On a lush, green hill by the countryside, were blankets of colorful flowers spread among a vast land of grass.  Among those colorful flowers, was a great, big house. In the great, big house lived a gardener, Mr. Johee Smith, and his lovely family. Mr. Smith lived with his beautiful wife, named Catherine, their two playful children, and their beloved, brown dog.  

Mr. and Mrs. Smith’s six-year-old daughter was named Molly, and their adolescent son was named Bill.  Just like their vast difference in age, Molly’s and Bill’s personalities were exact opposites! Molly for one, adored playing with and caring for animals, while Bill enjoyed hunting and devouring them.  These two never could agree on anything, even on their dog’s name!  

When Bill received his birthday gift, he felt happy to lay his eyes on the most snuggly, little, brown labrador puppy he had ever seen.  The pup was hyper and had little, beady eyes. Every time Bill would pet him, he would feel its soft and gentle fur with those adorable, happy eyes staring at him.  Molly wanted to call him Milky Way because she had previously given that name to her favorite pet cow, and had missed the cow tremendously after it passed away. However, Bill insisted that the family take after his suggestion of “Chocolate” as a name for the brown lab. One of Bill’s family traditions is to make chocolate from scratch, and it was a rare and enjoyable dessert for him and his family.  Bill thought it would only be fitting to name his charming and precious, new puppy after the delightful dessert. From that day forward, the barking little pup would come running whenever someone hollered the word, “Chocolate!”

Though Molly was initially disgruntled for not being able to call the new family pet, Milky Way, she eventually got used to Chocolate.  She and her brother also had many arguments and disagreements since then, as they were so different in personality!  

However, as different as they were, both Molly and Bill had one thing in common.  They absolutely loved Halloween! They were thrilled about any and every Halloween festivity, such as lighting the Jack-o-Lantern, baking and eating pumpkin pie from scratch, and trick-or-treating in their rural neighborhood (even though neighbors were at least a hill away from them).  Not even Mrs. Smith’s strict rule of not eating Halloween candy that night (only after the following day), could dampen their spirits and excitement towards the holiday. Therefore, it was no surprise that Molly and Bill had already planned out their next Halloween costumes and could hardly wait to plant and grow their big, juicy pumpkins. 

Both Molly and Bill have high hopes for this year’s pumpkins.  Their goal was to surpass last year’s massive pumpkin, which measured in at a whopping width of 6.5 feet!  Molly and Bill were aiming for 7 feet this year, and had numerous awesome ideas as to how to grow such a large pumpkin!  Molly wanted to plant hers in a partially-shaded spot to keep it from drying out, and Bill wanted to plant his in the greenhouse, where it is protected from birds and most insects.

Mr. Johee brought out a bag of seeds for Molly and Bill to choose from.  The kids were very excited and laid out each of the seeds before them. Molly and Bill took a long time to make their selection, carefully picking up each seed, examining it, and making sure it’s the perfect one!  Of course, the siblings also argued about the qualifications of a “perfect” seed! In the end, Molly chose a fat, round, and wet one. She believed that it’s important to have a wet seed so that it would have a better chance of surviving in the damp dirt.  She feared getting a seed that would dry out! With a fat and round shape, Molly also predicted that it would turn out to be a round and fat pumpkin. On the other hand, Bill chose a skinny, speckled one, for the speckles looked like eyes and could scare off crows.  In all honesty, he also found the eye-looking speckles to be quite amusing. In addition, Bill reasoned that crows would not be interested in skinny and scrawny seeds, so that his seed could grow into a large pumpkin without the danger of being eaten.  

As the children made their final decisions, they placed their seeds very carefully into their hands and were confident that they were going to grow the biggest pumpkins!  Bill immediately named his seed Speckle, and Molly called hers Pepita! Speckles and Pepita felt warmth for the first time since leaving the bag. Feeling the confidence that Molly and Bill had for them, even these seeds began thinking that they would also grow to be the biggest yet.  

Molly cheerfully carried her seed, Pepita, over to her favorite tree.  This ancient and massive tree was over fifty years old! Molly knew she wanted a shaded area, so she carefully sought out a spot beneath the tree, by its large and twisted roots.  Pepita watched in anticipation as Molly dug a shallow hole, which would soon be Pepita’s home for the next few months. Molly chose to dig shallowly because she felt that it would be easier for Pepita to get rainwater.  After Molly carefully placed Pepita into the dirt, she covered her seed up with more dirt. Pepita felt delighted to be surrounded by cool and damp soil, safe from the hot sun. 

