In honor of National Pumpkin Day, which occurs every October 26th, we're sharing a spooky little yarn about a small red pumpkin that creates quite an adventure for little Hedgie Wilkinson. Grab a cup of cocoa or something sip-worthy and settle in for a lengthy trip... from Douglas' house to the pumpkin patch, to the farm, then into the swamp, then back to Douglas' house. Watch out for Jaloos... This story is published in issue #7 of The Picketwire and is the Possum Nook feature for that issue. As such, it is unpolished, improperly spaced, and comes to you as-is: enthusiastic and unapologetic. If you want to see all accompanying pictures with Douglas' Pumpkin, hop over to the Autumn 2023 issue of The Picketwire here and select the "preview" option to page through the whole story. Let us begin.... It was the last weekend in September, and the first weekend in October. Hedgie had marked the date on his calendar months ago - this would be the first weekend for picking his pumpkins. All the way back in May, when the air still smelled like fresh springtime and the dogwoods were blooming, Hedgie had his mind full of pumpkins. He made arrangements with the owner of the orchard to rent out a corner plot that was long since unused. There he would plant his very own pumpkin patch. Hedgie had worked hard to get the ground ready for the pumpkins. Since the plot had not been planted for a very long time, Hedgie had to weed and rake, dig and plow, until the ground was soft and smooth. By June, Hedgie had a fine looking square of earth just waiting for many, many pumpkins to be planted. And plant pumpkins he did! Hedgie grew all shapes, sizes, and colors. Tiny orange pumpkins. White round pumpkins. Big, chunky, slate blue pumpkins. Enormous orange pumpkins; pumpkins with bumps and stripes. The first pumpkins ready to pick today were the little orange and white pumpkins, smallest of them all. Hedgie's seed supplier called them Jack Be Little's. Hedgie woke up and looked out the window. It was a beautiful fall morning. The sun was shining across the hillside, putting a spotlight on the sea of trees who were already showing the first hints of autumn color. He was excited - it was his first season as a pumpkin farmer. He could hardly wait to see his field of tiny Jack Be Little's. Hedgie smiled and exited his bed with a bounce. He grabbed his wide-brimmed acorn gardening hat off the wall, and a few scones that Fuzzy had dropped off yesterday. Walking out into the warm sunshine, he took a deep breath of the sweet, earthy fall air. The last thing he needed to retrieve before heading to the orchard was his wagon for collecting pumpkins. As he nibbled on a scone while walking to his shed, Hedgie thought about poor Douglas, who was stuck at home with a cold. Douglas the possum was going to accompany Hedgie in today's pumpkin harvest, but he fell ill with sneezing fits and a runny rose two days ago. Fuzzy had made fresh lavender and lemon scones and delivered them to Douglas yesterday, along with some infused honey and tea. Fuzzy had made extra scones and dropped them off at Hedgie's front door in a little basket. Hedgie was sorry that he was not home when his cousin stopped by; he had some honey from the Jeep bees for him. "I should visit Douglas on my way to the orchard and make sure he's okay," thought Hedgie. He crammed the last bit of scone into his mouth and pulled his wagon from the shed. Hedgie started down the road with his wagon in tow. Douglas didn't live too far from Hedgie, and his house was right on the way to the orchard. His little metal wagon squeaked along. Hedgie couldn't wait to fill it with pumpkins. He would be sure to bring one back for Douglas. Squeak, squeak. A little further down the road and around one more bend would be Douglas' house. Douglas lived in a quaint, well constructed shanty along the Timber Creek. It stood tall, on robust stilts which held the house high above any occasional flooding. Hedgie brought his wagon to a halt at the base of the staircase that led up to Douglas' front door. He climbed the seventeen steps, all while admiring the spectacular view of the creek and rows of beech trees lining its banks. At the top he paused, debating whether or not he should knock. If Douglas was resting, Hedgie did not want to trouble him by making him get up to answer the door. On the other hand, Hedgie did not want to be rude and walk in totally unannounced. He decided to peek in the window to see if Douglas was up or not. If he was resting, he would stop back on his way home. Hedgie cupped his hands around his face and peered into the front door glass. No sign of Douglas. "Perhaps he's sleeping," Hedgie pondered. He walked across the wrap around deck to the west side of the house where Douglas' bedroom was located. Douglas was not a very early riser, so he preferred to evade the morning sun's eastern rays. The curtains on the window were pulled almost shut, but Hedgie was able to see inside enough to cause him great panic. Douglas lay in bed, completely motionless, his arms and legs sticking straight up in the air. He appeared to be dead. "Douglas!!" Hedgie shrieked, and ran back across the deck, yanking open the front door. He was at Douglas' bedside within seconds. Hedgie's eyes were pegged open in shock, and speechlessly, he poked at his friend with a shaking finger. Douglas' eyes opened immediately, though he didn't move a muscle. Hedgie jumped back, startled, with a yell. Douglas echoed the startled cry. "Ahhhh! Hedgie! What's going on?!" Hedgie fumbled for an reasonable answer but instead blurted out, "I thought you were dead!" Douglas looked at Hedgie and blinked a few times, puzzled. Then he looked at his arms and feet sticking straight up in the air, laughed, and relaxed into a sitting position as he began to explain himself. "I must have been having that dream again about the popcorn and the chickens. I'm sitting on a bench eating popcorn, minding my own business, when along comes a raucous group of hens. They're all squabbling among themselves, then one of then sees me, and my popcorn. They start running toward me, so I get up and start running myself, but they're fast...like, very athletic hens, you know? They catch up to me and start pecking me because they want my popcorn, so I throw the bag in the air and play possum, hoping that they leave me alone." Douglas coughed. "I wish I felt better so I could go pumpkin picking with you today." He slouched a little and looked at his toes with a tiny sigh. Hedgie smiled reassuringly at his friend. "Douglas, I have planted so many pumpkins that you'd have to be sick for weeks to not pick any with me. This is only the very first patch, the Jack Be Little's. You can help me collect the big ones." Douglas liked the sound of that idea. He agreed to rest up, and Hedgie fixed him a hot cup of tea. He brought Douglas a plate of scones and the latest Picketwire magazine which had been sitting in his pile of untouched mail from two days ago. Pleased that the sickly possum was now all set up with snacks and reading material, Hedgie bid him so long and resumed his travels to the orchard. Hedgie wheeled along down the road and around a few more bends until he could see the first field of apple trees up ahead. The branches were bursting with gold and red fruit, some so full and heavy that they almost touched the ground. Hedgie pulled his wagon faster toward the top of the field where his pumpkin patch awaited him. "If the apples are so plentiful, maybe I