The Pumpkin Patch
October 30, 1952
Nature had begun its descent into hibernation. A blaze of color surrounded her. Leaves in shades of red, gold and orange floated in the air to land on the ground as Dotty pushed Amanda in her stroller along the tree-lined sidewalk. The brown fallen leaves crunched beneath her feet, she loved the crackling sound they made.
Dotty looked up into the blue sky and saw a flock of birds flying south on their annual migration. Squirrels scampered around digging for pecans, chestnuts, acorns and other hidden treasures to fill their nests. The aromatic scent of apple pies, hot from the oven on an open windowsill, sifted through the air.
Soon Thanksgiving and Christmas would be upon them. First came Halloween tomorrow though, which she always thought of as the beginning of the holiday season.
Dotty smiled as she imagined Amanda in the clown costume she’d made for her. With a little rouge on her cheeks, she’d be perfect. She’d had a hard time making the costume though; the old sewing machine had given up the ghost half way through making it and she’d had to finish it by hand. Several times over the past week she’d hinted to Carl that a new Singer sewing machine would be welcome under the Christmas tree.
This time of year she enjoyed taking Amanda out on walks around the neighborhood or to the park. Amanda would play in the sandbox and sometimes Dotty even joined her. Or she would sit on one of the benches with the other mothers, trading recipes and gossip as they watched their children play.
She’d push Amanda in the baby swing, listening to her squeals of delight as she said, “hi mama.” Which meant she wanted to go higher. Soon it would be too cold for them to venture out for any length of time and Dotty planned to take advantage of the nice weather.
Dotty halted at the corner. Which direction should she go? Right or left. Then she noticed a lot of activity at the Bethany United Methodist Church. Cars filled the parking lot. Maybe she’d see what they had going on.
As she headed towards the church she saw her neighbor Gloria coming toward her, pushing her son Gary in a baby carriage.
“Gloria.” She waved.
“Hi, Dotty and Amanda.” She tweaked Amanda under the chin with her finger. “What brings you two out today?”
“Just our usual outing.” Dotty smiled at the sleeping boy. “What’s going on?” She pointed to the church.
“They have a pumpkin patch around the back. Great prices. I wish I could stay longer, but I’m running late. I need to pick up Sharon from kindergarten in ten minutes. Sorry I can’t stay longer. Bye.” She began to push the carriage down the sidewalk headed toward the elementary school.
“I’ll phone you later.” Dotty called to her retreating friend.
“Well, young lady, should we go check out the pumpkin patch?”
Amanda banged her hands on the tray of her stroller.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
Dotty followed the sidewalk around to the back. A small, empty field next to the church had been converted into a pumpkin patch. Pumpkins had sprouted everywhere.
A man in a suit walked up to Dotty and extended his hand in greeting. “Welcome. I’m Pastor John.”
“Hello.” She shook his hand. “I’m Dotty West and this is my daughter, Amanda. I hope you don’t mind my stopping by, I’m not a member of your congregation.”
“All are welcome, Mrs. West.”
“You have so many pumpkins, more than the Grand Union.” Dotty looked out over the rows of orange.
“One of my parishioners has an uncle who owns a pumpkin farm and he kindly donated them to us to use for a fundraiser.”
“What are you raising money for?”
“We’re in desperate need of an organ and I found one second hand for a decent price. Alas our coffers were lacking. Our Ladies Auxiliary came up with the idea of the pumpkin patch to help raise the funds.”
“Every church needs an organ. How much are you asking for the pumpkins?” Dotty hoped they’d be less than the grocery store. Their prices had been outrageous and she’d refused to buy one.
“All we’re asking for is a donation of ten cents per pumpkin or fifteen cents for two.”
They were a lot cheaper. At those prices she could afford two.
“Would you like to walk around our patch?”
“Yes, I would.”
“If you’ll follow me please.” Pastor John placed his hands behind his back and walked towards a side door. “We’ve set up an area inside for the toddlers to play so their mothers can wander around to their hearts content. Our Sunday school teachers and their aides will take very good care of your little girl.”
A few minutes later, Dotty kissed Amanda on the top of the head. Her daughter sat engrossed in front of a teacher reading ‘The Poky Little Puppy.’ Amanda loved the Little Golden Book series, her favorite ‘Three Little Kittens’ Dotty had to read to her almost every night.
Other children sat at tables coloring or playing with toys. They even had a pile of small pumpkins in one of the corners. Before he’d left, Pastor John had told her that each child would be able to take one home free of charge.
It didn’t take long for Dotty to find two nice sized pumpkins. One she’d have Carl carve tonight into a jack-o-lantern and the other she planned on using to make into a real pumpkin pie. No canned pumpkin for her family.
She carried her selections to a table and set them on it. A young girl and Pastor John were talking to another customer. While she waited she wondered how in the world would she get them home. Before she had a chance to figure it out the young girl stood before her.
“That’ll be fifteen cents.”
Dotty took the coins out of her change purse and handed them to the girl.
“Thank you.” The girl placed the money in an old cigar box. “Do you have a way to get them home?”
Dotty tapped a finger on her lips. “Well I thought I could put them in my daughter’s stroller and have her walk beside me.”
“Oh no, you don’t have to do that,” Pastor John said. “A member from our youth group will be happy to deliver it to your house.”
“That is so nice of you.”
“All I need is your address.”
Dotty provided the information and reached out shake his hand. “Thank you.”
“And thank for your donation and God bless you.”
No longer having to figure out how to get Amanda and the pumpkins home, she went to collect her daughter.
When she entered, she saw Amanda sitting at a table coloring, amazed how well she stayed in the lines of the picture.
“Let’s get ready to go, sweetheart.” Dotty held her hand out to her daughter.
“Don’t forget to get your small pumpkin.” The woman who had been reading stories earlier pointed to a pile in the corner.
“Which one do you want?”
Amanda reached out to pick one up.
“Mine!” A little boy yelled as he popped up from behind the pile of pumpkins and grabbed the pumpkin from Amanda.
Amanda’s lips quivered. “Bad boy.”
“Lee.” A man in the doorway bellowed. “Come here.”
The child reluctantly walked over to his father who knelt down beside him. Dotty couldn’t hear what he said to him, but a minute later the child came back over to the pumpkins, picked one up and handed it to Amanda.
“Yours.”
“Mine.” Amanda smiled and kissed him on the cheek.
The End
Story Notes:
Disclaimer: Scarecrow and Mrs. King and its characters belong to WB and Shoot the Moon Productions. No infringement is intended. This is written for entertainment purposes only. Please do not redistribute or reproduce this story without my permission.
Note: This story is part of my series of five-second meetings.
Note: This story is part of my series of five-second meetings.