As Molly was walking towards her favorite tree, Bill was heading straight for the greenhouse. He approached the house full of plants before opening the wet door and walking in. There were plants of all types, such as squash, cucumbers, and much more. Bill found an empty flower pot and started putting in the dry fertilizer for the seed. He dug a deep hole and carefully put the seed in. He then covered it up with dirt and added a few sprinkles of water to keep it moist, but not overflowing. The only reason that Bill dug his hole for Speckles so deep was that in case any mice or rodents manage to get in, they would have to first get past the denseness of the soil in order to get to the skinny seed.

Pepita made herself right at home. With the shade, her fresh supply of water, and the free space around her, she was ready to start a new life. As Pepita’s little head showed out of the soil, she was awed and amazed at how big the tree was next to her. She immediately dug herself back into the damp, cool, soil and never dared to pop out again. Deep inside, she was trying to answer the many questions in her head about the big tree. She was frightened that the enormous tree next to her would poke out its roots and possibly be a big bully her mom used to talk about. With those thoughts, Pepita went to bed in silence. 

As Speckles was about to settle into the soil, he heard the plants around talking about the new seed moving in. Knowing that it was him that they were referring to, he tried to get up to the top of the flower pot, but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t manage to reach the top for all the heavy soil Bill put in had squeezed the thin seed. All the little seed could do was sit and wait for his roots to grow in order to feel the humid air around him. With those deep feelings, he sat and listened to the plants talk about how he would look like and wished he could show them his true self. 

After the two seeds got settled into their new homes, they noticed just how quiet it was.  Previously, Pepita and Speckles had gazillions of siblings, living happily within their parent.  They recalled how joyful it felt to be enveloped by love and many voices. It was moist, warm, and wonderful.  When the midday rays of the sun shone from above, they could feel the warmth radiating from their parent. Pepita and Speckles reminisced the feeling of hearing all their siblings gush stories to one another, talking about what life might be like on the outside.  This all changed when their parent was harvested by the gardener one day, and then split into two pieces! Sadly, all the seeds were immediately separated from their dying parent by cold, silver spoons. They watched as the two remaining pieces of their parent were cooked and made into a pumpkin pie.  Now in their new homes, all alone, they missed the feeling of bumping and squeezing beside siblings. Presently, there was a new sense of quiet, coldness, and isolation.  

That new feeling became a regular one.  While Pepita and Speckles were still fairly new seedlings, they grew accustomed to the idea that there wasn’t really anyone to interact with.  Soon enough, however, early Spring rolled around and Pepita and Speckles began to grow roots. Their little roots branched out into the soil.

One day, a creature that Pepita had never met before, inched around in the vicinity of the soil.  Curious and hoping to make a new friend, since Pepita felt very isolated beside the quiet mother tree, Pepita called out to it.  

“Hey down there! I was hoping to make a new friend. My name is Pepita. What is yours?” she inquired in a friendly manner.

Startled by the unexpected voice, the earthworm realized that a little pumpkin sproutling was calling out to it.  Hungry for some nutritious roots, the earthworm eagerly changed its path and began squirming towards her. The earthworm bumped into her roots and gingerly took a munch, commenting, “What is this thing? It’s delicious!”  Poor Pepita was upset and confused, wondering why the bully of an earthworm would do such a thing. 

The mother tree, who was standing tall beside Pepita, noticed her tiny neighbor in distress.  She immediately bumped her large roots into the earthworm in an attempt to scare it off. However, since her roots were so powerful, she accidentally split the earthworm in half during the process!  The earthworm wiggled helplessly, but unfortunately, had met its fate and became fertilizer.  

After that, Pepita changed her feelings toward the mother and thought of her as her hero. Their friendship became closer and closer and no longer did Pepita feel lonely, but she felt like she had a family. They talked all night and all day about how life would be when she grows to be a round pumpkin. Now, Pepita no longer felt lonely and hoped that her brother Speckles was feeling the same way. 

Similarly, Speckles also had another glorious adventure. Bill just finished watering the plants and he left the greenhouse door with a crack.  That was when a small and starving rat crept into the greenhouse and found the youngest plant, for it was the most tender of all. The gray rat started to nibble on Speckles’ roots and because of all the loud nibbling, Speckles’ neighbors woke up to find their new neighbor in trouble. They pulled the fruit from their leaves and threw them angrily at the rat. Surprised by the unexpected attack, the rat ran away, leaving Speckles feeling grateful and appreciative of his fellow neighbors.  He thought it was remarkable that his neighbors would do such a kind and selfless act in order to help a small newcomer like him.  