have even more pumpkins than expected! I wonder how many there are?" A few moments later, he was able to see for himself. Hedgie pushed open the gate to his plot and was greeted by little pumpkins sprawled out all over the field at his feet. He had never seen so many tiny pumpkins! "It's your big day!" exclaimed Hedgie, addressing the field full of Jack Be Littles. Pulling his acorn hat snugly onto his head, he began seeking out the little orange and white treasures. He went up one row and down the next, filling his wagon again and again. Some of the pumpkins were bold and brave, sitting clear out in the open and beaming in the sunlight. Some were shy, and hid under the big leaves of the pumpkin vine. Hedgie carefully collected each one. As he unloaded his wagon into the pumpkin cart, he smiled at the thought of bringing one back for Douglas. "Wait until I tell him how many I picked!" Hedgie looked back up the field and guessed that there was one more wagon load out there. He made his way to the top corner of the field. His stomach growled a little bit. After he was done pumpkin picking, he would head over to the barn to see if Nordaust had made any apple pies today. Hedgie was a big fan of pies, and a fresh apple pie sounded like the most wonderful thing in the world right about then. Along the field's edge sat a somewhat haphazard assortment of pumpkin vines. Hedgie had planted this row last, and did not have enough seeds left to arrange them as neatly and evenly as the others. He began walking between the vines, being very careful not to step on any little jacks. Working his way up to the farthest corner, he picked up little pumpkins here and there, every few feet or so. At the end of the row, a gnarled old apple tree stood, overlooking the large meadow nearby. This tree was one of the original trees in the orchard, though it stood alone, far from any of the other fruit trees on the property. It had been planted over a hundred years ago along with other apple trees, the very first in the orchard. These trees helped start and shape the orchard into a well-known destination for the best apples, ciders, and pies. But one year, after a particularly dry summer, these apples trees fell victim to an unexpected predator lurking nearby - the Jaloo. The Jaloos lived in the swamp not quite a mile from the farthest point of the orchard property. Up until then, there had never been any conflict between the Jaloos and the farmer. The swamp, while seemingly barren and dull, boasted a hefty population of wild raspberries, chokeberries, blackberries, blueberries, even sickle pears and wild crab apples. Fresh greens and sweet grass flourished. But that summer was so hot and dry, even the swamp dried up to one big mud puddle. By late August, the Jaloos began to drift out of the swamp at night, in search of anything to fill their empty stomachs. One night, they came upon the grove of apples trees. So famished were the Jaloos that not only did they eat every single apple on the trees, they even ate the trees themselves in their haste to feed their hunger. When the sun shone across the orchard the next morning, every single apple tree was but a tall stump in the ground - except for one tree. The apple tree on the very corner of the grove had been left untouched, save for a few scratches on the bark where a Jaloo had climbed into the top limbs seeking out an apple. But this tree had none to offer. Being planted on the farthest corner, this tree had been exposed to the first and last rays of the hot sun as it blazed throughout the day. Being on the uppermost corner, it sat just a little higher on the ground than the other trees - so the scarce rain that fell always ran away from this tree, and washed down to the others instead. This tree was growing on less than a little, and that summer it was all it could do to survive, let alone produce any fruit. Yet survive it did. The tree's inability to grow any apples that season had saved it from the hungry Jaloos that night. After the devastation in the orchard, the apple fields were replanted closer to the farmer's house where he could keep a watchful eye on his trees. The lone survivor remained at the top far field, and though there was never a summer as hot and dry as that one, the tree never grew an apple again. Not that anyone could blame it. And it was in the shadow of this very tree that Hedgie found the biggest surprise in his pumpkin patch. Hedgie tugged his little wagon to the base of the old apple tree and parked it across the thick roots that crept out from under the trunk. He paused for a moment to take a welcomed break in the shade of the crooked, stout branches overhead. Hedgie knew the story of the tree, and he was glad to have grown his pumpkin patch in this corner plot to keep the old tree company. "It must have been so lonely all these years," Hedgie thought out loud. He looked up at the fruitless branches overhead. He saw a neatly constructed red-eyed vireo's nest hanging from a fork in the upper branching. He smiled then, realizing that the tree was not quite as lonely as he had thought. "Still, it must have been a real treat to spend the whole summer with a field of pumpkins," Hedgie concluded. He imagined that they had many long chats about all the things that the tree had observed in the orchard over the past 100 years. With a little grunt, Hedgie picked up his hat and began combing through the last few feet of his patch for any remaining Jack Be Littles. The sun was beginning to get hot overhead. It was a good thing he'd brought that hat. Hedgie picked up two more little orange pumpkins and gazed around him. Today's pumpkin harvest appeared to be complete. Hedgie began walking back to his little wagon with the last two pumpkins, when suddenly BOOF! He tripped on one of the roots of the apple tree. The two little pumpkins sailed out of his hands and rolled over to his wagon to join their tiny friends. Hedgie looked down at the root which he had stumbled upon. It was a thin root that rose just above the grass line, and stretched way out, clear to the edge of the pumpkin patch. Hedgie's eyes followed the root across the ground and out to the very tip, where it butted up to one of the pumpkin vines. Then he saw it. A splash of red under the pumpkin leaf. He jumped to his feet and lifted the leaf to reveal a shiny, red...PUMPKIN! "WHAT!" exclaimed Hedgie. "WHAT IS THIS?" He looked at the pumpkin, then up at the tree, then back at the pumpkin. "You are a pumpkin, and not an apple, right?" he queried. He shook his head in disbelief. A red pumpkin - was there ever such a thing? Cautiously, he pulled the little red pumpkin out from under the leaf. It really was indeed a pumpkin, a mirror image of the other Jack Be Littles. There surely was an explanation for this. Hedgie looked over every square inch of it. Was it painted? No. Had it rolled around in strawberries and become stained? Hedgie sniffed it - nope. He looked down at the tree root and at the pumpkin vine that had started to entwine it, as if they were shaking hands. He began to suspect that the tree had been quite influential to this pumpkin vine. Perhaps after hearing the tree's tragic story, the pumpkin decided to grow into an apple as much as possible. Whether it was to be the apple that the tree never had, or to defiantly show the Jaloos that it was not afraid of them, it was a very brave thing for a tiny pumpkin to do. One thing was for sure - Hedgie would be taking this pumpkin home for Douglas. "He