The Littlest Pumpkin
Farmers do not know their fields can talk. They think they are in charge. Farmers are not in charge, though. They work for the plants they grow. The plants decide what the farmer can do. He needs them. He thinks they need him.
A pumpkin patch is not different. It rules the farmer who grows it. The pumpkins grade the farmer on his work. In Farmer Jones' pumpkin patch, he is liked. His pumpkins think he is a good farmer to own. They are lucky to have him.
Farmer Jones takes good care of his pumpkins. There is only one that worries him. It is a small pumpkin he calls Peach. Peach is very tiny. She is too old to be so tiny. Her brothers and sisters are much bigger. She is not a seedling. She looks like a seedling.
Peach likes Farmer Jones. She tries very hard to grow for him. She listens when he talks of Halloween. Farmer Jones is afraid no one will pick Peach. She is so little. He is afraid she will be alone then. He says she might be alone all winter
Peach asks her mother and grandmother for help. They are very large pumpkins. They are the largest pumpkins in the patch. Peach does not want to stay little. She thinks they will know how to grow. They will tell her growing secrets.
"Silly child," laughs her mother. "Only the sun can help you grow. Your seed decides how much you grow. Your size is written upon it."
"My sweet Peach," her grandmother says. "Not all pumpkins can be big. Your seed knows just how big you should be. Do not worry. Not all humans want a big pumpkin. There must be small pumpkins for small people."
Peach is still worried. She does not want to be alone. The winter sounds very long. She knows her friends will find homes on Halloween. She does not want to be left behind.
The harvest comes in October. On the first day of October it begins. It will end when all the pumpkins are gone. There are feet about the vines.
Peach watches as people choose pumpkins. Each time a human is near she hopes. She watches as they study the pumpkins. Peach thinks choosing is hard for the humans. She does not know why. She would choose the biggest pumpkin.
Lots of people look at Peach. They go on. She is too little. No one wants Peach. Peach is sad. She watches some of her friends leave.
Her mother leaves first. She tells Peach goodbye. She tells Peach to be a good pumpkin. Her mother is happy. Her mother has a Halloween home.
Peach's grandmother is chosen next. Before she goes, she calls to Peach. "Remember, Little Peach," Grandmother whispers. "Not all people want big pumpkins. There are little humans, too. Wait for them. They will choose you. Little people need little pumpkins."
Peach is not so sure. She waits all day. No little humans come. It is only big humans. None of them want Peach.
The day is done. The moon moves the sun out of the way. Peach cries softly. She is left behind. There are only a few pumpkins left. None of them are small like Peach.
In the morning Peach wakes up. There are more humans in the patch. More pumpkins leave. Still no one picks Peach. Peach cries harder.
Peach does not see the tiny feet stop. She does not see the very tiny human. The little human is looking at the little pumpkin. She wants a pumpkin like her. Peach is like her. She is too little.
"I want that one," the girl tells her mother. "I want the little pumpkin."
Her mother smiles. "Let us see if the little pumpkin can be ours." The woman calls the farmer. "Is that pumpkin able to be picked?" she asks.
"Yes. That is Peach. She needs a Halloween home. You may have her if you like." Farmer Jones will not take the woman's money. He wants Peach to have a home. He does not want her to be alone.
Peach is surprised. She is picked from her vine. She has a Halloween home. Peach thinks her grandmother is right. Little pumpkins belong with little humans. She is glad she is little. She loves her little human.
The little girl is happy. She has a pumpkin just her size. "Thank you," she tells Peach. "Thank you for being small."