“Thank you all so much for your help!! I thought I was a goner without your help,” exclaimed Speckles with a relieved sigh. 

“Not a problem at all, buddy! This has happened to all of us before. Why, we don’t put up with pesky pests like those! We’re all ready to show him a piece of what we’ve got -- literally! Besides, this is what friends are for!” the plants chattered in response to Speckles.  The tall and robust tomato plant stretched its vines to show off its strength, as the turnips and carrots rustled their leafy tops in a daunting manner.

After that amazing adventure, Speckles now felt safe and happy to be part of this community and will always be ready to fight for his friends in case any nasty rodents were to come back. Now, all he worried about was if his sister Pepita was safe. 

When late spring finally arrived, lightning and showers looked down over Pepita, which caused non-stop flooding. This made Pepita’s roots grow weak and short and it consequently caused her to flow away. Luckily, the mother tree was nearby, and she was able to pull the tiny sampling back with her roots. Sadly, nothing got better after the rain. Heavy winds blew most of Pepita’s leaves off and the mother tree’s trunk grew weary because of the molding that incurred during the rain. Pepita was desperate for this awful spring to end. Hoping that her brother was having more luck, Pepita dug her roots deeper into the soil to stop herself from being blown away.

Speckles wasn’t having much luck either. The scary thunderstorms outside frightened him and the non-stop raining that pounded on the roof of the greenhouse made Speckles feel unsafe. Afraid of the roof falling on him, he dug his roots deeper into the soil to hope that this tragedy wouldn’t happen. Sooner or later, his friend the tomato noticed Speckles with a worried face. 

“What’s wrong my friend?” Tomato asked. 

“It’s the fact that...I’m afraid that the roof will fall on top of me,” mumbled Speckles. 

Tomato, feeling helpful, hopped over to stand next to Speckles and held his leaf out for him to hold. This made Speckles feel safer and he hoped that his sister was ok.

The temperature slowly rose as the cool spring faded away. All you could hear in the night were the wee crickets calling out. The thundering rainstorms turned into warm sunshine that Pepita could feel through the sick mother tree. Now that Pepita was a small pumpkin, she could help the mother tree get better. After all, she does owe her. Pepita put some of her healthy xylem water into the mother tree each night to help the mother but yet, this was not enough. Pepita stretched out her small vines and held the mother tree’s trunk, feeling her temperature. When Molly would come to feed the small pumpkin, she’d notice the mold on her favorite tree. She would slowly clean the mold away with a towel and some gloves and finally, after her work was done, she would water the tiny pumpkin and feel glad that she had chosen Pepita as a seed.

Meanwhile, Speckles was having a great time with Tomato. Speckles was no longer a sapling, he was a whopping pumpkin! Speckles was so glad about his success that he was sure Bill would be proud of him. When Bill came into the greenhouse, he gasped in surprise and called Molly over to see the giant pumpkin he grew. 

“Hey Moll. Check out Speckles. Bet you can't top that!”

“No way Billy. Even though my pumpkin may be small now, it doesn’t mean it won’t be going through a growth spurt soon!”

“Blah, blah, blah. That’s all small talk. I chose the best location for my pumpkin. Don’t you agree Molly the Moldy?”

“Billy Willy, I honestly don’t care about your location since I know that the Mother Tree is helping Pepita,” said Molly, who was still hopeful that her smaller pumpkin would have a growth spurt and surpass Bill’s.

“Your name for your seed doesn’t even make sense. You should name it Fatso or something like that.”

“No way. Pepita sounds way better. Besides, who would name their seed Speckles. Why not Dotty or something?”

As the two argued in disagreement, Speckles and the other plants were listening to their disgruntled conversation. Speckles thought that the argument between Bill and Molly were quite interesting but yet strange. Since Pepita and Speckles were so far from one another, they didn’t have to argue and disagree. But somehow, Speckles felt as if he wanted to yell and tease his sister, just like Bill and Molly were doing. Witnessing this sibling interaction before him made Speckles realize how much he missed his own sister.  He hadn’t seen her since they were itty bitty seeds, and he decided to bravely venture out in hopes of teasing his sister!

