Death in the Garden | Chickens in the Road

Feb
17

I was drawn, mysteriously, inexorably, to the garden yesterday afternoon, despite the foot of snow on the ground. Step by icy step, I was pulled in through the gate.

What would I find? Why was I there?

I could see naught but barren tomato stakes and fallen branches buried in the snow.

But something else was there.

Something that was pulling me, fiercely.

I fell to my knees, searching, seeking that which was seeking me.

I couldn’t do it alone. I needed help. I ran back to the house! I told 52 to get his shovel and hurry!

HURRY!

Something was under there!!!

TRAPPED! In the snow and ice!

And all the way from its frosty grave, it was pulling me. Seeking me.

Dread prickled down my spine as the digging continued.

Whatever lay in that icy pit of horror, we had to find it, and uncover it–before it pulled me under with it.

Slowly, bit by bit, shovel by shovel–

The figure was freed and I was freed!

Remember–
img_0702img_0702
–him?

You know…..

….I think he could use a new hat.

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76 Responses
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2-17
1:17
am

That was scary! I thought it was one of your cats or something.

Melinda in Washington State

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2-17
1:18
am

Jeez Suzanne, you sucked me right into that one! I was scrolling so slowly, so creeped out by what the next frame might show! You got me GOOD!

BuckeyeGirl

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2-17
1:28
am

LOL that was great

Motherbugs

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2-17
1:30
am

You GOT me!
I was freaking out!!! I thought it was a chicken… or a rooster. Or some other beloved animal (tho my inner voice kept saying “how would she know exactly where it was if it was a missing animal??”) Thank goodness it was Mr. Scarecrow.

Here in Washington the crocus are up and blooming. Cherry blossoms too. We have had a VERY mild winter and spring has come early.

Sorry. Didn’t mean to rub it in

Laney

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2-17
1:34
am

OMG That brought back memories of the movies– The Thing or The Creature From The Black Lagoon.

mommafox

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2-17
1:41
am

That thing standing there looks so creepy! I don’t even want to imagine what it looks like at night, with the moon shining on the snow… I think you’d better bury him again!

Dianne

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2-17
2:12
am

That was scary!! You got me too! He looks like a zombie scarecrow now! EEK!

Patty

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2-17
2:39
am

I agree he should be buried again!
~~HUGS~~

Blessings

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2-17
2:48
am

OMG, you had me going there for a bit. I’m with Laney when I saw the title of the post, I figured you lost another animal. Then the 10th picture i believe, looked like to me the body of a dog, go figure. Anyways , I’m glad it was only Mr Scarecrow.

WolfWalker

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2-17
4:34
am

You should have saved that one for APril fools day

sara sammon

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2-17
4:54
am

OMG! You have me up at 2 am reading this stuff? You are too much!!
Great ending, tho.

Grace

mrnglry

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2-17
4:58
am

What a GREAT post. You scared the living daylights out of me!! Thanks for the laugh.

carsek

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2-17
5:02
am

OMG!!! Totally got me there! I thought it was one of the goats for a minute!!!

Sarah

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2-17
5:39
am

he may do his job better this next spring! i was into the “oh-no” mood
there – didn’t want you to lose another animal! scary way to start a morning! at least my heart is beating this morning…

robin

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2-17
6:14
am

yeah, I was scared too!! I thought you were going to dig up one of your dead geese carcasses or something!! I cant handle the stress this early in the morning…LOL…you definitely are a story teller!!
thanks for the laugh! and yes, he needs an entire new outfit!!

Jill from NY

Jill

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2-17
6:34
am

That was great!

Jeanne

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2-17
6:51
am

The Iceman Cometh………..Mooohahhhahhaa

Julie Curtis

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2-17
7:00
am

OH my gosh, you had me on the edge of my seat!!!! I do remember him!!!!

Carmen Smith

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2-17
7:12
am

You had me goin on this one!

Lori Skoog

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2-17
7:18
am

ooooh! that was good!
the pics with your great pyr really got me!

Tabitha

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2-17
7:26
am

Poor Mr. Scarecrow! One of the pictures looked like a fish laying there…….I thought you’d finally smelled them!

CindyP

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2-17
7:27
am

You scared me to death!!!! I thought we had really lost someone. DOn’t do that to us.
And that Giant Puppy is the cutest thing ever….

Kelly Walker

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2-17
7:29
am

I would never tease if it was really a sad animal story–I always tell you that upfront! I promise. (Fingers crossed for no sad animal stories….)

Suzanne McMinn

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2-17
7:52
am

The suspense was riveting, then relief, followed by laughter! I thought it was a great post!

