Once there was a smiling winking pumpkin in a pumpkin patch. She was eager to go home with a child. All summer she’d heard stories about her ancestors and the festival called Halloween. She was so curious! As she sat in the patch, she noticed kids passed right by her, always choosing another orange globe. She began to wonder what was wrong with her, and she asked the question aloud, “Why don’t I get chosen?”
A nearby pumpkin replied in a haughty tone, “You aren’t perfectly ROUND enough to be chosen. People only like round pumpkins.” The little pumpkin thought, “Well, that’s not true. All shapes of pumpkins get chosen. Besides, I feel my shape is just right for me.” She asked another neighbor, who replied, “Well, you aren’t chosen because you’re too small. Nobody wants a puny pumpkin. They want enormous globes.” And the little pumpkin thought, “That doesn’t feel right. I feel I’m just the right size for me.” Just then another pumpkin piped up, “You aren’t chosen because you already have a face. Kids want pumpkins they can carve their own faces onto.”
The little pumpkin didn’t know this. She sighed and wished aloud that she didn’t have a face so she could be chosen. Just then a little fairy appeared. He announced he was the Pumpkin Fairy, and she explained what she wanted. “But if you don’t have your face, you won’t be you anymore!” But the little pumpkin wanted so badly to be chosen that the fairy came up with an idea. He cast a spell on the pumpkin to hide her face, but when she was chosen, her natural face would return when she was carved.
The next day, the little pumpkin felt herself lift and a sensation of flying. She could hear a girl’s voice: “This is the one!” The little pumpkin rode home in the back of the car with others. She felt herself move through the air again and sit on a countertop. Mother picked up the little pumpkin and said, “”I’ll use this one to make pie.” She jammed a knife into the little pumpkin, who thought, “Oh no! I’ll never get to have a face again or see Halloween!” Just then the girl came in saying, “Not that one, Mom! Here is the pumpkin for pie,” handing her another small one. “What difference does it make?” asked Mom. The girl said, “I picked the one I want and I want the one I picked.”
So Mom handed the little pumpkin to her, and the girl sat down to carve. She wondered what type of face to make. The pumpkin sat, hopeful, and thought about how she had a smiling winking face before. The little girl saw a vision in her imagination and began to carve. Then the little pumpkin’s smiling winking face was back! That night, the girl put some candles in the pumpkin and put her on the porch. The little smiling winking pumpkin glowed happily all night as kids came trick-or-treating. She had the time of her life!