While on the way to look for his sister, Speckles thought that outside the greenhouse felt so different. Instead of the humid and damp air, there were cool and gentle breezes as well as warm and inviting sun rays. Speckles made his way to a large tree and leaned against it. There, he heard a voice that sounded like Pepita. He looked around the tree, and there was his sister! He happily ran to his sister and when he met her: 

“Hey Pepita. Check me out. Bet you can't be as big as I am!”

“Speckles? Is that you?” Pepita questioned.

“Of course it is Peppy Weppy. I live in an amaaaaaazing greenhouse which is obviously better than your location,” Speckles responded.

“No way Speckles. And when did you start calling me Peppy Weppy?’’ inquired Pepita with a wary tone of voice.  She felt strange to find her brother, not only pop out of nowhere, but to behave in such an uncharacteristic way too!  

Just as the two pumpkins were talking, Bill and Molly noticed that Speckles was gone. In a hurry, they left the greenhouse and ran to the Mother Tree. There, they saw Speckles drying out and found out that he could talk!

Bill and Molly were absolutely in shock. How is it that a pumpkin could move out of his spot in a greenhouse, much less...talk?!  Bill rubbed his eyes in disbelief and decided that he had to see it for himself again to truly believe it. The two pumpkins appeared silent again, so there must be some way to get them to perk up once more.  Bill asked Molly to fetch him a watering can, which she did immediately. He splashed cool water from the can all over Speckles. No movement whatsoever and not a peep came from Speckles. Bewildered, Bill glanced at Molly. 

“I’m not seeing or hearing things, right?! Didn’t you also hear our pumpkins talking just now?” he cried, his voice rising in uncertainty. 

“I’m not sure. Did you?” Molly asked.

Meanwhile, Speckles and Pepita were both frozen in fear.  They worried that, if Bill and Molly found out they could move and speak, they would be taken away -- and who knows what would happen to them!  Silently, they both held their breaths and remained as motionless as rocks while Bill and Molly looked them over.

Not having any other options given their delicate situation, Speckles and Pepita continued to sit frozen in fear.  They sat and waited for what seemed like hours and hours until the two very curious human beings appeared to lose interest.  Bill looked over to Molly, who looked back at him, and they let out a long sigh. Simultaneously, the two siblings gave up staring at the pumpkins to see if they’d budge or make a peep. 

“Well, guess I’ll take you back where you belong,” uttered Bill, as he hoisted Speckles up into his arms and carried the growing pumpkin back into the greenhouse. He tenderly laid his prized pumpkin onto the moist soil, still feeling rather skeptical about the whole situation.  Shrugging it off at this time of the day, for it had grown to be dusk and they were still without dinner, Bill left quickly to return home with Molly.

Once the peace of the night had settled, Speckles once again felt homely in this familiar, greenhouse environment.  Yet, there was a seemingly uncomfortable and awkward silence, and he could almost feel all the other plants and vegetables staring at him.  Then, Tomato’s voice suddenly broke through that silence, causing Speckles and the other plants to jump in a startle.

“Pssst, Speckles!! Yeah, you big ol’ pumpkin. Don’t try hiding, we can see you plain and clear. I can’t believe you just DID that!” hissed Tomato, his angry voice laced with hints of fear.  

“Did what? I only wanted to see my sister! What’s the big deal?” Speckles uttered defensively.  He was beginning to feel a bit irritated, and it showed through his tone of voice. 

“You not only risked your life, but you also put ALL of ours in danger too!  Bill and Molly cannot know that we, plants, are alive! This has always been a well-kept secret, and if it gets out, well...the stakes are just too high!” Tomato exclaimed, as all the greenhouse plants nodded and chattered in agreement.  

Feeling defeated, left out, and isolated, even while he was surrounded by so many “friends”, Speckles let out a sigh of despair.  He hadn’t known that his neighbors would behave in such a selfish way. “Why can’t they understand the situation from my point of view?  They all have their own brothers and sisters growing beside them. I’m the only one who has no family beside me…” he thought sadly. If pumpkins could produce tears, droplets would be rolling down his cheeks by now.  He decided to call it a day and back out of the argument with the other plants, allowing his troubled thoughts to cloud over his mind. 

