Liora Lights the First Grins — Under a crooked moon, Liora hurried down Pumpkin Lane with a laugh trapped behind her teeth. Read the full story →
Under a crooked moon, Liora hurried down Pumpkin Lane with a laugh trapped behind her teeth. She wanted the whole hollow to hear the funny tune the wind made through the haystack rope: whee-hoo, whee-hoo! But the path was too quiet. Even the fence posts seemed to be holding their breath, and the dry leaves scratched along the stones like tiny claws.
Beside the bare tree, a small ghost popped from a pumpkin vine. “Too much joy for one mouth,” it whispered, smelling faintly of rain and candle smoke. Liora blinked. The ghost pointed to the round gourds piled by the fence. “Give them some.” So Liora tapped each pumpkin with one curved claw and told it the silliest part of the wind-song. One by one, wide smiles opened in their shells, jagged and bright, as if laughter had found windows.
The hollow woke at once—bats zigzagged, the moon squinted happily, and even the old haystack rustled whee-hoo, whee-hoo. Ever since that night, pumpkins on Pumpkin Lane wear carved grins when joy gets too big to keep; next time you spot the tiniest pumpkin smile, see if Liora’s secret tune is hiding there.
