HERBERT

There once was a pumpkin named Herbert, who lived in a very large pumpkin patch on farmer John's farm. He lived there with about 100 other pumpkins. Herbert didn’t know how long he had lived there, but he knew it was getting to be Fall and the weather was crisp and chilly.

Ever since he could remember he had listened to the older pumpkins talking about something they called "That awful night, Halloween!" From what he could gather it had something to do with pumpkins leaving the
patch and never coming back. This scared Herbert, for he didn’t want his family to be taken and never come back.

His curiosity finally got the better of him, so he asks his dad to tell him what was so awful about Halloween and why all pumpkins seem to be scared of that night. His father told him that only one pumpkin in the whole patch could explain about that night and his name was Walter Jack-o-Lantern. He lived beneath the big oak tree over in the corner of the patch. Herbert asked his dad to take him there so he could find out the true story
of Halloween.

As Herbert and his dad walked across the moonlit patch, he couldn’t help but be a little scared; after all he
had never been to this side of the patch before. It was dark and gloomy and full of brier bushes. As they rounded the corner Herbert saw the biggest pumpkin he had ever seen. When they got closer the old pumpkin opened his eyes and stretched. He looked at Herbert and said, "So you want to know about Halloween?" Herbert was so surprised, and he ask," How do you know why I came?" "I know everything my son," the old pumpkin murmured. "Sit down my boy and I shall tell you all about that night, children in costumes and why all pumpkins fear that awful time of year," he said. Herbert and his dad sat down beside the old pumpkin and listened to the story he had to tell.

Walter Jack-O-Lantern sat there for a few moments as if to collect his thoughts. "Long ago," he began, "when I was a young boy, my grandpa Tom Pumpkin told us a story about how all humans hated pumpkins and how in the month of October strange things happened." The old pumpkin took a small pause as Herbert sat closer to his dad. "My grandpa told us how small children would dress up in strange clothes and masks and go from house to house getting candy and sometimes money from people who lived there." "It sure was a strange site to see," he continued. "On this night," Walter continued, "grown-ups would come to the patch and one by one the pumpkins were carried away, never to be seen again." "What happened to them?"

Herbert asked. "Well," Walter said, my grandpa said no one thought much about it, they thought perhaps the pumpkins were joining the children and getting treats too." Walter stopped at this point and stretched and yawned, after all he was an old pumpkin and storytelling was very tiresome for him, Herbert sat there, his eyes as big as the moon. He hung on every word Walter said. "What happened next?" he asked. "Well," Walter said, "one night I followed one of the grown-ups back to the house.": He carried three pumpkins onto a porch and placed them on a table. "Then he took a long shiny object and began to cut the tops of their heads off and took all their insides out and threw them on the floor." Herbert began to shake and moved even closer to his dad. "I don't think I want to hear anymore," he said, "You have to know," Walter said, "or you could be next." Walter continued,

"The man then took the shiny object and cut to large triangles in the face of the pumpkins, then he cut a smaller one for a nose." "I became scared that he might see me and do the same thing to me, so I moved back." "As I moved back, I bumped into a table and that’s when I saw them, the pumpkins sitting on the table." Walter began to shake a little. "What did you see!" "What did you see!" shouted Herbert. "I saw the most horrible thing I had ever seen, there in the place of those beautiful pumpkins were ugly,
scary monsters with big eyes, carved noses and a jagged, crooked mouth." "Oh, my goodness!" shouted Herbert, "My goodness indeed," Walter said. "I was so scared; I ran all the way back to the patch to tell the others what I had seen." "To this day, every pumpkin fears that night and they all try to hide in the brier bushes when grown-ups come around, so they won't be taken away to become monsters." "I am tired now," Walter said, "I will see you tomorrow," "Goodnight and beware, for Halloween is coming soon." With those words Walter Jack-O-Lantern fell fast asleep, and Herbert and his dad went home.

For several days Herbert did nothing but think of the story Walter had told him. Was it just a story the old
pumpkins had made up to keep the younger ones in the patch or was it true? One way or another, Herbert had to find out. He had to see the horrible things people did to the pumpkins. He had to know for sure why they all feared Halloween.

One day when his mom and dad were away, he decided this would be a good time to go to the human's house and see if he could find out about Halloween. As he made his way to the front of the patch, he saw a gate and on the gate was a sign that read "PUMPKINS FOR SALE-SEE FARMER JOHN." Herbert found this to be confusing. What did it mean? He would have to ask Walter about this too, but later. Herbert made his way through the gate and down the road to the first house he saw. He made sure to not let anyone see him, for if humans knew pumpkins could walk and talk, no telling what they might do to them. When Herbert reached the first house, he saw that the door was open.

