my farm. I will build it myself and do all of the harvesting. I'll even deliver the crops to this spot right here.' and Lucien began to scrape an X into the ground with his scythe, muttering to himself, crops won't be the only thing I'll drop here if I know people like I think I do...
The townsfolk then proceeded to watch Mr Crooke walk over to the hardware store, grab some armfulls of timber, and walk out of town, waving back saying, 'I'll be back for more wood and tools!'
A few months later, Phantown was beginning to thrive as a city, every few weeks, Mr Crooke would walk into the square and drop two burlap sacks of corn or whatever crops was ready for harvesting. On one bag, ever time, there was a note,
'Leave the bags here when you're done with them, I'll take them when I drop my next load.
-- Lucien Crooke'
One day, some pranksters filled Crooke's sacks with horse manure, and waited for his next trip. The sacks had become nasty and fermented, no one could wash out the smell by the time Mr Crooke came for them. Strangely however, he seemed unfazed by the smell. When he picked up th sacks and deposited his new ones, he looked right over at the boys' hiding spot and nodded with a mirk on his face.
A week later, the boys went missing. Two days afterward, Lucien Crooke went into town and bought some wooded poles, some rope, and some bundles of hay. When the townspeople asked what he was up to, he smiled and replied, 'I feel the urge to make some scarecrows today, need to keep the birds away from my corn crops, you know?' Then he walked away, a strange expresson on his face.
As more pranks followed the mysterious farmer, more pranksters disappeared, and more scarecrows sprung up on the Crooke farm.
One day the mayor confronted Mr Crooke. 'Crooke, sir. I have some questions for you.' 'What kind of questions Mr Mayor?' 'Simple ones Mr Crooke.' 'Then carry on Mr Mayor.' 'Well Mr Crooke, it seems as though, as more of our young people comit simple mistemeanors against you, they seem to vanish. Then a few days later, you come to town for scarecrow supplies. Now I can't help but wonder, are you turning our young people into scarecrows Mr Crooke?' 'This is a very simple question Mr Mayor, but you are mistaken. I am not turning your young peope into scarcrows, I am tuning your town into scarecrows. My crops. They are laced with a slow acting poison. You all have a few days left to live. I've just been killing the pranksters because they annoyed me with their disrespect. You, Mr Mayor, should know all about respect.' The mayor was speechless. 'A p-p-poison in your crops? B-b-but h-how are y-you a-alive?' Lucien chuckeled. 'I haven't been eating my crops, Mr Mayor. I don't eat vegetables, or fruits, or grains. I only eat meat.' The mayor began to step back from Crooke and his yellow eyes. 'Yo....

to be continued...