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Our first place Elementary School entry was written by Andia Hartnell, an American living in Tehran, Iran. Ms. Hartnell also won this contest before with her story The Spirit House. |
It was really windy and there were about fifty tombstones laid out in front of me. I squinted my eyes at the closet tombstone, trying to read who it belonged to. “Here lies King Carlos, 1859 to 1876. Cause of death: Unknown.”
King Carlos? That name rang a bell. I just can't place my tongue on where I knew that name from. Suddenly I felt something tugging at my pink and blue pjs. I looked behind me and saw the blue hand pulling me under the earth. I tried to scream, but it was too late.
I woke up in my bedroom. Well not MY bedroom since that was all the way over in Iran, but, at least I was familiar with where I am. I was shaking with fear from my nightmare. It seemed so real. I turn to look at my clock. 9:30. I hear noises from the living room, my parents, but I ignore it.
************
That night, I ate my cheese pizza. My parents and my 7 year old brother are also eating pizza with PINEAPPLE on it. Could anything be more disgusting? No, thank you!
My parents are talking about halloween. One of the worst American holidays. Who dresses up then begs people for candy? There's a NORMAL way of getting candy. It's called the grocery store. In Iran, almost no one dresses up for Halloween. Suddenly my mum claps her hands.
“Dad and I think that carving pumpkins tonight would be a good idea for family time!” Mum claps her hand excitedly.
“Why do you even carve pumpkins?” My brother Jonah asks.
My dad launches into this speech about how it's supposed to scare away evil spirits. Blah, blah, blah.
“I’ll get the pumpkins. Tob, you go get the knives so we can carve them.”
My dad gives a thumbs up. 20 minutes later, a rather small pumpkin is in front of me. I take a deep breath and start carving. When I'm done, it doesn't look pretty. The smile looks upside down, like a frown. I didn't mean to do it like that. And the eyes are really small. They look sad..
It's a pumpkin. Not a human. What am I thinking!? I put it on my shelf in my room. Ew, Halloween. At least it looks pretty. Sigh.
Only 4 days til halloween.
Later that night, I couldn't sleep. It's almost midnight.
Help.
I sit up. Where did that voice come from?
Help.
I look around my room and my eyes land on the sad pumpkin.
Help.
OMG.
The pumpkin is… TALKING?
“How can I help you?” I ask nervously.
I’m stuck. In this pumpkin. I'm a prince but I got cursed by a WITCH.
“Oh.”
Please help me turn back into a human. I have to save my kingdom from my evil older sister!
“What can I do to help you?”
I still can't believe I'm talking to a pumpkin who supposedly is a prince.
Everyday you’ll have a task, set by me. You have 4 tasks in total. The first one you will have to do tonight. Understand?
“Yea. Is there a deadline or something?”
This reminds me of an exam.
Yes. 3 AM. Are you ready for your first task?
“Just to make sure, after the 4 tasks you’ll be set free?”
Yes.
I nod. Your task for tonight is to get a music player. Then some salt and sprinkle the salt in a triangle.
I shrug. Sounds easy enough.
Ok well then go get started. Remember 3 AM.
My clock strikes midnight.
“Wait!”
I suddenly have a billion questions buzzing through my head.
The pumpkin remains motionless.
“Hello?” I wave my hand in front of it.
Still, nothing.
“Mr pumpkin prince? Are you there?”
“Guess not.”
Hey, I probably imagined it but it wouldn't hurt to try and do what the pumpkin prince wanted, right?
Right.
******
I have salt and I'm on my balcony. I quietly try to move the music player to the balcony. When it's right in front of the balcony, I spill salt in the shape of a triangle. My parents barely ever go on the balcony so I think I'm safe. I steal a glance at the clock. Perfect. It's 2:59. I get back into bed. Hopefully, tomorrow won't be as bad as today, and when I wake up this will all be a bad dream. I’ll be back in Iran, NOT AMERICA, there’ll be no ridiculous Halloween and definitely no talking pumpkin prince.
****
I wake up and unfortunately I'm still in my American bedroom. The rest of the day goes by pretty quickly. I find myself making excuses to my parents so I can be left alone in my room
I scramble into bed and set my alarm clock for 11:30. I really hope that wasn't a dream. At 11:31 I woke up and rushed to the pumpkin.
