Emma and the Pumpkin Patch

You will never view Pumpkins in the same way again.

October seemed to have descended upon the land faster than normal. Pumpkin patches across the country were opening their gates early, allowing the multitudes of Halloween lovers to find that most perfect specimen to create the grim faces of Jack-O-Lanterns needed to top off the experience for this time of year. Young and old, rich or poor both flocked to the fields of green leaved vines. Wandering, perusing, seeking that squash like growth, that would ultimately fall to the knife for the soul pleasure of creating fanciful and elaborate faces; eventually lit by the light of a single candle.

Emma too had her favorite patch. She would arrive early, avoiding the crowds, trekking slowly through the rows to find the best pumpkin she could. She had come to the same patch for years, enjoying it’s quiet and serene location. Nestled between an old farmers house and outlaying barns. Located further away from the city than most, it had always yielded the largest and well known pumpkins. Well, that’s what she had always thought anyhow.

This October was no different. Emma parked her car along the old fence in the gravel parking area. Saying G’Day to the old man who owned the field as she made her way out into the patch. Dew still glistened on the vines as she began her search. Wrapped in a warm wool coat and a scarf to keep the chill away, she let her keen eyes range out into the sea of pumpkins in hopes one might call out to her.

Emma had wandered a goodly distance among the orange rounds and their life giving vines. The chill morning air made her nose and cheeks glow red as her breath came out in puffs of steam. Taking a moment to regain her sense of direction, she momentarily looked down. One of her shoe laces had come undone and was dragging along the ground, being tangled with the smaller pumpkin vines.

Sighing, she bent down to untangle her lace and re-tie her shoe. As her fingers quickly looped the shoelace into a bow, she heard her name drift to her ears.

“Emma....”

Standing, the young woman gazed around to find the source of the voice. She quickly saw that not another soul was in the patch, other than herself.

“Perhaps I’m just hearing my own thoughts.” She chuckled to her self and continued on down the row she was on.

“Emma!...” Again the voice filtered through the early morning hour. Stopping, Emma turned quickly left and right and all the way around again no one was there.

“Ok, this is just crazy.” She spoke to herself, beginning to worry she might indeed be imagining things.

She let the peaceful silence of the early hour descend upon her as she thought how silly it all was seeming to be. Emma took a moment, blowing warm air onto her hands while rubbing them together; having forgotten her gloves before continuing on.

She only took a step then stopped as motion caught her eye. Low to the ground towards her left she could have sworn the vines has moved. Staring intently, Emma watched and waited to see if it they would wiggle again.

That’s when she unmistakably heard a small voice calling from the vines.

“Emma!...” It called out.

The young woman took a few quick steps back, tripping, she fell down upon the soft earth. Eye’s wide, Emma watched as the vines wiggled and a mid size pumpkin shuffled and hopped out into the middle of the open area between rows.

“What?” Emma whispered in shock.

“Emma please...help us!” The pumpkin spoke, opening a pair of eyes to look at the young woman.

Emma at once rubbed her own eyes with her hands trying to make sure that she wasn’t dreaming.

The pumpkin quivered again, blinked and spoke along with other small voices emanating from other nearby pumpkins.

“Please! We don’t want to die! You can help us Emma! Help us escape!” They all spoke in unison.

Emma twisted her head left and right again as the patch began to come alive with movement. Pumpkins of all shapes and sizes wobbled, rolled and hopped to surround her.

“Oh my goodness!” She exclaimed.

“Please don’t be afraid... We need you; Will you help us?” The original pumpkin spoke from a small mouth, now visible along its side.

“Yes, please help us!” The others added their myriad of voices.

Emma sat motionless, fear and confusion flooding her emotions. “You can’t speak, this can’t be real!” She spoke quietly, “You’re just pumpkins.”

“Yes, we are pumpkins, but we are soul pumpkins. We are alive! We wish not to be carved dear Emma.” A small pumpkin spoke.

“Or turned into Halloween freaks.” A large pumpkin added, giving Emma a toothy grin.

Emma squeaked in fear, covering her mouth, while trying to scoot back from the talking pumpkins.

“Please Emma you are our only hope!” The pumpkin in front of her pleaded.

“Please save us!” Another cried, small orange tears dripping from it’s large soulful eyes.

With the sight of the crying pumpkin, Emma’s fear melted and her heart began to feel compassion for these round orange squash like cousins. Taking a moment to think and breathe Emma spoke.

“What can I do to help you?”

“Protect us!” Several pumpkins shouted.

“Don’t let them take our seeds!” A small pumpkin with brown spots cried.

“Make them leave us alone.” The big deep voiced pumpkin spoke, “Keep them away from our home.”

Emma, overwhelmed at all the pleas for aid, shook her head. “But I don’t own this place, I can’t just tell people not to come!”

“You have to save us!”

“You’re our only hope!”

“We believe in you!”

The voices of the pumpkin patch spoke from all around, filling Emma’s heart with the want to save them.

“Let me think..ok....I need time to figure this out.” She told them politely. The pumpkins quieted allowing the young woman to stew upon the problem at hand.

Emma sat in contemplation for some time. Her thoughts spiraled this way and that, trying to find a solution that would work. Her first thought was to simply buy the patch. She dismissed it as her mind saw the reaction of the tabloids. “Young actress spends thousands to save old pumpkin patch.”

“They’d think I’d gone and lost my mind.” Emma whispered under her breath.