might smile so big that you'll get to see all 50 of his teeth!" Hedgie said to the pumpkin. "Oh but don't worry" he quickly added. "He won't eat you. He will absolutely love you...just to look at." Hedgie pulled the last load of Jack be Littles down to the pumpkin cart, and placed them all in except for Douglas' pumpkin. That one he left in his wagon. "I'll send someone up for you soon", Hedgie assured the cartful of tiny pumpkins. He knew that Sweep would be happy to lend a hand with getting all those pumpkins moved. Hedgie wondered where that yellow jeep was. He wondered again if there were still some pies left. Latching the gate behind him, Hedgie set off in search of lunch, the red pumpkin in tow as the little wagon squeaked down the path. Hedgie turned south onto the main road in the orchard. This path led straight to the barn...and possibly to pie. He hummed a little tune as he cheerily strolled along. In between the sound of Hedgie's humming another sound became present. A muted THUNK could be heard every minute or less. As Hedgie got closer to the main grove of apple trees, he heard a few yips and beeps in between the THUNK...THUNK...THUNK. Hedgie stopped in the middle of the road and looked in the direction of the sound. THUNK. Suddenly something whizzed through the air overhead. THUNK. WHOOSH! "What the heck is that?" Hedgie turned the wagon toward the grove and began to creep closer to the noise and the flying objects. THUNK. WHOOSH! Beep Beep! Yow Yow! "That sounds like Sweep and Nordaust. What are they possibly up to?" Pulling his wagon and Douglas' pumpkin through the narrow path in the brush at the edge of the upper field, Hedgie encountered a most marvelous sight. Sweep, Nordaust, a giant pile of apples, and what appeared to be a custom built fruit launcher attached to Sweep's front bumper. Nordaust snatched up an apple from the pile, dropped it in the tiny basket in the cup of the slingshot, and pulled it back. He let go with a yip and the apple sailed way up into the air and clear across the field. Hedgie couldn't even see where it landed. "Woooo-wow wow, did you see how far that one went??" cried Nordaust. Sweep replied with a loud, drawn out beep. Hedgie laughed loudly at the crazy antics that he was bearing witness to. Sweep and Nordaust both turned at the sound of Hedgie's laughter. "Hedgie!" shouted Nordaust with a smile. "How are you? What are you up to on this fine day?" "Couldn't be happier," Hedgie replied, as he parked his wagon next to the mountain of apples. The front tire bumped the pile and a few rolled into the wagon to keep Douglas' pumpkin company. "I had a wonderful morning collecting my little pumpkins. I have a whole cartful and I'll need Sweep's help to bring them back from the far plot. But I have to ask, what ARE you two doing?" Nordaust twirled about a few times before he jumped upon Sweep's hood and answered very regally and sophisticated-like, "We are doing our duties to keep the apples of the orchard safe and sound from the mischievous Jaloos by use of my invention." Sweep let out a sharp beep and backed up abruptly, pulling his hood from beneath Nordaust's paws much to his surprise. "Okay okay," Nordaust admitted. "OUR invention. What do you think of it Hedgie?" Hedgie was a little confused. "But I thought," he began "that you are supposed to keep the Jaloos from eating the apples...not pick the apples for them?" Nordaust chuckled and stretched out in the warm sunshine, his toes reaching the base of that great big apple pile. "See this apple here, Hedgie?" Nordaust reached out a paw and tossed an apple to Hedgie. "it's got some bruises here and there. Nothing wrong with it. Still tastes good. Great in pies." Hedgie put up a hand. "Excuse me, but at some point soon I would like a tour of your pies. With a fork," he added. "Of course!" Nordaust continued. "Hedgie, we're up to our ears in apples. I can't even bake those pies fast enough. Farmer had an idea. A generous, wonderful idea. Being as we're collecting the biggest harvest of apples here in the next few days, he was naturally a little worried about the Jaloos sneaking off with some of the best crop. Not that he had to worry," Nordaust added quietly to himself. "Anyhow he said Why don't we give the Jaloos some of the seconds, the imperfect apples - keep them from even coming in here at all. They'd be so fat with apples that they wouldn't be able to walk out of that swamp for a week - and we'd have picked our prize crop by then." "Oh that's a great idea!" exclaimed Hedgie. "But why are you delivering the apples by air?" Nordaust sat up and smiled that crafty smile of his. "Do you think the Jaloos would trust eating apples that were hand delivered by the world's finest Great Northern Jaloo Hunting Dog? Sure we could haul all these apples in there and unload them, but those Jaloos are very wary creatures. They'd more than likely be curious, suspicious, and more bound and determined than ever to eat our perfect crop. Plus, this apple launcher is so much fun. Watch this." Nordaust dropped another apple in the launch basket, pulled back on the rubber cord, and off it went. "Amazing!" Hedgie remarked. "Oh, speaking of amazing, you must see what I found today." Hedgie pulled the wagon closer, right up to Sweep's front bumper. From between the apples, Hedgie lifted out Douglas' pumpkin. "A red pumpkin," Hedgie proudly announced. Nordaust tilted his head at the tiny oddity. Sweep flipped his high-beams on, then off again, unsure of exactly what he was looking at. "Where'd you find that?" Nordaust asked. "It was in my pumpkin patch today," Hedgie answered. "Right next to that old apple tree up in the far corner. Do you think there's any relation?" "Maybe it's haunted." Nordaust suggested. Sweep lit up his amber lights and began making spooky noises. "What!?" Hedgie protested. "No it's not. It's a marvel among pumpkins, and I am taking it to Douglas today!" Hedgie set the little pumpkin back in the wagon with a smile and pulled out an apple instead. "Let me try out that slingshot," he grinned. Nordaust stepped aside from the apple launcher with a sweeping bow. Hedgie dropped the apple in the basket and pulled back on the cord. Before he knew it, he had let go and was watching the apple sail clear over the tree line at the edge of the field. "Woohoo!" hollered Hedgie. "Let me do it again!" He launched three more apples into the swamp. "Say, you're pretty good at this Hedgie! Wonder if you can make it to that sycamore way out there," Nordaust challenged. Confidently, Hedgie dropped another apple in the launch basket and pulled it back all the way to Sweep's rear tires. Then he let it rip. Just as his hands released their grip on the slingshot, Hedgie's face suddenly filled with dread. He watched helplessly as the tiny red object became a dot in the sky, headed toward the big sycamore's painted branches. Sweep beeped in surprise of the launch distance. Nordaust howled. Hedgie screamed. "AHHHHHHHHHHH OHMIGOSH!!!!" He threw his hands up and pulled on his prickles. "Holy flippin' flapjacks, that did not just happen!!" Nordaust hopped around gleefully. "Oh yes it did! I can't believe you made that apple fly that far!" "Oh Nordaust," Hedgie wailed. "That was no apple. That was Douglas' pumpkin!" He flopped into the wagon with a defeated little thump. Nordaust halted mid-hop and stared incredulously at the little hedgehog. "What? That was your PUMPKIN? Oh no. Oh, NO! Don't worry Hedgie, we'll get it back somehow. How about