The Lonely Pumpkin is a 250 word flash fiction story. I’ll be doing a few of these in the next few months as I work up to an entry in the Bridport Prize flash fiction section (max 250 words), as well as the short story section (under 5000 words).

Today’s story is, of course, a #writephoto response. Thanks as always to KL Caley at New2writing.com for keeping the momentum going. And of course, the prompt on October 28th was….

The Lonely Pumpkin

It lay on the ground, surrounded by drooping and yellowing leaves. The rest of the patch was now roughly turned soil, clumpy and bare, save where a few dandelion and other deep-rooted wildflowers hung on valiantly against the wrath of the hoe.

Why was this pumpkin all alone? It was growing big and fat like the others. It was even showing signs of ripening to a beautiful rich orange just like they had. They’d all been snipped away from their plant, a bit of cross stem attached to their stalks to help them harden but not dry out. But the pile of them at the corner of the field had disappeared, almost overnight. The few that had been left went late yesterday, when the farmer put a notice up saying ‘Last minute shopping—one night only.’

It was a strange night. Fireworks in the sky, people wandering around the village in costumes, knocking on people’s doors. Nobody bothered the farm.

All was quiet in the field.

Day dawned on a lonely pumpkin awaiting its fate.

Nobody wants a pumpkin on November 1st.

Except the lady who came by a week later, hoping to find a small but nicely formed pumpkin for her three squash lasagne, which she said was delicious.  With this late-ripening pumpkin, it would be perfect.

The Lonely Pumpkin | #writephoto Flash Fiction; Nobody wants a pumpkin on November 1st. #flashfiction 250 words Share on X
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The Lonely Pumpkin | #writephoto Flash Fiction
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8 thoughts on “The Lonely Pumpkin | #writephoto Flash Fiction

  • 1 November, 2021 at 5:44 pm
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    I’ve watched too much Toy Story so I felt really bad for this lonely pumpkin. LOL

  • 2 November, 2021 at 8:54 am
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    Lovely story Jemima and a sort of happy ending ☺️☺️
    A little ditty for you about a petunia in a similar situation ☺️

    • 2 November, 2021 at 11:50 am
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      A Lonely little petunia in an onion patch?

      • 2 November, 2021 at 12:40 pm
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        Well that’s me all over… obtuse, a lonely pumpkin a lonely petunia… Love the story though ☺️

  • 2 November, 2021 at 6:18 pm
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    Love that story! Of course, for a pumpkin, to be wanted is to be destroyed… things could go rather badly if you think too much 🤣

    • 2 November, 2021 at 11:45 pm
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      Or to enter another plane of existence, depending on a pumpkin’s beliefs 🤣

  • 4 November, 2021 at 8:09 am
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    A lovely story Jemima and it was wanted in the end (although maybe that wasn’t such a good thing – haha). Thank you so much for entering #writephoto. KL <3

  • Pingback:#Writephoto Round-Up – PUMPKIN – New2Writing

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