Addy and the Pumpkin

by Talzhemir

Talzhemir: We're coming up on Halloween. How about a spooky story?
Abbi: Yeah.
Talishia nods.
Talzhemir: Alrighty. Here we go.

      This tale takes place in a town called Passareen. It's south of Malgrave, in Kasuria. It's in the middle of a patch of farm land, at the edge of a forest.

      The roads don't go near it because there's a river, and traders follow the river bank or ride on barges. Passareen is a little isolated therefore...

      The sky was gray and the sun just a bright smudge, with a cold wind heaping dark clouds upon them. Dire autumn thunder rolled over the land.

      Twelve-year-old Tish was a farm bunny. She pulled a plow in the big harness straps meant for an ostrix. Everything about Tish was drab and mud-colored, her fur, her hair, her eyes, and the undyed long shirt she wore for a short dress.

      See, this is a farm story. ;-)

      Tish's brother, Addy, a year younger, pushed the crossbar between the splintery gray wood handles. "We gotta hurry up," Tish said quietly to her brother. "The rain is coming; if the dry ground gets wet, it'll be impossible to till for days."

      He nodded. They struggled onwards. They didn't talk; talking wasted breath. If they were lucky, they could grow a fall crop before the frosts came. Lucky was not generally what Tish and Addy tended to be.

      Behind the plow, Addy wore his dad's same expression, half a frown weighing between his eyes, his muzzle sealed with a closed line.

      Tish and her brother had been alone in Passareen for over a year. Pa had named her "Leticia". It meant "Joy". Then Ma had died giving birth to Addy. His name had been her last word. "Adiemus"

      It means "We will draw near."

      After that, Pa had been real strict with them, never smiling, making them go to bed early. When their shoes wore out, the leather falling to pieces, they ran barefoot. There was no money to replace them.

      One night Addy had stepped on some flint. The soles of his feet were like rawhide but it still cut his foot open wide.

      Pa was out hunting, so it fell to Tish to wrap it in a long scrap of cloth. Addy hardly made any sound as she tied it tight. Afterwards, Addy didn't say thanks.

      Tish didn't mind because her brother generally didn't say much at all. Addy's big dark expressive eyes showed he was grateful in a way his sister could read.

      Without Ma to help in the fields, food was scarce. Pa had given most of it to them. He always said he wasn't hungry, even when he was really skinny. Somehow he kept pulling the plow by himself and he was just as strong as ever.

      Then , without warning, Addy had found Pa in bed one night, unmoving, his eyes wide open and getting dry. Tish cried for months, every night. Addy never even cried.

      The air got tight and heavy and cold and then the rain burst out of the dirty roiling sky. The water covered the ground in a frothy beige river, and the mud grabbed the plow. They had only finished a tiny corner of their land.

      Tish and Addy ran inside, and sat there dripping. They could have dried off with a blanket but that was the only cloth they had and they would need it dry when the night got cold.

      The next day they went outside and the plow was gone, washed away in the flood. The box where they kept their seeds was gone, too. The only thing they had left was a little bag that hung around Tish's neck.

      It was the seeds from a pumpkin that their father and mother had planted. Tish had meant to roast them and eat them with Addy, but then she'd forgotten. She had found them back last month.

      Addy said nothiing as he looked around. Tish started to weep, but she'd cried so much that it didn't stop her anymore. She kept working and crying at the same time.

      She gave Addy half the seeds, and she took the other half, and they planted them in that little corner they had managed to plow.

      Over the next week, Addy kept waking up in the middle of the night. His big dark eyes were wide, white showing in the corners, and his long ears were tucked flat to his neck, his chin raised stiffly.

      Tish sat up and said, "Addy?" When she put her arm around him she could feel he was shaking, and chilly.

      He didn't say anything. So Tish sighed, and laid back. Eventually, Addy curled up next to his sister and they fell asleep again under their blanket.

      Outside, the sun came out again, pouring goodness into sprouts with teardrop leaves. The tendrils soon sprawled here and there, pentagon-shaped leaves growing bigger and bigger.

      They didn't have much food left, just some oats that they cooked into little handfuls of porridge. So they went into the village to find whatever work they could.

      They had circles under their eyes and their knees were knobby, their shoulders bony. An old mare in a bonnet (with holes cut in the broad brim for her ears) offered them a few coins if they would bring her firewood.

      "I'm too old to cut it myself," she said, "and winter's a-coming. So, if you please, bring me some every day?" Tish and Addy nodded.

      Their father had left an axe. It was big and heavy. Neither of them could use it alone, so they held it together. After a while, they got good at using the axe together.

      They brought the old widow her firewood and had enough money to buy more grain. They were too poor to afford salt, and they were hungry all the time.

      They were out in the forest one day when Tish smelled something yummy. She said to her brother, "I smell apples!" Their noses twitched. They followed the scent...