Gail

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2-17
7:59
am

Well, that creeped me out!! I kept thinking…Oh My GOSH…she even went to get 52 to help so it must be terrible! You are a hoot, Suzanne!
And thank you so much for never springing a sad story on us with no warning. I read with confidence in your consideration of our sensitivity. (well….mine, anyway.)
Be joyful in this lovely day!

carol

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2-17
8:04
am

Absolutely great post. I have to say my heart was skipping beats here and there. Thanks for a great story.

Mary

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2-17
8:04
am

That goodness it wasn’t a chicken carcass! You had me going!

Love the pics of Giant Puppy.

Susan

Susan at Charm of the Carolines

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2-17
8:14
am

You should have been a suspense writer!!! That was great. I could hardly breath while waiting to get to the end!

Mary from Baton Rouge

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2-17
8:18
am

Mary, I actually wrote several romantic suspense novels. Writing suspense is fun! Plotting long books is hard, though. I like short posts better! More fun!

Suzanne McMinn

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2-17
8:19
am

RIP Mr.Scarecrow!!!

sandra flemming

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2-17
8:21
am

This was a good one Suzanne!
You had us all sucked right into that drama…eyes bulging, breath gasping!

Deb

Debnfla3

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2-17
8:34
am

Very well done- nigh unto riveting!
My sister and I collaborated on a scarecrow that we named John Barleycorn- I made a muslin bag for his head and painted a very winsome face, we stuck him in the middle of the garden and then after a hard summer’s work, we burned him in a bonfire. It was kind of surreal and yet neat in a Guy Fawksish sort of way.
At least we put him out of his misery before he was buried in snow.
It made for a fun and slightly macabre autumn night’s festivities, anyway.

heidiannie

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2-17
8:36
am

Clever and suspenseful, with a humorous ending….and great relief! Whew! I knew it wouldn’t be a dead animal, but still….
Thanks for the smiles, Suzanne
Poor Mr. Scarecrow looks a bit worse for wear…and definitely scarier than before

kerri

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2-17
8:47
am

This got my attention this morning! He looks kinda cold…

Joy

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2-17
8:58
am

Bonjour! I seem to never find the time to leave comments on your blog that I enjoy so… You know, slow speed, rural connections … You got me worried here… Our Mr. Scarecrow has been missing for weeks now and we thought he had decided on the spur of the moment to drive down South for winter. Gotta go now! Hopefully he is still alive under the snow … Come over when you have a minute! Take care, LuLu

LuLu

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2-17
9:04
am

Are you sure you want to quit writing novels? Were they gothic suspense novels that you wrote? Those were always the best but some where I read that they don’t really sell. I have odd tastes.

All that was missing in this was a ripped bodice.

heidiannie-that sounds like a good old-fashioned Samhain celebration. You’ll be accuse of witchcraft if you aren’t careful.

lavenderblue

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2-17
9:08
am

Now he really is a SCARE-crow! That scares me now…
You got me on that story too! Love it Suzanne!

claudia w

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2-17
9:19
am

So, are you calling the coroner to find out the cause of death on your frozen friend?

Melinda

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2-17
9:25
am

OMG! The whole time I’m trying to figure out what that was!!! When you showed pictures of Big Puppy, thought perhaps it was some smelly treasure she buried for herself…

That was a good one, Suzanne.

Jo

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2-17
9:33
am

You got me too! I was sure it was a rabbit or one of your kitties but then I figured there was no way….you’re too soft hearted for that. Whew. But you had me going there for a few seconds! Poor Mr Scarecrow…he definitely needs a new hat.

Chic

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2-17
9:42
am

Mr Scarecrow looks like I feel after this winter..burr! Be glad when Spring has sprung. Hope he can be salvaged or recycled etc. to proudly serve the garden this year.

5kathleen2

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2-17
9:47
am

Now I can see why you write/wrote for a living!! You got me!! And I agree about the hat.

Beth

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2-17
9:48
am

LOL! You had me going there! I’m so glad it was just a scarecrow. ;-)

Melissa Marsh

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2-17
9:51
am

I thought you were going to find a poor departed animal!

I love your blog and spent the blizzard reading your archives!

I gave you an award on my blog!

Sharon

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2-17
10:22
am

Hook,line and sinker you got me good !

wheezay

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2-17
10:27
am

You really got my heart racing this morning, especially when you asked for a shovel. Hopefully the scarecrow will recover.

SharonBinWA

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2-17
10:30
am

Good grief woman you scared me!! Thought it was one of your animals! Poor scarecrow. Left in the snow.

Jessica

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2-17
10:33
am

That was NOT nice, Ms. Suzanne. Great! But, not nice.

Darlyn

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2-17
10:42
am

You had me sucked right in!!! I was a bit scared.lol

michelle

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2-17
10:43
am

Ha ha ha – that was funny! I do believe a new hat is in order. I mean, after all the suffering with the ice and snow!
Cute post!

