Thursday, October 31, 2013

Happy Halloween and Pumpkin Surprise!

Riddle: Which ghost is the best dancer? The Boogie Man!

For the October issue of Two-Lane Livin' I wrote Pumpkin Surprise!
Hope you enjoy reading this on Halloween.



  Pumpkin Surprise!

     “It’s Halloween,” said Sadie to her cat. “We need to carve jack-o-lanterns!”
     “Meow.” Pippin strolled back and forth and then pounced up on the window ledge, stretched her front legs and arched her back.  
     Sadie plopped her hat on her head. “Let’s gather pumpkins from my patch,” she said.
     She walked out the door of the cottage pulling Pippin behind her in a little red wagon. She shuffled through the frost covered gold and red leaves scattered upon the ground. The rustling noise alerted the critters that someone was near.
     The squirrels scampered up the tall oak trees. The mice scurried and hid beneath the brush pile. The crows, never afraid of anyone, sat upon the scarecrow’s arms and stared at the old lady and her cat.
     She looked at them and said, “Where are my pumpkins? Did you see who took them?”
     The shiny black crows shook their heads. “Caw! Caw!” Their voices floated through the crisp autumn air.
     “How will I greet the children on Halloween if I don’t have jack-o-lanterns, filled with flickering flames, on my front porch?”
     She searched and searched. The empty vines crawled over the ground and between the dried up cornstalks. At last she spied small ones, in the far corner of the field, hidden beneath the fallen leaves.
     “These will not do. They are not big enough to make jack-o-lanterns.”
     She sighed and picked them anyway. She placed them one by one in her wagon.
     “Meow.” Pippen pounced on top of the pile of pumpkins and rode back to the cottage.
     Sadie placed her finger on her pointy chin. “I have an idea,” she said.  
     The old lady gathered sugar and spices, eggs and vanilla, and everything tasty. Mouthwatering smells floated all through her kitchen.
     That evening they heard shouts of “Trick or treat! Trick or treat!”
     Sadie opened the door and Pippen ran out to greet the ghosts and goblins.
      “Happy Halloween!” they shouted. “We decided to treat you this year.  We picked and carved your pumpkins for you.”
     Her eyes sparkled when the costumed children greeted her with the jack-o-lanterns.  “Come in. Come in,” she said. “I made a treat for you, too. Pumpkin pies for everyone!”

Do you have a favorite Halloween story?
 


 

4 comments:

  1. Oh! That was so sweet and totally unexpected (the ending). Happy Halloween! :)

    ~Akoss

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thank you Akoss! Happy Halloween to you, too!

      Delete
  2. What a sweet story, Janet. And I already shared your joke with my grandson!

    ReplyDelete

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