The Keepers of the Story

Shrooms and Brooms

Most stories begin with a group of adventurers learning about a quest while the reader overhears the conversation and decides to follow them on the journey. This story is slightly different. We open to see a man in clerics clothing, with robes of an orange hue, showing off a pumpkin being held proudly in his hands to the two others sitting in front. The cleric looked that of a quizzical man who was always trying to swindle you out of something. He had darker skin and was completely bald. When he spoke, he spoke loudly and with pauses here and there to add dramatics to whatever he was talking about. Across the table from him sat a human who was the muscle of the group. He had bright red hair that went all over the place as well as a full red beard to accompany it. The final member of the trio was a high elf who wore wizard robes and was in the middle of reading a book. He had a long pointed face that was pleasant to look at, and when you spoke to him you felt like whatever he was saying was true. I wanted to explain to you what they looked like so you would have a better mental image of this scene: the redhead and the elf staring at the cleric with confused expressions as the latter held up the pumpkin like a father would with his newborn son.

"So, that's why you should never leave home without a pumpkin," Jonah replied with a grin that matched that of a salesman finishing one of his pitches.

"I asked how the pumpkin is going to help us, not why did you bring it from home," Nolan remarked with a snappy crack.

"Oh, it's a magical pumpkin. I bought it off some man over in the backstreet district," Jonah said while still showing off the pumpkin.

"How so?" questioned Tommy, who wasn't looking at Jonah but rather down at his longsword that he was cleaning.

"Well, the man said that this pumpkin would grant me a remarkable power."

The other two stared at him in disbelief, but after a few seconds Nolan broke the silence.

"We asked you to get something to help us on a future adventure."

"That's right," Jonah responded.

"And you brought back a pumpkin."

"Yup."

"But not just any pumpkin, a magic pumpkin."

"Magic, yup that's right."

"Well...Have you tested it out yet?"

"Oh, the man from the backstreet said it was a one-time-use pumpkin and he said that you can't use it but rather it performs its magical abilities when you need it most," Jonah said as he pulled the pumpkin back and set it on his lap.

"What I need most from this pumpkin is some pumpkin pie, do you think that its magical ability is turning into a pie?" Nolan sarcastically said as he started putting his book back into his sack.

"I mean, we may as well try to use it to our advantage," Tommy said as he placed his sword on the table and looked at the others for the first time in the conversation. "I've seen magically enhanced artifacts in all sorts of sizes so why can't it be in a pumpkin?"

"Exactly!" Jonah replied, laying the pumpkin down on the table.

Then Jonah felt a tug on his sleeve.

A little human boy pulled on Jonah's sleeve while saying in a quiet voice, "Excuse me sir, can you help me?"

Jonah, a bit startled by the sudden shift of clothing on his arm, looked down at the boy with a giant smile, like he was about to sell him something. "What can I help you with?"

"My grandma disappeared last night while I was sleeping in my bed and I have no idea where she is. I looked everywhere in the house from the basement to the attic, under my bed, but can't find her anywhere. Then I heard that you guys were good at finding people and I thought you could help me find my grandma," The boy said while still holding onto Jonah's sleeve.