we take a break for lunch and think of a plan? Get some pie working in that brain of yours." Hedgie was still in shock at the pumpkin loss, but nodded a tiny yes to Nordaust's proposal. Nordaust dropped the handle of Hedgie's wagon over one of Sweep's rear tow hooks. With Nordaust leading the way back down to the barn, Sweep followed with a sad little hedgehog wheeling along behind him. A little while later, with hope in his heart and pie in his belly, Hedgie was in much better spirits. Against the better judgment of Nordaust and Sweep, Hedgie was going to trek into the swamp and find Douglas' pumpkin. At first the three of them agreed to find the pumpkin together. Nordaust and Sweep had a few more chores to finish, one of which included hauling all of Hedgie's Jack Be Little's down to the barn. Sweep was backing up to the row of hitches in the barn, trying to find the right one for Hedgie's pumpkin cart. Nordaust was finishing the last of his coffee. "I'm going to get a jump on this pumpkin search and start looking ahead by myself. You two can catch up later," Hedgie announced. Nordaust spit out his coffee. Sweep jumped and accidentally backed into one of the barn posts. "Wha-what?" Nordaust choked out. "You're crazy Hedgie! Plum loco! As soon as it gets dark those Jaloos will be all over that swamp sniffing out the apples we just put in there, maybe even sooner than dark! It's mid-afternoon already - can't you just wait a while til we can go with you? That pumpkin isn't going to up and walk away." "I know it won't walk away, but I'm afraid someone might walk away with it. A big bird might find it attractive, it would be a grand find for a raccoon or another possum besides Douglas. I can't risk it. I have to start looking right away," Hedgie finalized. "How are you going to know where to start looking?" Nordaust persisted. "I'm the tracker in this outfit. Won't you need my nose?" Hedgie had clearly thought out his mission. "I'm going to head for that big sycamore tree," he answered. "That's where it was going after all." Nordaust sat on a straw bale and curled his tail around his forelegs. "You're brave, Hedgie," he commended. "If you can't be talked out of this, then let me give you some advice. Try to stay on the main paths in the swamp. Don't walk in any mud that you can't see the bottom of. Watch out for that switch grass...sharp stuff. If you find that pumpkin and it's somewhere that you can't reach or if you have to cross any thick mud to get to it, you just wait for us. Once we finish up here and get your pumpkins back in the barn, we'll be right after you." Hedgie was pleased with the new plan. He just knew that he'd find that pumpkin. Hedgie smiled up at his friend. "Thanks Nordaust." He grabbed a slice of that delicious apple pie with the crisp, sugary crust on top and placed it in his wagon. He gave Sweep a wave and walked out of the barn. "Hey Hedgie!" Nordaust called after him. Hedgie turned to see Nordaust wagging his tail. "It's actually kind of beautiful in there. Keep an eye out for butterflies - lots of milkweed!" "I will!" Hedgie called back, enthusiastically pulling the wagon back up the path to the big field. By the time Hedgie reached the field, he had a trickle of sweat on his prickles. The sun was beaming its hottest across a chicory blue sky. He followed the path that bordered the southeastern edge of the tall grass and brambles until he came to a wide opening in the brush. Before him was a massive space untouched nature. Goldenrod and Queen Anne's lace bloomed wildly amidst a sea of meadowgrass turning fire red. Asters frequented by butterflies dotted the landscape in unorganized fashion, growing wherever a seed had landed. Bumblebees danced upon the spiny tips of thistle still in bloom. All this Hedgie had not seen from the site of the apple launcher. It was already a beautiful picture, and he had not even reached the swamp yet. Hedgie spied a path that ran right up the middle of the field, and he trudged forward through the flowers. He soon reached the tree line. From here, the great sycamore tree that marked the potential site of Douglas' pumpkin was plainly visible by it's tall, towering branches. A well worn, muddy border stretched left to right across the divide between woods and meadow. From this border, multiple paths led into the cluster of cedars and small broadleaf trees. One path seemed a bit wider and well used. Remembering Nordaust's advice, Hedgie stepped onto the biggest trail. "Now we are truly starting our adventure!" he said to himself. Hedgie traversed his wagon over and around bumps and holes in the dirt, navigating with great skill through the shady grove of cedar and sassafras. A few mulberry trees flanked the edged of the trail, their fruitless branches hanging low and well within reaching distance. "I have GOT to remember to come back here in the summer!" exclaimed Hedgie. With a few buckets of mulberries, Fuzzy could whip up at least three dozen scones. Soon the trees grew sparse, and eventually thinned and gave way to the switch grass covered center of the swamp. Here stood acres upon acres of the straight and sharp grass that Nordaust had warned of. Hedgie let out a puff of air and leaned thoughtfully on the handle of his wagon. "Hmph. How am I going to get across this?" He squinted his eyes and searched for a path that might avoid the razor sharp blades. He could see that once through the switch grass, he would have a choice of many trails that all began on the other side. The giant sycamore sat central behind another patch of mixed cedars. It seemed that once Hedgie reached those trees on the other side, Douglas' pumpkin should be somewhere closeby. Hedgie scanned the obstacle before him yet again. "There!" he cried triumphantly. "A rock! And a path!" Off to the left rose a patch of grey from the blue-green wall of grass. A large, flat bolder marked the beginning of a trail that led out to the trees. This trail cut through two-thirds of the switch grass, meaning that Hedgie still needed to get one third of the way there, to that rock. He stepped forward and attempted to part the grass in an effort to break a trail. "OW!" he yelled. "This won't work. I'm going to have to think about this." Hedgie sat down on the wagon. Next to him, the sugar crystals atop the slice of apple pie gleamed in the sun. "A place like this might not be safe for a traveling piece of pie," Hedgie observed. "If it bounced out in that grass, it'd be history. I better eat it." He snacked on his pie while he pondered his current situation. The sun still shone bright, but it was far from high in the sky. It had begin to creep toward the western horizon, indicating an hour approaching four-o-clock-ish. If he was going to have a chance at finding Douglas' pumpkin, he needed to get over to that big sycamore tree sooner than later. After all, he still had to get back out, and presently the swamp was a Jaloo smorgasbord stocked for a feast. Hedgie did not want to find out just how early the Jaloos would come out if lured by the scent of fresh apples. He poked at the last of the pie crumbs and shook his head. "I just don't know how I'm going to get out to that rock. I'd need a metal suit of armor to reach it unscathed." He propped his elbows on the edge of the wagon and stared out at the rock. Then, he froze. His eyes lit up, and he stood up in the middle of the wagon with a start. He laughed joyously and spun in a full circle, admiring his little red wagon. "I do have a metal suit