The Great Pumpkin

My father likes to grow things. Tomatoes, melons, okra, corn, beans...that sort of thing. Oh, yeah, and gourds. He likes to grow pumpkins.

Last August he convinced me that Annie needed a pumpkin for Halloween, and I should pick one or two from his vegetable patch. I found a lovely, lovely little pumpkin and brought it home with me. Annie didn't particularly care about the pumpkin. She sniffed it and moved on.

One day I noticed a little patch of mold growing on Mr. Pumpkin. I called my father and he told me that I should have put the pumpkin outside because being outside was better for the pumpkin than being inside.

He was wrong.

This is what happened when I put the pumpkin outside.



A squirrel disemboweled Mr. Pumpkin and left his guts scattered over my balcony.

Please let us all observe a moment of silence for Mr. Pumpkin.