The very next day, Molly arrived at school uncharacteristically late.  She had a perfect record for being punctual and on-time, so she was especially disappointed with herself when she received her very first tardy.  If those late-night thoughts about the mystery of the pumpkins hadn’t kept her tossing and turning all night, she would have had a good night’s sleep and gotten up at the right time.  Unfortunately, it was too late to change that. She stepped into the classroom, hoping her day wouldn’t get any worse, and was pleasantly surprised to see that a couple scientists had come as guest lecturers today.  As a student who had always been greatly interested in all matters related to science, Molly was intent on finding out what they had to share with the class today.  

“So, students, as I was saying… we have been experimenting intensively with plants.  Researchers have recently discovered that plants are alive, and much more sentient than most people think!” exclaimed one of the scientists.  

Molly immediately sat up straight, her eyes widening in surprise.  Could it be? She thought about her encounter with Bill’s Speckles, who had moved all the way to her Pepita from within the greenhouse.  They were even talking out loud! “I have got to share this,” Molly thought as she reached her outstretched hand high into the air, waving it for attention.

The scientist easily noticed Molly’s enthusiastic hand and called on her.  “Yes, the young lady in the far back, wearing red!”  

“You said that plants are alive, right? Yesterday, my brother and I were watering the plants and guess what?! They were talking out loud and my brother’s plant moved a few good meters, too!” Molly exclaimed. 

Hearing that comment, everyone started laughing and some even fell out of their chairs. 

The researchers then asked, “Young Lady, what is your name?”

“Molly.”

“Well Molly, if you were here earlier, you would have heard me saying that plants have cells and water in them that make them alive.  What we mean by “alive”, is that they don’t talk and walk like your little fantasy pumpkin does,” the researcher finished.

Molly felt disappointed that no one would listen to her or believe her. She knew it was true and all she had to do was prove it.  Feeling a new surge of determination, Molly began to mentally focus on her plan to do so.  

Molly’s plan to disprove the scientists was on her mind all day.  She could hardly pay attention to the teacher’s lectures, even during her favorite subjects.  When the long school day was finally over, Molly briskly rushed home to look for her brother.  

“Bill!” she exclaimed as she burst into his room.  Her brother was seated at his desk, reading a novel, while the family’s brown lab, Chocolate, was sleeping in a curled-up ball by Bill’s feet.  Startled by Molly’s loud entrance, Chocolate yelped and jumped to his feet, barking loudly. Bill ran one hand down Chocolate’s back, calming the surprised pup down while looking at Molly with a puzzled expression.  

“You won’t believe what happened.  This morning at school, guest scientists came in to talk to us about how plants are alive! I told them about Pepita and Speckles talking and moving, but they wouldn’t believe me!” Molly blabbered, her words coming out of her mouth a mile a minute.  

“You said what?!” Bill quickly stood up from his seat, accidentally dropping the book that he was reading.  He gripped Molly’s shoulders, and she could see on his face that he was alarmed. “Why did you tell them that? We can’t let those scientists know, otherwise, they’ll take Pepita and Speckles away for experimentation!!”

“Why, Bill?! They could at least tell us why our pumpkins are acting so strangely!” Molly uttered with exasperation, wanting to get to the bottom of this seemingly mysterious phenomenon.  She needed answers and felt that the scientists would at least be able to shed some light on this puzzling situation.

“Molly, we can’t do that! We chose these pumpkins and we spent months taking care of them! They’re ours! We can’t let those scientists get their hands on our pumpkins! We’re still submitting them to the contest...have you forgotten about that?” exclaimed Bill. 

Molly pulled herself away from Bill’s grasp and huffed angrily.  She left the room without another word, though her mind was screaming with many.  Upset that the contest was even on Bill’s mind after the strange happenings, Molly knew that he would be of no help at this point.  “I’ll just have to do this myself,” muttered Molly. “I must prove this to the scientists. I will!” she vowed, as she stomped back into her own room and began planning.

After a few long moments of silence, Bill knew he was in the clear and that Molly would not likely disturb him again.  He gestured towards Chocolate and mouthed a quiet, “Come on, boy,” before turning and quietly sneaking out of his room.  Chocolate followed behind on his soft, padded feet. The two snuck down the hallway and out the back door, towards the greenhouse.  Once inside the greenhouse and greeted by the hot, humid air, Bill released a big sigh of relief, thankful that Molly hadn’t noticed.

