Everyday Canvas

Pumpkins and Stephen King's Halloween Invitation

Prompt: Do you like orange pumpkins or white pumpkins? Do you buy pumpkins at a pumpkin farm or somewhere else?

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In my mind, a pumpkin has to be orange. A white pumpkin is a pumpkin wearing a shroud. My bias toward orange pumpkins may be because all pumpkin related stories and news showed pumpkin images in orange.

As to where I buy them, there are no pumpkin farms around where I live, but there are several pumpkin patches in Florida, all too far to drive. So whatever the local supermarket has, I get that. I especially like the small pumpkins that I can exhibit on the windowsill.

This prompt made me search for info about pumpkins. I think what I found below has quite a bit of stuff in a nutshell.

From the site Funtober.com
“Before Columbus, pumpkins were not a native fruit in Europe. Jack O’Lanterns were carved from turnips or gourds. Pumpkins were native to Central America for over 5000 years before being brought back to Europe by the French explorer Jacques Cartier. Pumpkins are a fruit and really a member of the squash family which includes melons, cucumbers, gourds and more. The Irish are credited with bringing pumpkin carving to America. Pumpkin flowers and seeds are edible. It generally takes 80-120 days for a pumpkin to go from seed to grown fruit. Most pumpkins in the United States are ripened and used in October.”

“Pumpkins were first grown in the New World There were originally grown by Native American farmers in combination with other crops along river banks. The squash and pumpkins were first grown along with sunflowers and beans. Then they were grown with maize (corn) and beans. The “Three Sisters,” as they are known, aid each other in growth. The squash prevents weeds and preserves moisture in the ground. The corn serves as a trellis for the beans to grow, and their growth helps to stabilize the corn in the wind. The pumpkins looked different than the ones which are turned into jack-o-lanterns today.

“The word pumpkin, despite the American origin of the plant, has greek origins. In Greek, Pepon -or Pepin- means large melon. As the word and squash gained use in France, England and America, the word pumpkin emerge.

“Pumpkins were a valuable food source for both Native Americans and early European settlers. From pumpkin seeds to roasted pumpkin strips, they were cooked, used in stews, or ground into flour. They stored well and helped settlers through the harsh winters. They were also cleaned and used as bowls and for storage. Pumpkins even became a source of beer when settlers found other options scarce.”

Prompt: You are spending Halloween with Stephen King. What spooky things await you? Have fun with this.

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It was surprising to get an invitation from Stephen King for a Halloween Party in his castle. I mean, I never met the man. I read his books but, do authors know who reads their books? Maybe this one knew with all the magic he knows and the way he twists and turns that magic for his purposes. So I accepted the invitation with great enthusiasm.

The castle was a replica of Vlad’s; no creativity there…except for the castle door, which was split by an ax and the ax still hung in its middle. Cute! It had to be Jack Torrance’s work. The minute I rang the doorbell, someone screamed: “Here’s Johnny!” I guessed Stephen King wanted to relive his books in his daily life.

Pennywise, the murderous clown with razor-sharp teeth, opened the door. Now I worried about my next nightmare. Yeah!

At the entrance from inside a huge metal cage, Cujo barked at me. I don’t care if Cujo had rabies and a thirst for blood; I wanted to pet him. I just love dogs. Pennywise, however, pulled me away, his grasp on my arm reaching all the way to my humerus. “Not yet, Ma’am,” he groaned. “The master will let him and everyone else loose at midnight. Then the fun will begin.”

“Oh?” I wasn’t so sure I wanted to stay until midnight, but in the next instant, my eyes took in the sight of a half-open door, inside which Richard Vickers was watching a closed-circuit recording. Oh, Oh!

“Well,” I said, “I might not be able to stay that long. My broom will get impatient. It needs to be up in the air every two hours or so. It may refuse to take off into the air, later.”

“No problem! The master will send you back in Christine, together with your broom.”

“But I have a critter at home who has to be fed.”

“Well, I’ll run this problem by the master and see what he has to say since you are the only guest tonight!”

Ouch! The only guest! Ugh! Why did I ever think clowns were adorable!

I stopped short at the door to the entrance when Ace Merrill showed up pointing his knife at me, together with the disgruntled Nazi, Kurt Dussander. It was evident Pennywise’s master was going to let loose all his characters on me. And me meeting the author? Forget about it. With him holding the pen, I couldn’t even meet my maker, but the horned enemy from down below.

“Oh. my God!” I exclaimed, my shrill voice making Pennywise take a step back. “I forgot to tether my broom to a tree. I’ll be right back!”

And I dashed away before Pennywise could grab my arm again, past the door with Richard Vickers inside, past the growling, howling Cujo, past Gage Creed—Just when did this kid show up!--, and pushing open the split-door with the ax still hanging on it, I rushed to my broom, barely in time before a tree near me burst into fire.

Finally, up on my broom and into the wind, I waved at Carrie who was watching from an upstairs window.

I feel I handled this whole thing with quite a bit of polish, although I always hate to stand people up, especially authors like Stephen King. No wonder I didn't get a repeat invitation. What a pity!