Toni

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2-17
10:53
am

I was totally expecting a dead farm critter! Phew!

Lola-Dawn

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2-17
11:45
am

I sure didn’t know what to expect, but that scarecrow deffinitely looks dead, I think the title of this post is very accurate. Thanks for stringing us along on this adventure.

Suzanne

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2-17
11:49
am

Suzanne!! I almost had a heart attack!! thought for sure you were digging up one of the animals!! Whew….forgot about Mr Scarecrow…you really got me there!!

Betty

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2-17
11:57
am

Yes I KNOW that you wouldn’t show something gross and dead without a warning but I still got the cold chill up the spine and scrolled down
S L O W L Y

Great post!

~dede~

dede

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2-17
12:05
pm

I wanted to re-read the posts about how you met 52 and the getting to know him stage. Getting kissed in that house you were visiting… etc. But you have no index for him. What about an index of people stories? One for 52, one for Georgia, one for Morgan aka Princess etc. I know it would take awhile that you don’t have but searching for 52 in the blog didn’t do it for me. I re-read the entry you linked to above. Very nice, I had forgotten that you had posted his photos.

Jodie

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2-17
12:08
pm

Good story..52 can’t sit on the porch to long..he has to run the shovel. Love it !!!

jan-n-tn

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2-17
12:14
pm

Haha! Love it! I have always loved the barren branches and dead weeds and grasses in the winter, often I will bring some in and use them in arrangements in the house.

Geraldine Lewis

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2-17
12:15
pm

God !
U really did scare me there for a minute ..

Rituparna

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2-17
12:20
pm

You scared me!

RHysom

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2-17
1:12
pm

OMG, all I could think of was Dookie!!!

JeannieB

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2-17
1:40
pm

You got me all scared!! I thought it was one of the animals!!! Maybe you should write suspense novels too : )) The scarecrow looks even scarier now!!!!!

Shirley Corwin

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2-17
1:48
pm

I wasn’t sure what it was going to be, but I never suspected the scarecrow. I had a girl scarecrow with a floppy hat and hanging rusty cans in my garden, but she didn’t scare any critters away, except for our neighbor’s dog. She went balistic when she first saw her.
Love you posts, Suzanne. Keep up the good work, and a little mystery now and then is good for all.

Grace

mrnglry

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2-17
1:54
pm

I know you would never joke about an actual death, but in one of those pictures, the “deceased” looked like a giant dead fish. *squick*

Ulrike

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2-17
2:10
pm

I thought it was Mean Rooster!!! Thank goodness we will not fall victim to your suspense knowing you will warn us first. RIP Mean Rooster. Come to think of it you found his body. Perhaps it was that other rooster!

diane

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2-17
2:36
pm

Don’t scare me like that! I’m glad to know that I was not the only one thinking it was Dookie. You should be ashamed for messing with us like that.

roosterrun

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2-17
3:45
pm

I think he’s a lot scarier the way he looks now lol And I trusted you and new it couldn’t be anything really terrible lol.

catslady

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2-17
3:46
pm

okay that should be knew and not new lol

catslady

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2-17
4:05
pm

I love it! You can make a story out of anything.

Estella

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2-17
7:37
pm

Good heavens! I held my breath all through that story. I thought, “Oh no, something happened to one of your beloved animals!” I can’t tell you how relieved I was it was only the scarecrow. PHEWWW!

NorthCountryGirl

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2-17
7:46
pm

Yep, you got me too LOL!

KentuckyFarmGirl

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2-17
8:34
pm

Oh My…..you totally FREAKED ME OUT on this one! Thank goodness all is well!

Yvonne

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2-18
12:33
am

There for a minute I thought you were going to find Rat Dog!!

Great post! It is good to mix things up every now and then and scare the bejeebers out of us! Whew!

I agree that Mr. Scarecrow looks waaaaaayyyy too creepy now! Madison says, “Burn it with fire!”

Definitely suitable for Halloween!

Cousin Sheryl

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2-18
10:10
pm

Being new to your blog I was afraid of what would be found under that snow. I looked and looked at the “remains” and could not identify what it was. I was feeling sad for you! You really caught me with your story. Peggy. PS I loved the great shot of your house. It is beautiful and I know you enjoy that porch.

Peggy

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2-19
7:53
pm

That scarecrow is downright scary!

NorthCountryGirl

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2-21
11:08
am

LOL. Phew! You really had me going there. I was dreading seeing what you dug up. (Plus, I am forever scarred after watching an episode of HOADERS where they found the desiccated carcasses of two cats under the piles of junk/rubbish in one woman’s house. The cats had gone missing years ago… yikes!)

jaq

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2-22
10:57
am

That scarecrow has risen from the grave! If it starts moving closer and closer to the house, I think you have another novel. . .

Ellen

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