There was a pumpkin patch, green with foliage; there were nine pumpkins of different sizes growing in it. The biggest and fattest of them all lay on the ground. He was rather lazy and tended to doze off at odd hours. He gloated over his size and had the tendency to put down the others. 

One day he had a dream…

He had suddenly grown legs and strolled into a garden close-by. As he reached a fragrant bower, he saw the daintiest of fairies gracefully perched atop a sunny, golden pansy; her gorgeous sky blue dress, twinkling with sequined stars was resplendent on it as were the delicately pink gossamer wings.  

The pumpkin kept his distance from the flowers afraid to clumsily crush them. When the fairy saw him she smiled divinely and said in a musical voice, “Hello, my round and orange friend with spindly little legs! I am fairy princess Sparkle.”  

Porky bowed ineptly. “Good evening, your majesty. Pleased to make your acquaintance.  I am Porky. Will you grant me a wish please?”  

Sparkle eyed him with amusement. ”I will grant you one wish dear Porky because you delight me so”. Saying this she pirouetted on the flower, clapping her exquisite little hands. Her fingers glinted from the crescent shaped diamond rings on them.

“Oh, thank you celestial creature. Never have I seen someone as airy and wondrous as you. Don’t laugh at me please but I would like to read a book” he whispered hesitantly. The fairy raised her silver wand; as she waved it, tiny bells began to tinkle and a pretty fairy maid appeared. 

“Yes, your majesty? What do you desire?” 

“Bring my new friend here one of our books” her voice chimed.  

“With pleasure my lady”.  

There was a rustle and shortly the fairy returned with a book titled “Cinderella”. She handed it to Porky. His face radiated joy. He thanked them both profusely, curtseying as much as his bulk and legs allowed.   As the fairies prepared to flutter off home, Sparkle announced mysteriously “Today you will meet an ancestor of yours. Enjoy the book.”   

His curiosity peaked, the pumpkin ambled back to his patch to lie in his comfort zone and read. 

A sharp sting in his side brought him back to reality. A massive stag had torn a chunk out of him and then had hoofed off to chomp on the tender beans growing near-by.

“Dear me! This is what I get for not staying awake and aware. Now even the gardener will throw me out. How useless I am!”

The owner though had other plans. He instructed the gardener to bring the damaged pumpkin in and turn him into a Jack-o’-lantern. 

“I brought it upon myself!” rued the pumpkin, the gardener’s carving knife adding insult to his injury. 

“I shouldn’t have allowed my pride to let me bloat so! Too late to change but I can still apologise to my brothers.” 

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