the pumpkin’s hidden prize

Today we have something a little bit different.
A short story? Maybe? But longer than most.
It might take a moment to read the whole thing
so maybe consider some tea and some toast.

This is a story of a pumpkin, she was fairly normal sized
but nothing much about her was really very prized.

No one even bothered carving into her
they just set her outside, decor for the season procured.

The thing about outside there are creatures and beasts
and on pumpkin meat squirrels love to feast.

Gangs of squirrels came and picked little holes
this pumpkin felt mangled right down to her soul.

(You didn’t know that pumpkins had souls?
I hear you asking that.
Well, in this world they do and otters wear hats!)

There she was sitting all holey and sad
thinking no thoughts that weren’t rather bad.

She looked around at the pumpkins beside her
they all had nice carvings, prizes they were.

All she had were awful chewed holes
her grief took over, no one there to console.

And just then a mean kid came walking right past
and kicked our sad pumpkin with a mighty blast.

She rolled to the bushes and she lay there quite still
the world outside had stolen her will.

She gave up thinking that she would matter
and figured her life would end with no chatter.

She felt discarded and like no one cared
she was picked full of holes and felt despair.

But here’s the thing, sometimes when things look quite dark
something magical happens and it starts with a spark.

Here we need to turn our attention to a bunch of sticks
a makeshift nest for a few small chicks.

This sparrow mother had her babies too late
and the weight of the cold was getting too great.

But here’s our spark and the touch of magic
that turns our tale from everything tragic.

Our pumpkin was lying there next to the sticks
the holes in her side were sized just for chicks
to crawl right inside and be toasty warm
and so our pumpkin a home she did form!
Those chicks were protected just long enough
to grow big and get the right stuff
to make it through winter and even beyond
nesting around a quaint little pond.

Remember our pumpkin, she had felt real despair
for having been treated with so little care.

She thought her life would amount to no thing
no trumpets announcing, no music to sing.

But the things that had made her feel so sad
it turns out those were the prizes she had!

Without the holes the chicks could not
have gotten in and gotten hot!

And she was there because of the kick
it really seems like a magic trick!

The things about her that she resisted
those were the special parts she had been gifted
and when the world needed her most
she was able to play the host.

So there you have it, a tale of a pumpkin
and how those things that feel most tragic
might be the things that give us our magic.