Mom's Pumpkin

I picked up the sack of seeds, the shovel and the red rose and headed for the hill in back of the pasture. I have 3 brothers, 3 sisters and my dad works as a farm hand, not making a lot of money. Every Saturday I place a rose on my Mothers grave. The rose is dead by the time I get back so this time I am going to plant flower seeds.

I bought them at the estate auction of a friend of mine, a retired magician, Mark Pullman. Mark once said he had a sack of flower seeds for my Mothers grave but the heart attack took him to soon.

When mom died giving birth to me dad had mom cremated. He buried her in their favorite place, under the tree on the hill in back of the pasture. When I got there I placed the rose in the flowerpot.

Then I said, “This is for you mom”.

Picking up the shovel I started digging. As I dug the spots for the seeds I talked to mom. I told her about school, how much I missed her and how I prayed every night that someday I could talk to or see her. When the seeds were all planted I went back to the house. In the weeks that followed the flowers came up and they were beautiful but at the foot of the grave was a strange plant. It grew big with vines that covered the foot of the grave. Only one bloom was on all of them vines. In a week the bloom fell off and a small pumpkin was there. All summer the little pumpkin grew bigger and bigger. By fall it was a good size pumpkin.

Dad did not have enough money to spend on Jack-O-lanterns so I decided to pick the pumpkin and make a Jack-O- lantern out of it. It would kind of make me feel like mom was there with me.

The day before Halloween I picked the pumpkin and brought it home. I got dads hunting knife but no matter how hard I tried I just could not cut the pumpkin and clean it. I couldn't even cut out a face in the pumpkin. I got a magic marker, some crayons and I drew a face on the pumpkin. The eyes came out of one of my sister’s old dolls.

I was the only one that wanted to go trick or treating. My brothers and sisters that could go have school parties and the others are too old. When I walked by the pumpkin on my way to get dressed to go trick or treating, I patted the top of the pumpkin.

Then I said, “I think you will be my mother tonight and when I go trick or treating I will take you with me. Tonight is All Hallows Eve so if I act weird nobody will think anything of it”.

Because of the money situation I dressed in overalls and a old flannel shirt with a straw hat. I really looked like a farmer. I stopped in front of the pumpkin and just stood there for a minute. Slowly my eyes started to get moist then tears slowly started sliding down first the right cheek and then the left cheek. Slowly I dropped to my knees in front of the pumpkin. As if moving but not thinking I locked my fingers together in front of me about chest high. Then in a broken voice with a lump in my throat I spoke.

I said, “I know you are only a pumpkin and not my mother but I will never get to see my mother or talk to my mother so for tonight please let my imagination be strong enough to make me believe you are my mother.”

The pumpkin started shaking and then a bright light seemed to be coming out of the center of it. The eyes started moving around then the nose and mouth light up.
I stood up and backed away from the pumpkin. The glow from the pumpkin dimmed and the mouth closed. Then the pumpkin spoke.

It said, “Jimmy, you do not know how much I have wanted to talk to you. By the way I want to thank you very much for all the red roses.”

I said, “Oh my God! I am going crazy.”

The pumpkin said, “Jimmy, Do not be frightened. Really you asked for this. If you remember just a few minutes ago you asked to be able to see and talk to your mother. Well you can only see the pumpkin but this is my voice. I am your mother. I do not know how, but Mark Pullman must have put some kind of spell or magic into that pumpkin seed you planted.

When the seed started growing some part of me was in the plant, and every day that the pumpkin grew bigger, I got stronger. It was as if everything was building towards this day. I have this over whelming feeling that this will all end at the stroke of midnight. Now go place this pumpkin on the shoulders of that stuffed scarecrow over there”.

I took the pumpkin, placed it on the shoulders and the scarecrow started shaking. The next thing I saw was the scarecrow moving. First the arms, then the legs and then it stood up.

Mom said, “Ok Jimmy, “How about you and me going trick or treating”.

Mom and I walked and talked from house to house. Then we sat in the park until almost midnight.

She said, “Remember all we talked about and remember how much I love you but I have to go now”.

At the stroke of midnight I kissed the pumpkin, said "Good night Mom," then the light in the pumpkin went out and she was gone. I placed the pumpkin on her grave.