“Hi, Mr Pumpkin prince!”
Hello Chloe, whispers the pumpkin.
I gasp.
“How do you know my name?”
Never mind that. Are you ready for your second task?
“Yes but one question.” I pause to see if he wants to say anything. He doesn't, so I continue.
“What's your name? Because calling you Mr Pumpkin Prince is kinda… long.”
King Carlos.
Wait, WHAAAT?!
KING CARLOS? I SAW THAT IN MY DREAM!
“Uhm, ok.”
Your second task is to get a flower and place it in the middle of the salt triangle.
I nod. Sounds easy enough.
You may go.
Just as I open my mouth to speak, the clock strikes midnight and I know that he's left. It's just a gut feeling but I'm 100% sure that I'm right.
I don't know how to explain it but I'm positive that I'm right. I sneak into my parents bedroom, snoring away, but I immediately spot my mother’s favourite vase. It's a rich blue with blue roses inside. Roses count as flowers, right?
Right. I grab one of the blue dyed roses and hurry to the living room. Then I entered the balcony and placed the rose just like king Carlos said.
The next night, I find myself staring into the eyes of Carlos. I may be imagining it but I think his eyes look… happier?
I shake that thought out of my head as the pumpkins mouth begins to speak.
Hello. Back for your task so soon?
I nod.
Great, well this time I'm going to need you to get a dollar bill and place it in the middle of the triangle, understood?
I nodded again but this time, I didn't want to nod. It was like something was forcing me…
I shrug and grab a dollar bill from my pink little purse. Then I head over to the balcony and place it in the middle of the salt triangle, which thank god my mum has not found or else it would be cleaned up by now.
Tomorrow, I'm going to the library for two reasons. Reason A: I have a presentation soon and I want to study for it. Reason B: I'm going to look up King Carlos in the history section. I think I remember the year.
Was it 1843? Nope. Uhh. 1856? I shake my head. Oh wait! It was 1859! I got it! I turn off my lights and head to bed. The last thought before I enter dreamland is that if King Carlos is supposedly dead, why am I talking to a pumpkin who claims to be him?
***********
I stare at the library door. It looks welcoming. I push open the door and smell the scent I’ve been longing for. Dust, old books, papers new and old. Ahhh, now this is home. My dad gets the library card and we go to the history section first. I’m reading the school stuff here plus the research for King Carlos and then I'll take a few books to read at home. My eyes search through the book titles. Suddenly I see the title I'm looking for and I pluck it off the shelf and adjust it on the table closest to me with no one on it.
My eyes waver in front of important facts. I write down some things that I should use for my presentation in my notebook and I head over to the fantasy section. I’m first picking my books then I'll go do some research for King Carlos. I’m allowed 3 books, which will have to be given back in two weeks. That's ok, I'm a quick reader.
My first book is “A princess through ice.” Then my second book is: “9 lives.” and third is: “Do You Mind?” I’ve never heard of any of these books before so I picked up all three of them and took them over to the table where I was reading and looked at a book titled Kings and Queens through the 19th century about why their deaths occurred.
Yes! That's perfect! Exactly what I need! I flip over the book and since the book is divided into two halves, I'll open the first half since that part is about kings. I open the first page and start reading.
***********
Ugh! I’ve been reading for about an hour and no sign of the name King Carlos. Luckily my dad loves libraries almost as much as I do and he hasn’t even left his chair yet. I stare down at my book and see a name I could have sworn wasn’t there a minute ago. I squinted my eyes and its King Carlos! Hurrah! And there's about two paragraphs about him! I can finally go home and read my 3 books which have been gathering DUST. I started reading.
King Carlos was one of the cruelest kings of the 19th century. Trying to kill his own sister, Queen Sophie when she gained the crown was only one of his many faults. Legend has it that Queen Sophia's godmother was a magical fairy. Her name is unknown but the fairy banished Carlos into an unknown object after his unsuccessful attempt to get the crown. The only clue history shows us about the object is that the object is related to Halloween since that's the date the magically fairy banished Carlos. In order to free him, put salt in the shape of a triangle and a rose in the middle lying on a single dollar bill. After that, place a picture of the king and light a single candle on Halloween Eve and blow it out on Halloween.
******
After the drama of the last few days, who would have thought that waking up in Iran would be a let down. Perhaps Halloween is growing on me.
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