      Addy found it first: One huge tree in the middle of a lush grassy clearing. There was a tall gray stone that was laying on its side.

      The stone was covered in the remains of old carvings, with moss in the cracks making it more obvious. The carving in the middle was some kind of knotwork flower, but the stone had cracked and that had split the design.

      When he saw that, Addy grabbed Tish's wrist and shook his head!

      Tish said, "Aw come on. We need the apples!"

      Addy shook his head again, his eyes pleading with her.

      He wouldn't set foot in the clearing so Tish said, "Fine, you just stay here, chicken. I'll go get them myself!" And she walked out into the rich grass.

      She had gone about seven steps when the ground gave way under her foot. She yelped. Her foot didn't go that far, it just went in up to her knee. She pulled it out.

      Addy just stood and stared...

      Tish went a little further, and it happened again, and this time there was a little puff of dust. She felt her foot hit something hard and round.

      The smell of the apples was too strong a lure, though. She got to her feet again, and reached the tree. Tying the bottom ends of her shirt tight, she stuffed it with apples until she looked like a a bulgy bag with a rabbit head and arms.

      Tish broke through the grassy ground a few more times on the way out, until she stumbled and fell at Addy's feet. He hesitated to touch her, but then he helped her up.

      She smiled, then took an apple out and offered it to him. Addy just stared at her and wouldn't take it.

      His sister said, "Aw come on! aren't you hungry?" Addy shook his head slowly. So Tish ate it herself. She put her big front teeth into the smooth skin. It crunched, and the sweet juice ran down her chin. It was so good that she had four more.

      When she was done, she still had alot left, and all that was left of the ones she ate was four stems. She had even eaten the seeds.

      It was dark by that time. They didn't bring the old lady her firewood so they didn't get any coins that day.

      Tish asked her brother, "Are you sure you don't want any? They're really good!" But still Addy wouldn't touch them.

      The next day, Addy was in the garden pulling leaf-eating bugs off their pumpkin vines. He looked over and saw Tish was kneeling in front of the healthiest vine. She said, "Grow, and grow and grow. And to you, we'll bow low.".

      He came over to her and looked at her inquisitively. She blinked, gave her head a little shake and turned to Addy. She said, "What??" He stared, and shook his head a little, looking away.

      They brought the old mare lady her firewood the next day. This time she invited them in for a hot meal.

      She went into her kitchen and brought out peeled roasted potatoes, lettuce and small tomatoes, and sweet onion-beet soup, colored deep red.

      Addy ate better than he had in years. He smiled brightly and the old mare nodded to him.

      Tish was hungry too. She finished up whatever was set in front of her. Addy was stuffed, but Tish kept drinking down the soup. She had four bowls of it. Then she finished off two helpings of the potatoes and three of the crunchy salad.

      "My goodness," said the old widow, but she wasn't angry. "Here," she said, "You can take a bit with you if you like."

      Tish said, "Yes. Yes!" So they brought a bit home.

      By now the vines were full-grown, and the yellow flowers had turned to round green knobs. They were all sickly except for the one big one near the middle. That one sprawled its vines for twenty feet in every direction, roots going down from the leaves, drawing nourishment in towards the center. There was one pumpkin fruit on it that was bigger than all the rest, too.

      At night, Addy wasn't sleeping well. He woke up covered in sweat, his little rabbit heart racing. Everything was quiet.

      He looked around, and Tish wasn't there. So he got up, and opened the door, and looked around.

      He went to the garden. There was his sister, on her knees, murmuring and rocking back and forth. When she saw him, she said, "Go back inside. Go back to sleep." She stared at him and Addy didn't answer, he stared back. She yelled, "NOW!" so suddenly and loudly that he jumped.

      Addy backed away. Then he shook his head again and went inside. When he closed the door, he noticed that the bowls and napkin of stuff the old lady had given them was gone.

      Addy couldn't get back to sleep. He heard Tish come back inside later on. In the doorway he could see her breath in the moonlight, it was that cold outside.

      She went to sleep but he huddled by himself, feeling all alone although they were sharing a blanket.

Talzhemir: And that's the end.

Kaya Darkstone: WHAT?!?!
Talishia says "o.o"
*-Silly-Celly-*: ........ O-O
Kaya Darkstone: XD!!!!
You say, "You can't end it there!" *-Silly-Celly-*: WHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT.
Talzhemir grins wickedly.
Talishia bites Talz.
Talzhemir: I'm just kidding. That wasn't the end at all, noooo.
Talishia says:... that was so mean.
Ja Lacaob laughs... "I like her."
*-Silly-Celly-*: xD

      The garden was withering. All except for that one big plant in the center. On it, there was just one pumpkin. It was growing big... bigger...

