It is a sunny fall Friday this October in the Pumpkin field. The streets are getting decorated with colourful fallen leaves and the adult pumpkins with their Halloween carvings are lighting the lights in their bellies. The Hokkaido twins Micha and Meiko are playing roll down the hill with their friends Gail the gourd and Charlie the butternut squash. Like they often do after school. It is a small part of the pumpkin field they have all to themselves. Meiko loves to roll down this hill because of how fast she can go. And Micha has made a small jump at the bottom of the hill, he can use to get high into the air. Gail is often standing at the top worrying they might get hurt. And Charlie clumsily tries to follow them down the hill but usually rolls off to the side into a bush.
“Look at how fast I’m going” Meiko laughs as she rolls fast down the hill.
“Yeah but look at how high I’m flying” Micha boasts as he makes another great jump.
“Hey, hey guys look at this” Charlie makes a running start and gets ready to roll down the hill but stumbles. He still rolls down the hill but head first instead of sideways.
“Look at the little baby pumpkins rolling down their little baby hill” Billy laughs with his friends as the three pumpkins walk up the hill. Billy is the largest and fattest of them all. In fact he is larger and more bulbous than any pumpkin his age. Just the walk up the hill makes him a little winded. "The babies think they are going fast and jumping high. I went much faster and higher going down the pumpkin smasher".
"The Pumpkin Smasher? Didn’t D’Arcy and Melissa get their shells cracked going down that hill" Gail nervously reminds them.
"Are you calling me a liar? I go down the pumpkin smasher all the time. Jimmy, James, let's show them how big pumpkins roll" Billy pushes Gail to the side and rolls down the hill followed by his two friends. They make sure to trash the good rolling paths as much as they can on their way down. Billy stops right before the improvised jump and breaks it with a mean laugh.
“You are just a big bully Billy” Micha defiantly steps up to Billy.
“Besides we are way faster and can jump way higher than you. You are too big and slow to make any good rolls here or on the Pumpkin smasher” Meiko joins at Micha’s side. They are tired of being bullied by Billy and his friends.
“Like you could do any better. Gail is too scared, Charlie is a klutz and you two are too small to roll down the Pumpkin Smasher” Billy mocks as he towers over them with his two friends at his side.
Micha and Meiko stand as tall as they can in front of Billy but inside they shake with fear. Kids who stand up to Billy often find themselves being in big trouble. Well only one kid has ever stood up to Billy and nobody has heard from him ever since.
“Let’s just go. I have to get home soon anyway” Gail reasons to her friends, she does not want any problems with Billy.
Micha and Meiko reluctantly step away from Billy and follow Gail and Charlie home. They are really annoyed and hurt that Billy and his friends messed up their hill. They have been working on the rolling paths for a long time and the jump was not easy to make this good. And as they leave they can hear Billy joke and laugh with his friends about them. If just someone could do something about him. Luckily they got good friends like Gail and Charlie who is always ready to help them and tell funny stories and jokes. Before they are home, Charlie has already made them feel a lot better with his clumsy antics.
That night there is a frightful storm pulling and tearing on the trees and shaking all the small pumpkin houses. The rain hammers on the windows like small pebbles. Micha and Meiko are lying in their beds looking out the windows at the lightning cutting through the sky and lightening up the night for a few seconds.
“Uh it’s a big storm tonight” Micha says with excitement as another lightning breaks the dark.
“Yeah it’s just like dad’s old stories. A dark and stormy night. That means something mystical is gonna happen” Meiko says, imagining what kind of magical adventures this will bring.
A large lightning immediately followed by bouldering thunder hits a tree. “Did you see that?” Micha gasps in amazement.
“Yeah it was so big and beautiful and it hit a tree just over there. We should go and find that tree tomorrow” Meiko scouts out the window trying to figure out where the tree is.
“No not that. I think I saw a pumpkin flying around” Micha is also pressing his face against the window to try and see better.
“Pumpkins cannot fly” Meiko teases her brother.
Both are staring out of the window trying to see anything in the dark past the rain covering the glass. But nothing happens. It looks like the storm is slowly cooling down. Another five minutes go by and they both yawn tired. They are just about to turn away and go back to bed when one last lightning flashes by. And there for just a small second they see it. A white pumpkin flying by in the distance.
“GHOST!” they both yell frightened and jump into bed covering themselves with their blankets
Dad opens the door a few moments later “why aren’t you asleep yet? It is very late” he asks like every other parent would. But he also smiles for he knows his children and how they love to gaze upon the storm with wonder in their eyes.
Micha and Meiko ramble about how they just saw a ghost fly by outside and Dad laughs to himself.