“Hey there, little buddy,” Bill said softly as he strode over to his prized pumpkin.  The boy sat down on the edge of the planter, beside Speckles. Chocolate followed suit, wagging his tail.  Giving the pumpkin a gentle pat near the stem, Bill began talking out loud about his day, as if Speckles was a conversation partner.  When Bill first began to do this, Chocolate tilted his head in confusion at the rather strange sight of his owner speaking to a pumpkin.  After a while, it became the usual. Bill regularly - and secretly - visited the greenhouse to spend time with Speckles. He would tell the pumpkin all about his day, his thoughts, and even his dreams and aspirations.  

At first, Speckles felt really scared.  He wondered, “What is Bill doing?” He did not trust this human - or any human, for that matter - especially after what Tomato had said.  For much of the time, he was silent and frozen in fear, worried about what Bill would do or say next.

After a week of seeing Bill every day, Speckles began to warm up a little.  He no longer felt that Bill was a threat. In fact, Speckles really wanted to respond, especially when Bill would ask a question out loud.  However, he always held back, as he would catch a glimpse of the other plants’ deathly glares at him to ignore Bill.  

“I wonder how plants feel. Do they have emotions, such as happiness and sadness, like how we humans have?” Bill asked aloud during one of his daily visits to Speckles.  Feeling very motivated to give Bill an answer, Speckles did the unthinkable. He moved a leaf and bent his vine backwards, as if to say, “Yes!”

Bill caught Speckles’ movement out of the corner of his eye.  He simply smiled, happy to know that the pumpkin affirmed his thoughts.  He had a hunch that Speckles was more capable than what others had thought.  

For the next few days, Speckles appeared to consistently respond to Bill’s questions.  Sometimes, Speckles would move a leaf, and other times he would bow down his stem, to show Bill that he was listening and had some comments to make!  

One day, Bill plopped down beside Speckles’ pot and began his typical commentary about daily things.  Then, almost out of the blue, he asked, “Is your sister Pepita? Is Pepita the same as you?”

Speckles nodded his head.  He yearned to express more to Bill, for he had come to a point where he felt comfortable with this trustworthy human.  “I think so!” he began, with a surprisingly confident voice. Bill nearly fell from where he was sitting, out of surprise at the unexpected sound.  “But...I haven’t seen her in a while,” Speckles added.  

“I have a surprise for you!” Bill stated with a smile.  He placed both hands around Speckles’ pot, heaved, and picked it up - large pumpkin and all.  Moving his feet forward one at a time, carefully shifting with the added weight that he carried, Bill brought Speckles outside the greenhouse and to the Mother Tree, where Pepita was.  

Right after Bill left with Speckles, a big uproar among the plants erupted within the greenhouse.  They were all feeling furious, upset, and disappointed.  

“We need to stop being friends with Speckles immediately! He betrayed us,” hollered Tomato, who was red with fury. 

The other plants all shouted in agreement.

“Yeah! He’s a traitor!” roared the eggplant.  

A calm voice seemed to cut through all the loud and angry statements.  “What if he gives our secrets away?” Mushroom inquired with some thought.

However, Mushroom’s voice was quickly washed out by more enraged words.  “Let’s not talk to him!” the celery boomed loudly.

Meanwhile, Bill carefully set Speckles and the pot down beside Pepita.  Speckles waved a leaf as if to greet Pepita, and uttered out loud, “Hey Pepita, guess what! Bill is my friend.” 

“But Speckles, how can a human be your friend?”

“I guess it’s just instinct. He read to me and he talked to me, and I guess, I sort of trusted him after a while. He seems really nice and gentle. He said yesterday that he wouldn’t tell anyone about us plants, especially the white coat scientists.”

“But Speckles, how do you know if Bill won’t tell Molly? How do you know if she’s trustworthy?”

“We don’t know about Molly yet. Bill said that she’s been pretty busy lately. She tried to get the other plants to talk. Now she has to catch up on homework.”

At this point during the two pumpkins’ conversation, Bill decided to step in.  He explained to them what had happened with Molly and the scientists and that it might not be a good idea to trust her after all.  Pepita nodded slowly as she listened, and grew very worried because Molly had not come over to see her as frequently as she used to.  Pepita knew that Molly was spending a lot of her time around some other plants, trying to get them to move or talk. After being given this information by the human, Pepita released a sigh of relief and decided that she would also trust Bill.  

Following that, Bill arrived every day to water not only Speckles but Pepita as well.  Both pumpkins placed their trust in him and showed signs of friendliness whenever they saw him come alone.   