of armor - my wagon! I just need some sturdy sticks and I'll push myself right out to that rock!" It was a genius idea. Hedgie rustled through the brush along the wooded path that he had just taken. He emerged with two slender but stout Hornbeam branches, a little more than twice as tall as his wagon. Hedgie hopped back in the wagon and pulled up the handle. With a mighty thrust, he shoved off into the sea of switch grass. Moving that wagon through the mud and grass was hard work, but Hedgie was quite determined. The natural grooves in the ironwood made the perfect gripping surface as he sank the branches into the soupy bottom of the swamp, nudging his wagon further and further. Inch by inch, foot by foot, with little squeaks at each turn of the wheels, he rowed his way out to the rock. Just when he thought he could not muster up one more push, he found himself docked against its large, flat surface - he had reached the end of the switch grass, finally! "Whew!" Hedgie flopped back in the wagon for a moment, catching his breath and staring up at the clouds overhead. One looked like a cupcake. Another one looked like a pineapple. It reminded him of a birthday party they had once had for Nordaust, with a pineapple pinata and coconut creme cupcakes. Remembering that his friends would be coming to look for him before too long, Hedgie sat up and hopped out of the wagon. With the last bit of strength left in his tired arms, he pulled the wagon up and over the rock. It bounced and clattered to the other side. "Good thing that pie wasn't in there!" Before him, a trail just wide enough to pass through led out to the other side, where an assortment of small, muddy paths darted off into the trees in every direction. As Hedgie made his way down the remainder of the switch grass trail, he saw clouds of butterflies hovering over some late blooming milkweed. Red winged blackbirds fought over dark, plump chokeberries, their foliage drenched in the fall colors of a sunset. Equally vibrant were the wild blueberry bushes, their berries long gone but the tiny, oval leaves blazed masses of bright crimson red. A few solitary blue lobelias lined the trail's edges. There seemed to be color everywhere. "Nordaust wasn't wrong," Hedgie noted. "I always thought of the Jaloos living out here in some dreary, wet and dark wasteland. They live in a paradise." Arriving at the cedars, Hedgie now had to decide which path to take. All started one way, but twisted into another. All were thick with mud down the center. None of them looked more appealing than the other. Hedgie chose the path furthest to the right. "I'll take this one," he decided. "It'll be easy to remember which path I took if I get turned around and end up right back here.' He peered warily at the deep mud in the center, flattest part of the trail. Frowning, he pulled the wagon up onto the higher side of the trail. "I don't like the looks of that mud. It seems awfully deep." Safely, though a little crooked, Hedgie traversed down the winding trail. It seemed to go on and on. Other paths cut in and intersected the trail that Hedgie was following, but he had a hunch that he had picked the right path, and so he stuck to it. Sure enough, he wound his way around the last curve of the trail to an open clearing, and towering before him was the giant sycamore tree. "Whoa," Hedgie declared softly. As big as the tree had looked from afar, its enormous stature was breathtaking up close. It's thick trunk stood like an immovable building anchored in the ground. It was as wide as Sweep. The lower branches appeared log-like, extending straight out from the tree like barn beams before turning vertical. All of the sycamore was wrapped in its tell-tale mottled bark; milky white, pale grey, shades of pastel green and chestnut. Its limbs extended outward, upward, so tall that the curved and twisted branches looked like they could grab the moon and hold it in place in the sky. It was quite a magnificent thing to see, yet a little frightening at the same time. Hedgie recalled reading about these trees in one of Douglas' ancient folklore books. It was said by some that these trees were a gateway between worlds. Hedgie imagined the giant tree reaching down with its arm-like branches, delicately plucking Douglas' pumpkin from the dirt and sending it off into another universe. He shook his head, quickly dismissing the idea. The clearing in which the tree stood was very open, with carpets of soft, folded over dry grass - no doubt worn down by the jaloos lounging in the moonlight. Slowly, Hedgie began to make a wide circle around the tree, searching for a speck of red against the tan and brown backdrop of the ground. "This should be easy," Hedgie predicted. "There's not much out here for a red pumpkin to blend in with." It was true - the area around the tree boasted no color like the other parts of the swamp had. Surrounded by bramble on almost all sides, the great tree seemed to have a room of its own, devoid of flowers, berries, and all the usual decorations of the muddy wetland. Hedgie rummaged around in the grass, poking here and there. He glanced up to the west, nervously eyeing the sun and the shades of pink starting to creep into the sky. He was beginning to run out of time. As he brought his gaze back down to the miniature flattened haystacks before him, he spied a blotch of red in one of the tufts of grass. He hurried over to it so fast that he tripped twice, bouncing from one grass mound to the next. "Oh please let it be the pumpkin!" Hedgie shouted as he tumbled to a stop at the little red object. "YES!!" He scooped up the pumpkin with both hands to examine it. Unharmed! "It's amazing!" Hedgie declared. "Not a scratch on you! You flew all this way and dropped in the perfect landing spot...what a ride that must have been! Boy I can't wait to tell Douglas about you. A red pumpkin who flies through the air into a Jaloo's hangout!" Shaking his head in disbelief, Hedgie was all smiles as he walked back over to the wagon and set the little pumpkin back in its taxi. "Where to pumpkin? Back to the orchard? Oh, you'd like a pie to go, to share with Douglas? Splendid idea. Off we go!" And with a tug on the handle, Hedgie began navigating his wagon back the way he came. As Hedgie made his way back through the cedars, it occurred to him that in order to get back through the switch grass he would have to repeat the exhausting process of rowing the wagon through the mud all over again. "Oh, crumbs," admitted Hedgie. "I don't think I have the energy to do it. It would take me twice as long, at least, that is if I don't stall out altogether." As the wagon squeaked along with its tiny pumpkin passenger riding obediently inside, Hedgie recalled that there were many paths that ran into the one he was on. He also recalled that at the edge of the meadow near the orchard, many paths had led into that first cluster of trees. "I wonder.." he began thinking out loud "...all these other trails...does one path lead around the switch grass and out to one of those smaller paths leading to the meadow?" He decided that it was entirely possible. Given the hour of the day and the tiredness in his bones after a very full day of activity, he judged it to be in his best interest to attempt to by-pass the center of the swamp. "Besides, Nordaust and Sweep should be here soon. When they find me, I won't have to walk another step. I'll get a ride out well before it even starts to get dark." Skipping over the first intersection in