“Now, now, you two, you know there are no such things as ghosts? I must have been telling you too many ghost stories” Dad laughs as he tucks them back into bed “now go to sleep”.
The next morning the twins are out of the door just after breakfast. They are going to find the tree that was struck by lightning. On their way they pick up Charlie and Gail. If something mystical or exciting is going to happen, they want their best friends with them. Meiko leads the way as she follows the course she plotted from her window. But after an hour they still have not found the lightning struck tree and they have lost sense of which direction it is in.
“I’m bored” Charlie finally admits to his friends “can we go play something or maybe try to fix our hill?”
“Maybe it’s for the best that we don't find the tree, it could be dangerous. I heard that Liza got really hurt when a branch from a tree fell on her head” Gail says concerned. She does want her friends to find the tree but she always wants them to be safe.
“We can always try and find the lightning struck tree tomorrow” Micha reassures Meiko.
“I saw the tree that got struck by lightning. It’s not far from here” a soft voice says from inside a bush.
The four friends jump in shock and take a step away from the bush. “Who’s there?” Meiko demands to know.
“I’m Chico, I got swept away by the storm and I can’t find my way home. But I know where the tree is” A small white pumpkin, a little younger than the others, steps out of the bush.
“GHOST” they all exclaim as they see Chico and run away from him.
“Wait!” Chico calls after them but defeated sits down and cries. He has been alone all night and is scared.
From behind a tree Meiko observes Chico. She feels a little bad for him for being alone and not knowing how to come home. And now that she has met him, he does not seem like a scary ghost. He is just a little child ghost. She slowly approaches Chico again and sits down beside him.
“Sorry about that. I have never met a ghost before. All the stories I have heard about ghosts say you are dangerous and scary” Meiko is still a little scared but she is trying to be brave.
“I… I, I, I’m, I’m not a ghost” Chico sniffles and wipes his eyes.
“Are you sure? You do look like a ghost. You are all white and we saw you flying” Micha says as he also approaches Chico.
“I don’t think so. Everybody is white where I’m from” Chico says, he is feeling a little better now.
“Maybe your entire pumpkin field is a ghost field? We have never seen any white pumpkins before” Charlie jokes. “I’m Charlie, a butternut squash. This is Gail, she is a gourd and Micha and Meiko here are Hokkaido’s”.
Micha and Meiko think about it for a bit “we should make some tests to find out if you are a ghost. We can’t help you back to your home if we don’t know what your home is like” they say wisely.
“What kind of tests?” Chico says a little worried.
“Like ghosts can fly, go through walls and … scare people. If you can do those things then you might be a ghost” Micha says, thinking of his dad’s ghost stories and what ghosts can do.
Chico looks at them with a little smile “I don’t know how to do any of that”.
“It sounds like fun, we should do it with him” Meiko says thinking of how fun it would be to fly and go through walls “let’s start with flying. Everybody try to fly now”.
Not knowing how to fly, they all just try their best. Charlie runs around in a circle basking with his arms. Gail tenses up and concentrates on the word flying. Micha and Meiko both try to jump as high as they can and bask with their arms. Chico laughs at them for they all look silly and decides to try a combination. He runs around jumping with his small arms basking and thinking of the word fly. But none of them leave the ground for more than a second.
“This does not work” Micha finally says “but I always feel like I am close to flying when I make a really big jump on our hill. But our hill is messed up right now”.
“You are right. We should roll down a big hill and make the best jump we can, if that doesn't make us fly, then nothing won't” Meiko thinks about where they can make a jump “we could use the Pumpkin Smasher”.
“But that is really dangerous” Gail says worried, she is less excited about this than the others.
“Don’t worry Gail, you can be our safety expert. And if Billy can roll down the Pumpkin Smasher so can we” Micha comforts her as they walk towards the pumpkin smasher.
Passing a couple of signs warning them that the Pumpkin Smasher is a dangerous hill to roll down they walk all the way to the top. The Pumpkin Smasher is not that much higher than their own hill but it has some neat rolling paths and a nice big jump at the end. At the bottom there has been dug out a big sand grave for pumpkins to land in. They decide to first do a slow roll down the hill without the jump to get a feeling with how it goes. It is a nice and easy hill to roll down on. Gail combs the sand grave for branches and rocks that have been blown into it during the storm while the others walk back up the hill.
“I will go first to show you how it’s done” Micha says as Gail signals that it is okay. He rolls down the hill faster than he has ever done before and takes the jump. He gets almost two metres up in the air and it almost feels like he is flying. It gives a nice tuck of excitement in his stomach. Maybe he could be a stunt jumper when he gets older. And then he lands in the sand. It is a little rough but he is okay. He is okay and feels amazing. The Pumpkin Smasher is not as scary as they were told.
