The Pumpkining

Part 5

"You've done well so far, Jeanette, but it's not enough. We need more," the Pumpkin King says to me one evening in the pumpkin patch.

"How many more do I have to recruit? I thought the whole purpose of this was to turn the pumpkin haters into pumpkin lovers. I don't usually look for pumpkin haters, they find me."

"We need more, you have to find more."

"Sure, okay. I hear what you're saying but you're not answering my question. Do you have a number you need or is more the only answer you're going to give me?"

"The war is coming. We need more numbers. You have to try harder."

"Okay, okay. I will look harder."

Disheartened, I leave the pumpkin patch unsure of what to do. Maybe I just need to go full on pumpkin loving and see what hater appear after I do so. That shouldn't be too hard.

The next day I work, I put my focus into decorating for our fiscal first half celebration.

"Obviously, Robin, it should be fall themed," I say to my manager Robin.

"I don't know. Summer isn't quite over yet."

"Fall literally starts the Monday after our celebration. Hear me out. It will be easy to find decorations and I can really play up that fall loving. You know what else we could do? We an even get apple and pumpkin treats. We can ask one of the apple orchards if they have any deals on donuts and cider. It will be some awesome. We can call it a 'Welcome Fall' party."

"Or, alternately, we can buy the summer stuff that's on clearance and grill to save money. Then instead of saying 'Welcome Fall' we can say 'Goodbye Summer'. We can do so much more for the associates if we save money right, Jeanette?"

"I know you're right about that. We can compromise and do both. We can get decorations that are fall oriented, but I still feel like we should get some fall treats."

"As long as you incorporate more apple than pumpkin, I'll enjoy it," Keegan says popping her head into the office. "You know you really should have the associates vote before you do things like this. You know how picky we are."

"Yeah, I know," I say remembering all the other associate events I planned.

"You should have people vote between apple and pumpkin; I guarantee you that apple would win hands down. Pumpkin is disgusting," Keegan continues unprompted.

"You know, they can co-exist," I say trying my best not to sound offended.

"Don't take it so seriously, Jeanette," Keegan says back to me. "We all know you're the princess of pumpkin and how much you love your pumpkin. That's fine, girl. Do you. You're just on an island alone with that garbage. Me, I prefer the apple."

Keegan takes an apple out of her lunch bag to show me as if I have never seen an apple before.

"People enjoy apples all year round while they only enjoy pumpkin in the fall. I don't even want to hear that you would enjoy pumpkin all year round because you know good and damn well, that pumpkin has no place in the summertime."

"You've made whatever point you're trying to make. It's not a competition. It's just an event. Thank you for input but I think Robin and I have it from here," I say dismissing her. Under my breath, I say to her before she leaves, "Beware of the Pumpkining."

Keegan walks into the break room and takes a bite of her apple.

"Keegan, what's wrong with your face," Joe says to her noticing her disgust.

"I think my apple is rotten," she answers checking all over her apple for soft spots. In her mouth, the apple tasted bitter and mushy but there were no visible soft spots on the fruit.

"Where did you get the apple from," Joe asks her.

"Just the grocery store. It's so weird. There doesn't seem to be any soft spots on the apple."

"Did you wash the apple first? Maybe you're tasting pesticides."

"If this is a pesticide it's the worst one, I've ever tasted but I guess I'll rinse of the apple." Walking over to the sink, Keegan turns on the water and rinses off the apple hoping that it will alter the taste. Biting into the rinsed apple, Keegan again tastes the mushy rotten flavor.

"Nope, it's still gross," Keegan says throwing the apple in the garbage. All of a sudden, Keegan begins to feel sick.

"Keegan, you don't look so good. Are you feeling all right," Joe asks her?

"Honestly, I don't. My stomach is turning. I feel like I'm going to throw up. Do you think Robin will let me go home?"

"I don't see why not. I hope you feel better."

"Thanks."

After asking Robin if she can go home, Keegan gets in her car and drives to her house. Her stomach bothered her the whole ride home. It cramped and turned. Once she pulled into the driveway, she barely makes it through the front door before she starts vomiting. As uncomfortable as vomiting already is, this was different. She felt the pain in her whole body. Her stomach turned as she released the vomit and bile all over the floor. She could no longer stand, and she retched and crawled into her downstairs bathroom. The vomit was projectile and went all over the place. She vomits straight for ten minutes before she is given any relief. Once the vomiting subsides, Keegan attempts to clean up the mess she made. As she's cleaning, she couldn't help but notice the consistency of the vomit. It was dark orange and lumpy as if she had thrown up pumpkin.

After she finished cleaning and took a shower, Keegan grabs a bottle of water and attempts to lie on her couch. She turns on the t.v. and starts to nod off.

"Keegan," a deep voice calls to her.

"Hello," she responds muting the television. Her stomach lurches so she grabs the small waste basket next to her couch.

"Keegan," the voice calls to her again.

Instead of being able to respond, Keegan starts throwing up orange vomit again. This time she realizes that the vomit actually tastes like pumpkin.

"Keegan how does that pumpkin taste," the voice laughs. "It tastes so much better than apple doesn't it?"

"Oh my god," Keegan says in between her retching. "Please make it stop. Please, please make it stop."

"Why would I do that? How would I do that? You did this to yourself, Keegan."

"Please," Keegan pleads retching into the can. "Please make it stop. I'm begging you."

"Beware. Beware of the Pumpkining."

The vomiting stops so Keegan attempts to get up finding it impossible to stand. She crawls away from the couch looking for a phone to call someone for help. As she crawls towards her phone a tall dark figure appears before her. She attempts to crawl in a different direction but to no avail. With a mouth full of bile, she is grabbed and carried away.