A car door closing echoed in the distance. She spun to see a middle age man walking into the patch, knife in hand. Emma caught her breath and the surrounding pumpkins panicked.

“Quick! Do something!”

“Don’t let him take one of us...”

“They might take our babies!

“Or our brothers!”

“Or our sisters and wives!”

“Ok! Ok!” Emma shouted, scrambling to her feet and running as fast as she could down the row back towards the entrance to the patch. As she neared the man, she could see him looking at a pumpkin directly in front of himself.

Emma heard the cry of terror from the pumpkin.

“Help meeeee!” It squealed as the sharp blade of the man’s knife came near.

Emma shouted, “Stop! Please....Sir....” Out of breath, she stopped in a crouch in front of the orange squash.

“Excuse me?” The man responded, not quite sure what was going on.

“You can’t have that one. Um...Or any of them.” Emma spoke hastily, “There’s a huge patch down the road a couple of kilometers that you’d find much better pumpkins than these.” She added quickly, praying the he wouldn’t think her completely insane.

The man looked at the young woman for a moment, blinked his eyes a few times then spoke. “Look miss, I’m sure that this patch has more than enough. But if you really like this one...I’ll just go over here.” The he smiled and headed a few meters down the row.

The pumpkins began screaming in Emma’s ears again.

“Stop him!”

“Don’t let him kill me!” A pumpkin shouted, quivering as the man neared it.

Emma, now desperate and questioning her own mental stability leaped up and rushed the man.

“What the?” The man shouted.

Emma grabbed the knife and was tugging it away from the vines.

“Miss....Please stop this! You could hurt yourself.” The man spoke firmly, giving a firm tug on the knife. Emma lost her grip and fell backwards into the patch.

“Please don’t kill it!” Emma shouted, having lost all reasoning in her thoughts. “I can’t let you take any of them!” Her own tears beginning to drip down her cheeks.

“What’s going on here?” The soft soothing voice of the old man who owned the patch asked. He slowly hobbled up a row to where the Man and Emma were arguing.

“My good Sir.” The male customer looked over at the owner. “It seems that this young woman thinks she can stop me from picking a pumpkin from your patch.”

The owner looked down at Emma, “Please Miss, What has you so worked up? Why do you insist on not allowing this man to pick from my patch.”

Emma’s mind screamed for her to think before speaking. Emma’s heart ached to protect the pumpkins and tell the truth at the same time; reason kicked in at the last moment.

Taking a deep breath Emma spoke. “Please Sir.” Looking at the old man. “I wish to buy your patch. Whatever the cost. It’s important to me.”

The old man rubbed his bearded chin for a moment, “Hmmmm.. Do you have what it takes to care for these pumpkins Miss?” He asked.

“This is preposterous!” The other man muttered, “I’m leaving. I hope good sir, you have this crazy girl removed from your patch lest she drive all of your customers away.”

Both Emma and the old man watched the frustrated man quickly walk back to his vehicle. The car door slammed, the engine roared to life and soon there was nothing left but silence again upon the pumpkin patch.

“I believe I asked you a question Miss.” The old man spoke with a smile creeping to his face and his eyes glowing bright.

Emma turned again to the old man, “Um...I’ll do whatever I must.” She replied. Her voice filled with heart.

The old man reached out a hand to help her up from the vines she had landed on. “I know you will.... You’ve always been their favorite you know,” He spoke chuckling softly.

Emma’s eyes turned to meet his in uncertainty. “What do you mean?”

The old man slowly hobbled over to the main gate and flipped the open sign over to closed. “Ever since you began coming here as a little girl. They would speak of you letting me know how you would be the one to save them.”

“What?” Emma’s eyes widened, “You mean that you can hear them too?”

“Of course...I planted them.” The old man smiled. “But the job of letting them live was always yours.”

Emma stood silently, her mind trying to find some rational and logical explanation to what she was being told, but couldn’t. Somewhere deep in her heart she felt something. Looking back towards the rows of pumpkins. It was then she understood that what she was feeling...was love.

Emma smiled, as she reached down and rubbed the side of a pumpkin. “It’s going to be fine now. No one is going to take you away from here any more. I promise.”

The pumpkins began to cheer and bounce up and down with joy.

“Thank you!”

“We knew you were our savior!”

“You have given us our freedom to live! We love you!”

The countless voices from the patch filled Emma’s heart with happiness.

Today, as people visit the pumpkin patch every October, they view and admire the hundreds of orange globes that thrive in the soil. When they enter, they see and read the sign over the entry gate.

Emma’s Ornamental Pumpkin Patch. Come Look, Listen and Enjoy, but never destroy.

Reviews

[TomEYou]

Cute, and a fun read.

Comments: "...having forgotten her gloves before continuing on." Did she leave at home or on the ground?

Paragraph 1: "soul pleasure" - Sounds intentional, was it?

[Wolfwind]

Thanks for reading... the gloves... yeah... kinda vague statement. I need to go back add where she left them. And the soul pleasure thing wasn't intentional...but I might just leave it that way, cause it adds a more magical feeling to it. Thanks so much for stopping by! :)

[Admiral Kirk]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMME!!! Heh, cool story. :) I like how you give life and personalities to plants and animals... pretty awesomely, I might add. Great job! :D

[Wolfwind]

Thanks! :D It's one of the few pieces that I actually think is better than good of mine. lol

[Admiral Kirk]

You're welcome! All your pieces are awesome... :)

[Wolfwind]

Awe! You are so kind! =)

[Admiral Kirk]

:D Thanks!!! You too. :)