Home Again

Great Pumpkin

The Autumn breeze of Great Pumpkin island ruffled my blonde curls. Sitting on the golden grass are Autumn leaves, that fell down from the trees. The whole island looks like it was taken straight from a comic. Like Big Nate island, it's monochromatic. Even the houses have this simple appearance.

For the first time in awhile, I actually didn't feel threatened by anything. There were no gods, no pirates, no deadly plants, and no bionic, psychopathic half-humans. The only thing was a little plane scene, and some pumpkin-pushing. And, by then, I think I'd gotten over my fear of such things (like I was ever afraid of pumpkin pushing).

Fierce Fox followed me across the cement path, headed to the pumpkin garden. It's a bushy and leafy garden, filled with pumpkins peaking from the leaves. The grass felt soft beneath my feet. A girl was standing in the garden. She has wavy, black hair, with two buns near her neck. She wears a lacey, pale blue dress, and black and white sneakers.

A little boy was next to her. He wears a red, striped t-shirt, and holds a soft, baby-blue blanket. His sneakers are yellow, and his head is covered in wispy hair. He also sucks his thumb. Like the island, he and the girl have the cartoonish appearance, and look very different from Fierce Fox and I.

"Lucy wants me to find the biggest, heaviest pumpkin in the patch. Can you help me?" the boy, Linus, asked. The pumpkins were lined up in a row, standing nearby a seesaw-like scale. Fierce Fox and I tested out the pumpkins, until eventually we found the heaviest.

"Well, you picked a good pumpkin," Lucy, the girl, approved grudgingly. "But I doubt you blockheads can get it to our house in one piece!"

"I'm doomed!" Linus cried. "Can you two get it back to my house for me? If you do, I'll give you both a reward."

Fierce Fox heaved the pumpkin up a grassy, leaf-covered hill. I stood in front, both to direct and make sure the pumpkin didn't roll to its demise. The pumpkin rolled down a slope and came to a section of rabbit burrows. I stood in front of the pumpkin and grabbed it from the front, while Fierce Fox pushed. One of the rabbit's burrows began to shake, so I stopped the pumpkin. Then we rolled it over.

We got past the rabbit part (admittedly we may've failed once or twice) and arrived at the log. We stood on a small hill, and shoved the pumpkin. It soared into the log. It popped out the other side; we rolled it over another hill. Then we came to a bunch of kids on swings. It was all down to the luck of the draw. Both of us shoved the pumpkin; unfortunately it got hit, so we had to start over. Great.

A gazillion tries later (thanks Poptropica logic) we finally passed the pumpkin part. The pumpkin was brought into Lucy's house, which has a yellow wallpaper; an orange, dotted carpet; a plain window. The pumpkin sat on a smashed cardboard box.

"Thanks for your help!" Linus said gleefully to us. "Here's a treat bag as the reward I promised," He handed a paper bag to Fierce Fox. Then he faced me. "Sorry, I don't have another one."

"It's fine. We're going to lose it soon anyway." I said, with a shrug. Linus gave me a perplexed look. We turned to Lucy, who was wielding a sharp knife. She brought it down onto the pumpkin, making Linus' hair stand straight up.

"Oh! You didn't tell me you were going to kill it!" Linus exclaimed, with disturbance and dread. Then, the screen blacked out, and said the words, 'Later that night'.

"On Halloween night, The Great Pumpkin rises out of his pumpkin patch," Linus explained. "And flies through the air, with his bag of toys for all the children." I couldn't help but smile at his beliefs. I was like that when I was young, except with Santa Claus.

"You must be crazy!" a boy nearby us retorted. He has fine hair; a yellow t-shirt with a black, lighting-bolt design; brown, leather sneakers; a circular-shaped boy. He also has small, piggy eyes. His name's Charlie Brown. "When are you going to stop believing in something that isn't true?"