Narrated by the newborn Pumpkin on Halloween night.
As I took a better peek at the houses I spotted pumpkins with carved faces sitting in front of many homes. At first I thought I had found beings like me. It intrigued me and filled me with joy to see other Pumpkins. I climbed up the steps of one of the houses and thought about what to say. Somehow I felt more at ease talking to beings closer to my size and appearance than talking to the taller humans.
“Hello,” I said to them. The pumpkins did not move their mouths or eyes or even their heads. They did nothing. Unlike me, they did not have any arms or legs, so I expected them to sit still, but they did not even move their faces. I examined them and discovered that they had artificial faces and could not see me or hear me or know I talked to them. They did not talk or think about talking. People must have used them as decorations containing candles that enhanced the Halloween scene. Like all the other pumpkins, everyone in this town ignored me.
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As I continued strolling down the street, I felt the presence of someone behind me. I turned around and viewed a translucent man with a body of dim light. I could almost see through him. Despite his size and vibrance, everyone marched through him like an invisible being that did not exist. As I studied his eyes, a sight of surprise gasped from his face, as if he did not expect me to see him. He flew away from my view as if he blew himself away. I turned away in confusion and continued exploring the street, wondering if I might ever see the ghost again.
A short time later, I spotted a house where people celebrated in their unfenced lawn. A tied-up object hung from a tree with the form of a green-skinned woman dressed in black, but did not live or breathe. The children covered their eyes with blind-folds and grabbed some sort of stick. They took turns beating the suspended figure. Some of them called the figure a witch...
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One of the children managed to beat the witch figure so much that out fell a ton of the treasures called candy. As I peeked myself closer, the scents of chocolate, licorice and other sorts of juicy sweetness filled my nose. Some of the children grabbed over a dozen pieces and placed them in the mouths, displaying the most satisfied smiles. Such sweetness opened my curiosity about the joy that this candy contained. After the children went inside, a few pieces remained under the tree that no one had retrieved from the ground. As I assumed no one could see me, I crept along the grass toward the tree. As I stepped into the middle of the lawn, two of the children peered out the window.
Their mouths dropped at the sight of a walking Pumpkin with arms, legs and a face. One of the kids opened the window and tossed a stone towards me. I jumped, wanting to hide myself. I did not have enough time to hide myself behind the tree without the kids finding me, so I retreated the yard. The two children opened the door to go outside, and threw stones at me....