      It was growing about ten pounds every day. That can happen sometimes, with a pumpkin. It was beautiful and perfect, the leathery orange skin bright in the sunlight. Pretty soon it was up to Tish's waist.

      Addy got the axe and waited but Tish said, "I can't go. I have to stay here..."

      Addy knew he couldn't chop the wood by himself. He frowned and waited.

      Tish kneeled next to the pumpkin and said, "It's amazing. It's going to change *everything* for us! You'll see!"

      Addy waited. Tish said, "Look, this is *important*..." Addy gazed at her silently with his big dark eyes, and Tish said finally, "oh alright!" and stood up with a sulky frown.

      They came to the old mare's home with a load of wood on their backs, and they were surprised to see two other furres standing with her on the lawn.

      Tish said, "What's happened...?"

      The widow said, "Last night, somebody broke into my house. They took all my money." She tried not to, but her voice cracked.

      Addy looked stricken, and Tish said, "That's horrible! I... I guess you can't pay us anymore?"

      The old lady said, "I can't anymore. I'm so sorry! You should ask Miller Sutto if he needs any wood; I'll give him my recommendation."

      Addy nodded, hoping for a new job but Tish said, "No, that's alright, we'll be fine!" And before he could say anything, Tish took his hand and led him away back to their farm.

      They cooked the last of their grain and Tish was so hungry she licked her bowl, and then she licked Addy's bowl too.

      That night, Addy had the worst dream of all. He dreamt that his sister had a knife. She went over to the pumpkin, the really big one, the only one that had grown...

      He dreamt that his sister scored two lines on it and then a third wide line. In his dream, she cut her left hand with the knife and rubbed her blood on the cuts on the orange skin...

      The pumpkin's surface bulged as if it were stretchy, then the two lines opened up into perfectly circular eyes.

      Addy tossed on the floor in his sleep. The pumpkin's line for a mouth opened up into a wide mouth. Under a full moon's light, some kind of brown smoke started coming out of that mouth and a wierd hollow voice was moaning loudly.

      The mouth opened up wider and wider. Then Addy saw Tish fall to her knees in front of it. She bowed down low, so low her face was touching the ground.

      The pumpkin face flexed into a big beneficent smile. From the smoking mouth came a voice that said, "COME..."

      The mouth got wider and wider. Then Tish crawled forwards on her hands and knees, her eyes shining in adoration as she crawled inside.

      Addy tried to scream, tried to warn her but his whole body was paralyzed. And then, suddenly, he found himself inside the house, awake again.

      He looked around expecting that Tish would not be there. She wasn't. He got up, ran out of the house.

      Outside in the garden, there was just the pumpkin, bigger than ever. There was no sign of his sister. He walked closer and the pumpkin looked perfectly normal...

      Addy looked around. He felt like he was going insane. He searched all around for his sister but he couldn't find her.

      He went into the house to find his father's axe. He couldn't find it.

      Addy opened his mouth to scream in frustration and all he could make was a sound like a loud sigh.

      He ran out of the house again. He circled the house. Owls hooted, and wind rustled the leaves, but he couldn't find any sign of Tish.

      He remembered the apple tree and the grassy field. He went straight for it.

      When he got there, he discovered the apple tree was gone- turned to dust. He walked out towards it a bit.

      He saw the spot where her foot had gone through the turf. So he kneeled down and found that place. The hole was still there.

      He pulled the sod aside; it took quite a bit of his strength to ripe the soft dry roots apart.

      He saw some dry white bones, scraps of linen, and what might have once been a belt buckle in an opening.

      Addy looked around more carefully. He found one place where the grass had been walked over by somebody several times.

      He went there and found that the grass here had been cut into a kind of flap. He didn't want to touch it, but he decided he had to. He reached out and pulled the flap of grass back.

      Inside the hole there was another skeleton held together by scraps of muscle dried to jerky, and a long bundle, wrapped in an ugly shawl. Addy recognized it as the old mare's shawl.

      Addy pulled the bundle out, trying hard not to touch the dry body.

      Addy dragged the bundle out; it was pretty heavy.

      Addy was about to open the bundle when he saw that there was something glinting around the skeleton neck.

      It was a little pendant no bigger than a small coin. It was strangely familiar. He had seen it before, but where?

      Then he remembered, just barely, where he had seen it. Around his father's neck!

      There were graves in the clearin and when his sister had walked through, she had stepped through the rotted coffin lids. But they had only put Addy's father in the grave two years ago. The wood had moldered faster than it should have.

      Addy backed away from the body that was the remains of his father, and he dragged the shawl-wrapped bundle with him. He sat down and opened it up.

      He found another pendant like the one on his father's body. They bore the same knotwork flower that had been on the big cracked stone monument laying on its side.

      Then he found a pouch full of coins, and an axe. His father's axe, of course.