As soon as Micha has landed, Meiko rolls down the hill even faster than Micha did. But she wants to go even faster than that, she likes the feeling of the wind blowing through her hair. She makes the jump and flies far. She has not gotten much height on her jump but with her speed she lands at the far end of the sand grave “THAT WAS AMAZING” she yells overjoyed.
Chico is the third to roll down. He rolls down a little careful and much slower than the twins but he is laughing all the way down anyway. He makes a small jump and lands softly in the sand laughing. He has barely made it out of the way before Charlie lands face first in the sand, followed by Billy who sends sand flying everywhere. Gail runs to help Charlie up from the sand.
“I thought I saw the babies walking up to the Pumpkin Smasher. You think I will let you babies take my hill” Billy says threateningly. He looks like he is ready to beat them up.
“Leave us alone Billy or our ghost will haunt you” Micha threatens back.
“Only little babies believe in ghosts” Billy laughs.
Chico gently pokes Billy on his back for him to turn around. “Hi, I’m Chico”.
Billy turns to look at the small white pumpkin behind him and as soon as he has turned around he screams “GHOST!” and runs away as fast as his small legs can carry his big body.
A few seconds goes by in silence then they all break down laughing until their stomachs hurt and they can not laugh anymore.
“So you can’t fly but you sure are good at scaring people” Micha laughs with tears in his eyes.
“I’m hungry” Chico says, he has not eaten all day.
“Me too. Let’s go home to our place and get some food. We can test if you can go through things there” Meiko checks the sun in the sky, it is past lunch already.
Charlie and Gail split from the group to go home to themselves and get lunch with their parents and Chico follows Micha and Meiko. They stop outside their little pumpkin house. They can hear mom walk around inside doing things in the kitchen.
“Okay last test and then we go in and get something to eat” Meiko says outside the front door.
“Instead of opening the door and go inside, try and go through the door” Micha continues and demonstrates by pushing his entire body against the door.
Chico leans his body against the door and tries to go through just like Micha showed but nothing happens. “I can’t” He shakes his head smiling.
“So you are not a ghost” Meiko concludes and opens the door “mom we are hungry”.
Micha and Chico follow her inside “Mom this is Chico. He is not a ghost, he is just white. He blew over here last night and can’t find his way home” Micha introduces Chico.
Mom chuckles at her kids “of course he is not a ghost, ghosts don't exist. Your dad is telling you too many ghost stories”. She kneels before Chico to greet him “you are always welcome here Chico and we will find a way to get you back home. Do you remember what field you are living in?”
“It’s the South Riverside field, mam” Chico says politely.
“Oh the South Riverside field, that is a couple of hours away. I didn’t know pumpkins had moved back there. It has been empty for years. Well it’s too late now to go but we will take you home tomorrow. You can stay here tonight” Mom gently pads Chico on his stem “now come you must be hungry” she starts setting the table with help from Micha and Meiko.
They spend the rest of the day playing ghosts together for they had so much fun doing ghost tests. And when the night falls they have a sleepover in the twin’s room. The next morning they are up early, earlier than most pumpkins are on a Sunday morning. They have a long walk in front of them, six hours of travelling to be precise. But luckily it is a beautiful day with high sun and crisp air and Mom and Dad have packed a picnic for the trip.
"Micha, Meiko, where are you going?" Gail asks as their family walks through the town and passes her house.
"We are bringing Chico home to the South Riverside field. We'll see you tomorrow at school" Meiko replies with a wave goodbye.
Micha and Chico stick their tongues out at Billy who is standing around the corner with Jimmy and James. Micha knows they will not do them anything as long as there are adults present. The grown up pumpkins tend to think Billy is a good kid.
After a long walk and a little cosy lunch break, the family is tired but have finally arrived at the South Riverside field. But it is not as they had expected. Instead of finding a small flourishing town with many pretty pumpkin houses they just find ruins. The storm yesterday night has done more than just ruffle up some fences and turn over the flowerbeds. Every house seems to have suffered major damages and all the pumpkins are doing their best to rebuild.
“Oh no this is horrible. I’m sorry that this happened to you Chico. Let’s find your family and let them know you are okay” Mom says saddened by the view.
Chico leads the way through the field and every white pumpkin stops what they are doing to look at the strangers. And as they see Chico leading the way to his home they all join the flock, murmuring happy sentiments of relief. It seems like the entire town has been worried about Chico. He runs the last part to his mom and dad who are standing out in their yard trying to cover up a hole in their wall.
“Mom, Dad” Chico calls overjoyed and jumps into their arms before they even get the time to react.
