Submission (#851) Approved

[Writing Submission! <3]

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The smell of pumpkin spice and cinnamon filled the air, warming the atmosphere of the little cottage. Mal adjusted their sweater as Pillar glanced over at them from his perch on their shoulder.

“Yeah, we’re going,” Mal told him as they pulled on a hefty set of boots. At Pillar’s curious head tilt, Mal explained as they walked out, “The pumpkin patch might be a bit muddy. It rained a bit last night.”

Upon arrival, Mal had been right about the mud. Fortunately, though, they had gone early enough that they got to have nearly first pick on whichever pumpkin they wanted. They wandered around amongst the massive orange fruits, occasionally stopping by one here and there to hum as they inspected it. Eventually, with Pillar’s help, Mal found the perfect pumpkin - large an unblemished, it was one of the newer ones and had a sturdy stem. The bottom was flat, too, to make carving it much easier.

They happily purchased the pumpkin and returned home with it, wasting no time in taking out their boning knife, pumpkin gutter, and a battery-operated votive. (“You don’t have to call it that! It’s a fake candle,” a friend light-humoredly scolded Mal on one occasion. “Candle! It’s a candle!”)

Mal began drawing a generic pumpkin face on a piece of paper - triangular eyes and nose, with a squared, toothy smile. Soft, padded footsteps came down the stairs and the paper was set aside.

“That’s lovely, dear,” Tatsudoshi hummed. “But what if we did something different?”

Mal gave a blank stare. “That’s the best I can do, and even then it comes out looking seventy-two different shades of mashed potatoes.”

“Strange analogy,” Tatsu whispered to herself, before grabbing a new piece of paper and quickly sketching across the entirety of it. “I have the perfect idea, just you wait.”

Mal did indeed wait, opting to cut off the top of the pumpkin and scoop out the insides until the time came that Tatsu had finally finished her assault on the paper. She pressed the paper against the now-hollow pumpkin and grabbed the knife, carefully carving out the larger shapes. Then she set the paper down, pulled up a stool to the counter, and began intricately scraping away tiny details into the pumpkin.

“How long are you going to spend on a pumpkin?” Mal asked incredulously. When no response was given, they sighed in defeat. “A long time. You’re going to be here a while.” This was confirmed with more silence. Pillar gave a light snicker from the couch.

Mal dragged their feet to the couch and curled up into it, letting themself fall into a nap as they dreamt about whatever Tatsu’s finished pumpkin would look like. Pillar settled onto their lap, dreaming of Halloween night and all the sweets that would come with it.