      False dawn had arrived. and a fog rose. There was just a little bit of light in the east. The town of Passareen was swallowed in mist. Addy hid the coins back in the grave, and took the axe and the coin-sized amulet.

      He found his way back to his house, and the shrivelled garden. The sole growing plant was now a hub of thirty-foot-long vines. The pumpkin was bigger than ever, higher than his elbow as he stood in front of it.

      There was a knife on the ground near it, and its surface was scored with three thin lines. Some fluid like tears was seeping out of those relatively fresh cuts.

      Addy gritted his teeth. He raised up the axe high.

      A voice behind him, an older furre, yelled loudly, commandingly, "Stop!" Addy looked- there were half a dozen figures coming out of the mists. They were pointing crossbows at him.

      Addy lowered the axe. The furres- two wolves, a manx, and three rats, ran forwards, and one of the rats tried to take the axe away from Addy.

      The tailless black cat wore the same style of armor and long dark capes as his companions. He was the one who had spoken. He said, "Violence should be a last resort, son. You're Addy, yes?"

      They were struggling and they couldn't get the axe away from him. The two wolves had the axe up in the air with Addy dangling off of it. He lowered his floppy ears and nodded to the cat captain.

      The manx said, "Let go of the axe, now. You won't be harmed." Addy didn't want to but his muscles couldn't hold on forever. He let go involuntarily. The captain said, firmly and gently, "Where is your sister?"

      Addy opened his mouth and no sound came out.

      He pointed at the enormous pumpkin. The guards looked at each other. One of the wolves gave a little shrug. The manx said, "Your sister is a pumpkin?"

      Addy shook his head and sagged. The manx cat dropped to a knee on the dewy ground. "Listen, Addy. The widow told us everything. We know you took the money. But you're just children, and we're going to take you to Malgrave. You just have to tell us where your sister is, and where you hid the money."

      Addy opened his mouth, and tried to talk. He made a gaspy noise. He put his hand to his throat. He found the little pendant there, like the one his father had worn. He made another noise like a groan.

      Some of the guards thought he might be choking, but then Addy made a noise that was a cross between a sputter and a creak. "Paaaeeeeeeeeee...."

      He did it again, "paeeeeee.. " Then tears started to come down his face. "P-paaa. Papa. Papa...!"

      With a touch of a sigh, the manx captain took Addy in his arms and hugged him close. He said gruffly, "it's alright. It will be alright." Addy cried like the strings inside him were too tight and tearing, but as they tore, there was relief.

      The rabbit boy pulled away carefully and said, "p-pumpkin... has Tish. Sister."

      The manx stood again in a slow balanced fashion. He looked at the thing, then said, "...Stranger things have been known to happen."

      The pair of wolves drew neat sabers and advanced on the pumpkin.

      It didn't move or make a sound. They were ready to hack it to pieces when the vines rustled. That was their only warning before the leafy thick strands ripped themselves out of the ground and whipped around all of the king's soldier-furres!

      The one that had been holding the axe dropped it. Addy grabbed it up off the ground.

      He ran back, about to smash the pumpkin at last, just like he'd intended to.

      The manx captain was on the ground. He couldn't be strangled because he was wearing a metal collar. But the vines had squeezed his chest and he simply couldn't *inhale*.

      The pumpkin's slit eyes opened at last, with a wet noise. Its mouth parted in a big nasty grin. Then Addy saw Tish's face at the corner of its mouth, her body crunched up inside of the thing.

      Tish shrieked, "ADDY! Please, no!"

      He couldn't smash the pumpkin without also chopping up poor Tish!

      The guards were struggling, sabers hacking off vines thick as their ankles.

      Addy came closer and then-- instead of chopping the pumpkin, he hacked at the stem that connected it to the rest of the plant.

      The vines convulsed and one swung into his back, knocking Addy on his face in a sprawl. He still gripped that axe, though.

      Addy swung his father's axe, and cut again at the pumpkin stem. This time, the pumpkin rolled onto its side, the eyes contorting into crescents and it coughed Tish out to give a loud moaning scream.

      Vines were circling around Addy but they couldn't stay near him. He gave a third chop, to sever the pumpkin at last. Once that was done, the vines lost their power and the guards were able to free themselves.

      Tish uncurled and sat up as they all hacked the pumpkin to seeds and pulp.

      Addy dropped the axe at last and hugged his sister. The Manx captain, whose name was Brion, took them to Passareen after Addy bravely retrieved the widow's life's savings.

      It turned out that the guards had come to Passareen on the errand of buying several wagonloads of provisions, especially a certain dessert wine, for the castle, where King Constantine was holding a feast.

      The orphans were taken into the household there, where they met many amazing courtiers, and grew into fine Kasurian citizens. And that's the end, so far as I know.