“Chico, my poor baby, where have you been?” Chico’s mom cries as she hugs him tightly.
Chico’s dad takes a moment to conduct himself and greet the crowd of guests at his garden gate. “Thank you stranger for bringing our son home. Where did you find him?” he says, trying to hold back tears of relief.
“We found him in a bush. We thought he was a ghost” Micha and Meiko say together.
“The wind had carried him all the way to the Upper Hillside field. We gave him food and a place to sleep because we knew it would be a long trip down here” Mom says caringly.
Dad looks awkwardly around on the damages “it looks like your entire field got hit hard by the storm. Do you need any help?”
“Don’t mind that we have had much worse, right now we should take a moment to enjoy Chico’s return” Chico’s dad says. “Come all let’s join for some cake” he calls over the crowd as he walks through it to thank them all for their help looking for Chico.
Everyone in the field helps out setting up some picnic tables and brings out cakes and coffee for all. And though the field has been trashed the mood is high. Micha and Meiko join Chico and his friends in playing stick race at the river by the house.
“How long have you all been here? My dad told me about how this field got completely ruined by a storm while I was a little girl. I didn’t know that pumpkins had moved back here” Micha and Meiko can hear their mom converse with the others.
“This is actually more like a seasonal home. We mainly live here during the summer and leave just after Halloween” Chico’s dad says with a small smile.
“It’s just too bad with all the damage the storm did. Are you sure we can’t do anything to help” Mom says, feeling bad for them all.
“It’s all fine dear. You have already done plenty by bringing our Chico home. Besides, we are a very handy group of pumpkins. We can easily rebuild this” Chico’s mom reassures.
They sit around chatting and having fun for a couple of hours and after some time Mom and Dad get up from the tables. It is time for the family to head home if they want the twins to get to bed before midnight. But as they head out to the end of the field together with the white pumpkins they are met by a small group from their own field. In front leading the way is Billy with his dad.
“See, I told you there were ghosts. And it’s a whole field full of ghosts” Billy calls back to his followers. It seems that he has gathered a group of pumpkins with the purpose of getting rid of Chico and all the white pumpkins.
“You did good, my son. We don’t want no ghosts near our children and our homes. It is time we get rid of these ghosts for good” Billy’s dad incites the crowd. “Burn down all their houses and round up the ghosts. It’s time we do an exorcism and get rid of them for good”.
“Yeah let’s get rid of the ghosts” the crowd angrily agrees. They spread out tearing down the fences and herding the white pumpkins together.
Micha and Meiko step in between a group going for Chico and his family. “STOP!” they yell as loud as they can “what are you doing? There are no ghosts here. These are just regular pumpkins, like you guys. The only difference between them and you, is the colour of their shell. They have kids, they love Halloween and they are our friends”.
Dad steps in behind Micha and Meiko with a hand on their shoulders. “You should listen to the kids. Look at yourselves, you should be ashamed. You travelled for six hours to find some strangers who are a little different from you just to burn down their homes. Even if they were ghosts, you would still be the monsters here. They have done nothing wrong. They are just regular pumpkins living their regular lives and they have just gotten their homes destroyed by the storm and still you want to burn it all down and exorcise them. For shame”.
The crowd stops what they are doing and looks to Billy’s dad for guidance. But he seems to have lost his words and looks embarrassed. “I, I, I…” he stammers.
“Dad, what are you doing? They are ghosts. I saw that one fly and he scared me” Billy looks very annoyed at his dad’s inaction.
“We were just playing ghosts, sir” Chico apologises.
Meiko and Micha feel like it is time to tell the truth about Billy “Billy has been bullying us. He and his friends ruined our rolling hill. He even wanted to beat us up when we were playing ghosts. And he has been lying to you for a long time, he is the town bully”.
A serious expression falls onto Billy’s dad’s face as he realises what he almost did “Billy you are in big trouble. Look what your lies have brought. They are not ghosts, they are just white pumpkins and you almost got us to destroy their homes. It is time you and I start to do better” he grabs Billy’s ear and drags him away from there.
The crowd disperses and puts out their torches. They all look awkwardly around and with some vague excuses they leave the field.
When all the others have left Chico’s dad turns to Micha and Meiko “thank you very much for all you have done. Bringing Chico back and standing up for us even though we are practically strangers. That shows that you are truly decent pumpkins”.
“I hope we’ll see each other again and that we can play ghosts. That was fun” Chico says as the twins and their family leave.
And when they are just about to turn around a corner leaving the white pumpkin field behind, the twins take one last look back. But this time there is nothing to see. No white pumpkins or ruined houses, only an empty barren pumpkin field.
“Bye Chico” Micha and Meiko whispers with a smile.
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