Friday, October 31, 2014

Trick or Trick


We gave him a good face, not too scary, not too funny. The mouth was a bit too big but it looked great with the light inside.

When we came back from our trick-or-treating, the pumpkin was still looking fierce, although the candle was almost extinguished and the top was almost cooked.

Before we went to bed, we took him back inside. We didn’t want the squirrels or the skunk to eat him.

“Where’s all the candy?” the oldest said the next day.

“I put it in the pumpkin,” the youngest cried. “The pumpkin ate it all!”

“No, you ate it all,” the oldest said.

They went on quarrelling.

The pumpkin sat on the kitchen floor and seemingly watched us all with his big eyes. Did he want to say something with his big mouth or was he grinning?

“I’m telling you, this is an evil pumpkin,” the youngest said. “I know, the squirrels! Put him outside and the squirrels will take care of him.”

So back he was next to the front door.

“What’s this pumpkin doing back inside?” I said in the evening.

“I didn’t bring him in,” the oldest said.

“I didn’t bring him in,” the youngest said.

Out with him again. Maybe the squirrels hadn’t been hungry the day before.

The next morning, who was grinning from the kitchen table?

The pumpkin.

“Mom,” the youngest said. “Maybe we should let him stay. I’m not cross with him anymore.”

So, he’s back in. Watching the room from a corner. Grinning. He’s just as orange and nice as he was on Halloween. So many months later. The cat doesn’t go near him. We make sure no candy goes next to him.

We confess, we’re a bit scared of him, but he’s ours, isn’t he? And if he keeps looking this good, we might not have to carve another for this Halloween.

Happy Halloween, everybody!!!



 

11 comments:

Brian Miller said...

bwahahaha....the cat knows if he got too close he is liable to disappear as well...smiles...

happy halloween

Optimistic Existentialist said...

That is ONE scary jack-o-lantern!! Happy Halloween :)

Charles Gramlich said...

I'm fairly alarmed here. :)

BernardL said...

Truly a Great Pumpkin.

Vesper said...

Brian, :-) :-) :-)!!!
I hope you had a great Halloween! :-)

Keith, it turned out to be. :-) I hope your Halloween was wonderful! :-)

As you should, Charles, as you should... :-) :-) :-)

Bernard, I'm afraid it is... :-) :-) :-)

TALON said...

I'm not sure if he's magical or maniacal, this grinning Jack 'o Lantern. But he's definitely one of the family now. :) This just proves how wise cats are, doesn't it? Loved this, Vesper! Always, always enjoy reading your writing!

Hope your Hallowe'en was truly spooktacular and thank you about the novel. I can't wait to hear what you think of it. I'm glad the opening drew you in. :)

Magyar said...

Nifty!
__And the next morning... the pumpkin had the door-key. Smiles! _m

Roland D. Yeomans said...

And the morning after, a cat tail was hanging out of the pumpkin's mouth!

Love the photo and the story.

The cancer surgery on my forehead kept me from visiting sooner. Sorry. :-)

Vesper said...

Kim, you always have such nice words for me... I'm humbled... Thank you so much!
I can't wait to receive your book! I ordered it from Amazon.ca where they list it as "temporarily out of stock". Do you know whether your publisher is using CreateSpace to print the books? This might be the reason... But I'm sure that once they get the order they will print it... :-)

Magyar, thank you! Yes, now that you're mentioning it... where are my keys?!?!

Roland, no need to apologize... Thank you for reading this and for your comments. I've been reading all your posts - I know that you've had surgery again... I wish you all the best, with all my heart!

strugglingwriter said...

Cute. I love it! :)

Vesper said...

Paul, thank you!!! :-)