the trail due to its apparent lack of use, Hedgie made his second right onto a straight and tidy looking foot path. "This isn't so bad," declared Hedgie. It appeared that the trail he was on, although not nearly as wide as the one leading to the sycamore, was well worn and clear of any overgrowth. Hedgie wondered if it would have been very easy to avoid the switch grass after all. He concluded that there was really no way of knowing without a map of the swamp. He made a mental note to inquire with Nordaust about the existence of one. As he walked further down the path, Hedgie's mind wandered to his plans later on, involving Douglas, the pumpkin, and pie. "But not pumpkin pie," he thought to himself with a chuckle. He glanced back at the tiny red pumpkin, which sat comfortably in its taxi, rocking ever so slightly back and forth with the motion of the wagon. Hedgie hoped that Douglas would be feeling a little better. It would likely be well past dinnertime by the time he reached Douglas' house, but that was not too late for Douglas. Possum that he was, Douglas was no early riser, and he stayed up well past midnight. Events that involved early morning activities, such as breakfast at eight am and yard sale setups, did not suit Douglas' schedule. Evening pie with coffee or tea was a thought that danced in Hedgie's mind as he approached the next intersection in the trail. Left, right, or straight were the choices. Hedgie chose the left path, as that way pointed toward the general direction of his pumpkin patch. The trail swung wide through a small clearing, then back into the wooded canopy. It seemed as if it were a little bit darker when Hedgie entered the woods again. He began to feel a small inkling of worry set into his brain. Would he be able to get back to the meadow before dusk? How early might the Jaloo's come out with all the fresh apples scattered across the swamp? Hedgie glanced back at the little red pumpkin and pulled the wagon faster. In no time, he had reached another intersection, smaller and with even narrower paths to choose from. He plowed straight ahead. Soon, he found himself at what appeared to be the end of the trail. "What!" exclaimed Hedgie in disbelief. "This can't be - this trail doesn't even end anywhere, it's just a big wall of brush!" But the path didn't end. Upon closer inspection, Hedgie realized that the trail didn't stop at the brush, it went through the brush. Hedgie looked around - there was no other path besides the one he was on. It was either go back the way he had come or follow the path into the thicket. He observed the tangled wall of honeysuckle and saplings interwoven with raspberry bushes, through which a small but pronounced tunnel was visible. Turning to the pumpkin, he asked aloud, "I wonder what's beyond the brush?" He'd come too far to turn back. He had to reach the meadow, and soon. It could be right on the other side! Taking a deep breath and a step forward, he held the wagon's handle tightly as he entered the passageway through the living wall. As soon as Hedgie set foot into the tunnel and stood below the twisted ceiling of old vines, he knew he could not wait to get out. Whatever daylight had been left was snuffed out almost completely. He froze, cautiously peering all around him. The more he saw as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, the less he liked his current location. The roots of the mature honeysuckle bushes resembled gnarled, reaching hands creeping toward him across the narrow footpath. Hedgie quickly stepped to the other side of the pathway with a little gasp. His sight still fixated on the creeping honeysuckle claws, Hedgie backed right into a soft, furry object. He spun around so fast that he almost tipped over the wagon. With a startled scream at the edge of his lips, Hedgie's horror turned to relief when he discovered that he had backed into a tree trunk covered in thick cushion moss. He looked down at Douglas's pumpkin with a little smile and a sigh, and leaned back against the cushion moss for a moment. "Gather yourself, Hedgie" he thought to himself, closing his eyes to picture the path back to the meadow. When he opened his eyes, he found himself staring back at MANY sets of eyes. "Ahhhhyyeeea pumpkin, we've got to go!" he yelled, and yanked the little wagon behind him in a sprint through the brush. SPAT! SPAT! SPAT! The sound of his feet smacking the cool, packed dirt in the wooded tunnel sounded like fat raindrops falling on asphalt. Ripping the wagon right along behind him, Hedgie burst through the other side of the brush and skidded to a halt. Behind him in the thicket, a group of birds who had just settled in for the evening were debating whether or not they had just seen a small hedgehog towing a rather strange looking pumpkin at high speed. Hedgie caught his breath, checked the pumpkin, and looked about him. The path that he'd landed on was very open, well worn, and...very familiar. He quickly recognized it, and turned to Douglas' pumpkin in a panic. "It's the same path that we were on!" Hedgie exclaimed. "We're practically back where we started!" It was true; Hedgie had made one big circle and was now back at the very first intersection in the trail, which he had initially passed over. He began to think quickly. Going back and attempting to cross the switch grass wouldn't work - daylight was fading fast, and that was the last place that Hedgie wanted to get stuck at in the dark. Nordaust and Sweep wouldn't even see him in there! Where were they, anyways? Shouldn't they be here by now? What if there was another path to the sycamore and that's where they were? Hedgie's mind swirled with thoughts as he began pulling the wagon ahead at a brisk pace. He had to get back to the meadow. He had to get out of these trails where no one would find him! "We've got to get out of here, pumpkin," Hedgie explained. "We can't stay put. I don't think Nordaust and Sweep would even suspect where we are at. We need to get back to the meadow!" He trudged along, determinedly. "We're going to follow this path out, there's GOT to be a way out!" Up the trail they went. The sky has now turned into a beautiful medley of colors. Golden yellow and blush pink stretched upward from the base of the tree line, eventually crossing paths with streaks of orange and purple. Hedgie marveled at the spectacular show. As the color peaked in the sky, he reminded himself of the inevitable; that when it began to fade, darkness would soon creep in. Ignoring the weariness that he was starting to feel in his legs, Hedgie began moving up the trail at a fast, steady jog. The tiny pumpkin bounced in rhythm with the uneven trail, but stayed put in its fast moving taxi. With the wagon rumbling out a soft clatter behind him, Hedgie passed a possible turn off and headed straight the four way intersection before the clearing. Earlier, when he had taken the left there, it had looped him right back to where he'd been. Quickly reaching that crossroads, Hedgie made a right. He found himself on a trail that was certainly new to him. At first, the pathway was fairly open. "This looks promising," Hedgie observed. Suddenly the trail narrowed and began to climb upwards, then down, over and over like a roller coaster track. Hedgie took the downhills at a full run, keeping his momentum going in order to zoom up the uphills. The little pumpkin soared at every crest of the path as Hedgie's wagon caught air. The trail then flattened out and made a sharp turn to the right, and