He made his way up onto the porch and slowly went inside. Once inside Herbert saw all sorts of wondrous things, but he wasn’t sure what they were, but there was a lot of them. Herbert didn’t know what he saw was furniture, rugs, pictures and other things that humans had. As he walked across the floor, he saw a large room with books in it. Herbert knew about books because his mom read him bedtime stories from them. He entered the room thinking he might find a book on Halloween and have his mom read it to him. To his surprise, there sitting in a large chair was a small, blond-haired girl. Suddenly Herbert became afraid, for after all she was a human. Herbert decided he should leave before she saw him. As he turned toward the door, he heard her say aloud, "What Halloween is all about. "Just the book I wanted," she said to herself. Herbert decided he might stay a bit longer just to see what the girl was going to do with the book. If she put it down, Herbert would grab it and take it back to the patch. To his delight, she began to read from the book, so he sat down behind the chair and listened.

The girl turned the page and began to read, "In the days of old when people believed in witches and demons, they were trying to find a way to scare the evils away. Some thought if they dressed up like the witches and demons that the real ones would leave them alone. People realized that they could not dress like this all the time or others might take them to be real demons. The people noticed that the evils only came out one night a year. This was on October 31st, "All Hallows Eve." The girl stopped and looked around the room and said, "That seems like a good idea, but let’s see what happens next." Herbert had not seen anyone else in the room, so who was she talking to?

He became afraid because he thought she may somehow know he was there behind her chair. He sat very still and listened, and the girl continued to read. "The people didn’t know if dressing like the demons alone would keep them away, so they tried to come up with another way." "A man named John Smith told his wife that he was going to take some of the pumpkins from his patch and make an ugly monster from it to see if that would keep them away." "He went to the patch and choose the largest pumpkin he could find, then took it to the kitchen table where he began to carve shapes in the pumpkin's face. "Herbert really began to listen now, he moved from behind the chair to the side of it with caution. "When the man got through carving, the pumpkin was so scary that his children ran crying from the room." "Do you think it will work?" asked his wife. "We'll try it tomorrow night on "All Hallows Eve," he answered.

"Have I found the secret to Halloween?" Herbert asked himself! The little girl continued to read on. "The next night the farmer's kids dressed in their costumes and masks so that the demons would not recognize them." "The farmer put the large pumpkin on the porch to be sure the demons saw it, he then placed a lighted candle in it so that it would cast a eerie shadow." "The farmer's wife thought the children looked so scary in their costumes, that she gave each one of them an apple and that's how children learned to go from house to house and ask for treats, because people didn't know if they really were demons or not." "At midnight people were in their houses, because that’s when the demons came out." "The farmer sat by his window to see if any witches or demons came."

"None came out, so he knew his pumpkin monster had worked." "That is why pumpkins are still used today." With that the little girl closed the book and left the room. After she left, Herbert sat for a few minutes and then he went out the door and back to the patch. He had so much to tell his mom and dad. When he got back to the patch, he went to see if Walter was awake. "Hello, Walter." Herbert said. "May I visit you today?" "Yes," said
Walter. "Please sit down and tell me all about your adventure to the house of farmer John." Herbert could not understand how Walter had known where he had been. "Well, I have a great story to tell you Walter, and when you hear it, you will understand about Halloween," said Herbert. Walter listened with amazement as Herbert told the story he had heard the little girl read.

When he was done Walter said, "You have finally learned the secret of Halloween." "Thanks to you, pumpkins everywhere will now know that humans need us to help keep demons and witches away, and they will no longer be afraid when humans come to the patch to get them." "You are a hero, Herbert." "I just wanted to know why humans wanted pumpkins and why they never brought them back to the patch," Herbert said. With that, Herbert went to find his mom and dad so he could tell them.

Someday if you pass a pumpkin patch, you will see pumpkins sitting in a row waiting to be the next pumpkin monster for Halloween. At the head of the line sits Herbert Pumpkin waiting for the children in costumes and the grown-ups to come gather pumpkins. Always hoping that someday soon he can be chosen to help protect the people from demons. So goes the story of Herbert and Halloween. Is the story true? Who can say? Next time you carve a pumpkin don't be surprised if it smiles at you.