Bill was generally quite careful about checking to see if he truly was alone when he visited Speckles and Pepita.  He wanted to make sure the pumpkins’ secret was safe with him, so he would glance in all directions before sitting down beside them and beginning his daily conversation.  While speaking with his orange-colored buddies, he would also occasionally look around to be certain that there weren’t any spectators.

However, Bill was a little too engrossed in conversation one day.  He did not pay close attention to what was going on in the environment.  Molly had happened to swing by and noticed Bill speaking out loud to himself.  Rather than interrupting and asking why he was doing such a ridiculous thing, she came closer and observed quietly.  Shocked, she heard Pepita and Speckles giggling and talking back to Bill. Molly quickly pulled out her phone and began filming the unbelievable interaction.

While habitually glancing around to make sure that no one was there, Bill’s eyes fell on Molly and her phone!  

“Molly! Get over here NOW!!!” Bill shouted in an angry voice.

Molly, being ashamed of what she did, saved the video and started walking to Bill with her head down. Once she was standing right in front of him, she started to explain.

“Billy, I’m sorry, but I just have to prove the scientists wrong, if I don’t, then I’ll be humiliated and no one will know the truth! You can’t just keep it a secret Bill, it’s not fair. Other people deserve to know about it too. They need to understand.”

Bill looked at Molly’s sad face, then explained, “Molly, I know that you want to keep your reputation for being the smartest, but you can’t just let the whole world know. I want you to delete the video.”

“Bill, you don’t understand, I need this clip, it’s my only evidence! If I delete it now, who knows what will happen to me!”

“Molly, I know you want to prove the scientists wrong but you have been taking care of the pumpkin since it was a seedling. I want you to delete the clip.”

“NO! N-O- NO!”

“Please, Molly,” Bill uttered with a pleading voice. “Think about what’s important. If you tell these scientists, Pepita might be gone forever. What’s more important to you? Your pride, or this very special pumpkin that you’ve taken care of since it was a seedling?” 

Molly’s expression softened as she thought about what Bill said.  While she desperately wanted to prove those scientists wrong, she knew she couldn’t give up Pepita.  She came to the difficult conclusion to delete the video from her phone.

“Molly, I’m really proud of you for doing that,” Bill said with a relieved sigh. “Hey, you did the right thing. C’mon now, let me teach you how to get those pumpkins to like you!” he stated with a smile. 

From then on, Bill was an open book and shared with Molly all of his experiences of establishing friendships with Pepita and Speckles.  He taught her about the virtue of patience, speaking with a soft voice to avoid startling the pumpkins, and noticing the subtle movements in the pumpkins. 

The pumpkins took a few weeks to warm up to her. Even though it took a long time for the pumpkins to even start moving, at the end she was still successful. Molly was grateful that she had deleted the video. She didn’t realize how much fun Bill was having while she was looking for ways to get plants to talk. Everyday, Bill and Molly would walk to the greenhouse and take Speckles out to the Mother Tree. There, they would laugh and talk about how amazing life was and wished that everyday could be like this. Molly knew that she made the right decision, she valued her pumpkin greatly, more than proving her point to the white coats. She knew that in her heart, this was something special and did not want harm in the plant’s way. 

The autumn days passed and the chill in the air stuck.  Leaves changed colors, the smell of spices and warm, baked goods were ever-present, and the town planned for their annual Halloween festivities.  One of the grand challenges was the Halloween contest, where pumpkins from all over town were brought together to be weighed in, with the biggest and heaviest one earning a blue ribbon.  In years past, this had always been a highly-anticipated event for Bill and Molly. This year, however, many folks who knew them were surprised to learn that the siblings had withdrawn from the competition.  Bill and Molly now had a different perspective on the pumpkins. The pumpkins were not decoration, but rather, they were friends.

Unfortunately, with the harvest season now knocking on their doors, Pepita and Speckles had both grown old.  They were impressively large in comparison to how they had began as seedlings, but both showed signs of aging with their wilting leaves and dried stems.  

There came the day when Bill and Molly finally had to harvest Pepita and Speckles, pulling the two pumpkins out from their spots on the soil.  They both held their pumpkins for a long time that night, saddened to be losing these very special friends. If Pepita and Speckles could smile, the two pumpkins would have given Bill and Molly the biggest smiles they could manage, for they were very grateful to them for not only keeping their secrets safe but befriending them as well.  

That evening, Bill and Molly held in their hands some very small, white pumpkin seeds in the warm palms of their hands.  They vowed to take the very best care of them. And somehow, the seedlings believed that too.