as it did, it offered a glimpse at the sycamore tree far off. Hedgie had put quite some distance between himself and the tree, yet it did not seem to lose any of its enormity. The sunset erupting behind it gave it an eerie glow, and lent many ideas to Hedgie's steadily growing imagination. He was certain that the old sycamore held supernatural powers, that it glowed in the dark, and that the Jaloo's somehow harnessed the supernatural energy from the tree. Had it sucked up Sweep and Nordaust while he was busy looking for a way out? Did it send Nordaust to the moon and turn Sweep into a constellation in the sky? With those tall branches, Hedgie was sure that the tree could reach the heavens to put them both there. He hadn't heard one single beep or bark, and he was truly starting to worry. Hurrying further down the path, Hedgie noticed a growing number of vines now mixed in with the trees, crawling up trunks like big, curious snakes. He gave the little pumpkin an uneasy glance, and tried to walk only in the center of the pathway, as far as possible from the slithering vines. He wanted to be back at the orchard. He wanted to be out of the woods. The painted sky started to become dull and faded. Hedgie gazed worriedly at the soft pastel colors as he jogged. "Little pumpkin," Hedgie began, "I am extremely grateful for you assistance in staying put so that I could find you. Now, did you happen to see, during your flight over the meadow and the marshy swamp, exactly where this path - OH! Oh help!" While gazing up at the sky, Hedgie failed to see the deep patch of mud right in front of him. With a soupy KERPLOOP, Hedgie slid right into the center of a very slick and sticky mud hole. The wagon teetered at the brim. The little pumpkin had rolled to the edge of the wagon and appeared to be peering down at Hedgie without an answer, unsure of how to help. Hedgie flopped and flailed, but it was no use. He was one stuck little hedgehog. "Okay, don't panic." Hedgie sat very still in the mud and tried to think. This lasted all of but a minute. He panicked. "Oh my goodness, oh no, oh my, I'm stuck, it's getting dark, where are my friends? We're all alone, pumpkin! All alone in the woods and the swamp, haunted by that sorcerer tree! We'll be scrumptious little sacrifices! What a mess I've gotten us in...oh I'll never launch another apple again if we get out of here... *gasp* ...what was THAT??" Hedgie froze and turned his little ears towards the sound he's heard. He had been making a little bit of noise himself in the mud attempting to seek out any hope of solid footing or handhold. But the noise he heard sounded nothing like a muddy hedgehog at all. It was...unearthly. Hedgie heard it again. A high pitched, yet muffled screeching. Hedgie looked up at the pumpkin, stiff as a stick. "What. Is. That?" He did not wait for the pumpkin to reply. Frantically, he looked around him for something, anything, to extract himself out of the mud with. If only those vines were closer! He dared not touch the wagon for fear of knocking the little pumpkin into the mud hole, or worse yet, tipping the whole wagon in. He heard the noise again, closer this time. The sound seemed like it was getting faster and less muffled. The sunset was almost gone. The woods were rapidly filling with an eerie, pre-night darkness. Perhaps he could hide from whatever this was. He slunk down in the mud with just his eyes and nose visible over the chocolate colored goop. The sound echoed across the woods again, a sharp, repetitive trill. Hedgie's quills were standing on end. He lifted his head and peeked down the path in the direction that he had been heading. That was the direction from which the sound seemed to travel. Suddenly he caught a glimpse of light on the path. It was very, very dim, but it was surely a light. The creepy noise and creepy glow were slowly headed his way. Looking up again at the pumpkin, who was staring back at him, Hedgie realized that no matter how well he camouflaged himself in the mud, there was no way that whatever was headed toward them would miss seeing the wagon...and Douglas' pumpkin! Hedgie made up his mind. He couldn't hide in the mud, no. He had to get out. And fast! But how? "Ohmigosh what am I going to do?" Hedgie whispered nervously to himself. The terrible screeching sound cut through his thoughts; it was louder yet, and oh so close. Dim orbs floated around the last bend in the path. Hedgie shrank back in the mud, as he could now clearly see the creature. It growled as it approached. It was slow, heavy, and hulking as it squished mud down deep with every step. Its eyes were a dull milky blue, set wide in its blocky head. Spindly fingers protruded from thick arms. It was a big, dark, screeching, growling beast of a creature, and it was headed right for him. Hedgie's mind raced frantically to devise an escape plan. It was no use - even his brain was paralyzed by fear. His prickles shook with fright, so much that tiny ripples appeared across the surface of the mud. The creature screeched closer; it was now less than twenty feet away. Hedgie could smell its musty, earthy breath, like burning walnuts. "Oh Douglas!" Hedgie wailed. "I'm sorry I couldn't bring you this pumpkin! You can have my whole patch, they're all yours. Fuzzy, you can have my house and contents. Hoppie, your kids can have my cars. And Nordaust and Sweep, if I ever - " He stopped short. Had he just heard a voice? A bark! Did the monster bark? Then the voice shouted out, "There's his wagon!" But that sounded like Nordaust! "And the pumpkin!" It spoke again. "He found it!" Suddenly the monster halted before him and something sailed off its back. As it hit the ground facing him, Hedgie realized that it was none other than the Great Northern Jaloo hunting dog himself. Hedgie was astounded. Had that crazy dog been riding the monster down the trail this whole time? And why...and how? Surely he wasn't possessed? Nordaust's happy howl interrupted his questions. "A-woo-wooo, my gosh Hedgie we're sure glad to see you!" He peered down at his stuck friend, wagging his tail furiously, and covered in mud nose to toes. Hedgie was enormously relieved to hear no hint of evil possession in Nordaust's voice, but he was still slightly confused about his monster companion. "We?" he asked, eyeing up the noisy beast. "Yeah, what's the matter with you Hedgie, do you have mud in your eyes? Sweep is standing right behind me, just as dirty as I am...sure if you can't see him, you can hear him. His belts and pulleys are all packed with mud, they they sound awful." Hedgie sighed in sweet relief. It WAS Sweep - there was no monster after all! Hedgie laughed as he realized that the arms and fingers that he had thought were reaching out to grab him were nothing but branches piled into mounds of mud stacked up high on Sweep's fenders. The mud stretched across his hood in chunks, bathing both his windshield and headlights in a brown milky haze. There was not a speck of yellow to be seen on the old Jeep. Sweep gave Hedgie a smile and revved his engine, resulting in a high pitched shriek from under the hood, followed by little growls rumbling out of his exhaust pipes. Hedgie heard a little sizzle as Sweep gave a disapproving grunt. He smelled burning walnuts again. Still deep in the mud, Hedgie asked, "What's that?" With only the slightest look of concern, Nordaust replied, "Just some transmission fluid dripping on his pipes. We must have whacked that rock pretty good coming onto this trail way back there," he nodded back toward the direction they'd appeared from. "Sweep thought he could jump over the rock, I told him to go slower..and crawl over it," he said pointedly, shooting Sweep a good natured I-told-you-so look. The big brown Jeep was staring up at the sky, deliberately ignoring him. Nordaust focused his attention back to Hedgie. "Let's talk after we get you out of here. The Jaloos will soon be investigating their new snacks. We don't want to accidentally chase them into the orchard." With a quick pull he loosened a rope that was tied to the corner of Sweep's bumper. He brought the end over to the edge of the hole and tossed it to Hedgie. "Grab on, and hold tight," he instructed. Hedgie did as he was told and gripped the rope tightly with his muddy hands. With a squeal of dirty belts and a snarl of motor, Sweep backed up a few feet, his big tires easily gripping the slick mud and extracting one stuck little hedgehog. "Woo-hoo!" hollered Hedgie. "Boy am I glad to be out of there!" As mud funneled down from his quills, he carefully walked around the mud hole and retrieved his wagon, which contained one tiny red pumpkin. Nordaust shook his head gladly as Hedgie returned to his rescuers. "Can't believe you found it, Hedgie," Nordaust marveled. "It was hard enough finding YOU!" he added. "We took the path around the switch grass that loops around that big sycamore you said you were headed for. We thought for sure we'd run into you. But we didn't see you, so we kept heading further down the trail. We were getting worried. so we cut over to this side in some pretty deep ruts, hardly a path!" Nordaust gave Hedgie a boost up into the Jeep, next handing him Douglas' pumpkin, and then the wagon. Finally, he hopped in next to Hedgie. The sunlight was completely gone. The swampland and its inhabitants were now illuminated only by the slate blue twilight and pale orange shadows leftover form the evening's sunset. "How did you get over here, anyways?" Nordaust inquired. Hedgie smiled as he wiped a patch of mud off the tiny red pumpkin. Tucking it safely under his arm, he briefly explained his route to Nordaust. "THROUGH the switch grass?" Nordaust echoed in amazement. "No wonder we didn't stumble upon you! I know you're game, Hedgie, but blast it all if ever figured you to plow through that stuff! What an afternoon you've had. You and your pumpkin. Alright Sweep," he called to the patiently idling Jeep. "Let's go home." With a sigh of relaxation and rest long overdue, Hedgie leaned back against Nordaust's bushy tail and recalled his adventure in full detail to his two friends, as they bumped and slid their way over the muddy trails, out of the swamp and across the meadow to the orchard. Behind them the glowing eyes of many hungry Jaloos began to appear, seeking out their evening treats. Hedgie, Sweep, and Nordaust did not notice, for they had their sights fixed on the glowing lights of the big barn ahead. Well...maybe Nordaust noticed. When they reached the barn, Sweep continued onto the far side of the building where the little farm store was located. Slowly rolling to a halt, he had not forgotten Hedgie's mention of pies from earlier in the day. Nordaust gave Hedgie a lift down and they walked into the sweet smelling nook of the barn. Hedgie's eyes gazed widely at the array of breads, tarts, cakes, sauces, cider, and of course, pies. He selected one with a glistening sugar crumb coating. Nordaust nosed around next to his bake oven and produced a box. "To keep your pie safe until you get back to Douglas'," he assured. "You've had enough hiking around today and it's dark. We'll give you a lift." Hedgie was more than willing to accept Nordaust's offer. "Hey," he paused and looked questioningly at the fluffy dog boxing up his pie, "don't you two have to watch the orchard?" Nordaust let out a laugh and said with a grin,"Yes, we do - but I believe we just bought ourselves some time by way of those apples. We'll have you to Douglas' and back well before those Jaloos even look this way." Satisfied that his friends would not lose their jobs on his account, Hedgie carried his pie out of the store and back to where Sweep was parked outside. Nordaust followed behind him, a jug of cider in hand. After helping Hedgie back up into the seat with his pie, he carried the cider to the back of the Jeep, and much to Sweep's delight, dumped it in the gas tank. Sweep bounced a little and let out a beep. Hopping into the driver's seat, Nordaust gave him a pat on the dash and off they went to Douglas' house. After a short ride alongside a rising moon, they arrived at 388 Ranger Lane, home of Douglas Furr. Hedgie was happy to see the lights on inside the house; Douglas must be awake, maybe even feeling a little better. Hedgie hopped out, collected his pie, pumpkin, and wagon, and bid his friends goodbye. "Thanks again for everything!" Hedgie called out with a wave as Sweep's tail lights slowly crept out of the driveway. "Very welcome, tell Douglas we said hello," replied Nordaust. "Good night, Hedgie!" And with Nordaust standing on the front seat, his paws flopped over the windshield and tail wagging, Sweep rumbled back down the road to the orchard. Balancing the little red pumpkin on top of the pie, Hedgie carefully ascended the stairs to Douglas' front door. He could faintly hear music coming from inside the house. Before he could knock, Douglas answered the door. "Feeling better?" Hedgie asked hopefully. "Considerably!" replied Douglas, looking a world healthier than he had that morning. "I was hoping I hadn't overslept and missed you, it was getting a bit late. What is that?" His eyes fell on the tiny pumpkin. Hedgie stepped inside and set the pie down on the table, handing the pumpkin to Douglas. "It is a red pumpkin," Hedgie proclaimed, "and it's for you." Douglas beamed at his tiny treasure, holding it up to his face for a closer look with a joyful smile . As predicted by Hedgie, the tiny pumpkin indeed got a impeccable view of those fifty possum teeth. "What in the world...where did you ever find such a thing?" Hedgie chuckled and asked, "You mean the first time, or the second time?" Douglas gave him a puzzled look. "It's a long story," Hedgie explained, "but a good one. It's a story to be told over pie and hot drinks." And he opened the box to reveal Nordaust's scrumptious looking apple pie. "Oh, I love those kind of stories," Douglas agreed. Douglas set the pumpkin down, put on some coffee, and fetched two plates and forks out of the kitchen. Sitting down at the table with Hedgie, he pondered, "Now I wonder if this is a one slice or two slice sort of story?" Hedgie gave a little smile and looked down at the tiny red pumpkin. "Oh, I believe it's a two slice sort of story for sure." The End Tales that call Possum Nook home are unpolished, rough edits patiently waiting for their next destination in the story book journey. They are words that can't wait to be read.
Douglas' Pumpkin was created in 2018. It is the Jaloo's first publicly published story. To note: A Jaloo is a creature that has been exclusively documented and observed by the author and has not been seen outside the realm of Possum Nook. If someone tells you that they have seen one somewhere else... they are fibbing. Jaloos are curiously shy and non-aggressive.
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Tales of Douglas Furr (and his friends)narrated by Crissy Clossin Archives
February 2024
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