Pumpkin Carving - by LL Adams
Halloween was just another stupid holiday to Jim. But to Tanya, it was a wonderful season
filled
with happy autumn memories from her childhood.
Her mother didn’t have much money, tending bar in a small town like this would do that, so
each
year she made Tanya’s costume. It wasn’t tacky hand me down stuff, it was always a hand
made
beauty. She had one favorite that stuck out in her memory, the one her mother had made
when
Tanya was only eight. It was a huge pumpkin. That year Tanya was black, and orange and
smiles all over, as her mother had said.
But since she had married Jim, holidays weren’t anything special. He perked up around
Christmas each year, but always seemed disappointed by his presents, or the weather, or
something else.
He hated the cold, the snow and all that. Since he always hated the heat and dryness of
summer,
Tanya held out hope that he might enjoy fall. The cool air, not too cold, the colors changing
on
the trees, before the leaves had to be raked, and all the kids in the neighborhood playing
happily
and being polite. All the children eager for the coming candy storm, and trying to get in
points
with the man at the North Pole even before the snow came.
Jim didn’t like kids, and Tanya had resigned herself to not having any, forced to live
through the
ones in her neighborhood. That was why it was so important to her to decorate the house as
wonderfully as she could at Halloween.
She didn’t like the gory things that you see everywhere now. The zombies and headless
ghouls
just weren’t her cup of tea. Jim liked scary things, so he could have them.
But he didn’t really care how she decorated, nor even if she did.
Tanya had been busy all day, streaming fake cobwebs everywhere, and placing small
ghosts and
witches (all very cute) that had words like BOO and HAPPY HALLOWEEN on them in the
windows.
As she placed one on the doorway glass, she caught a glimpse of herself in the reflection.
Her
pretty pink blouse was ruined, and there was blood coming from her nose. She saw the
black eye
she knew she would be nursing for a few days. Her normally perfect brown hair had clumps
of
some dark liquid causing it to mat and stick to her face and forehead. Oh what a mess she
was.
Jim had hit her before, a lot harder. He wasn’t really a bad person, and it never really
bothered
her. Jim loved her, just like her dad loved her mom.
But still, Jim had never gotten upset at her for decorating before. It was one of the few
things he
let her have.
When she had announced it was time to carve the pumpkins though, he got upset.
Something about a game he was watching, and how she was bothering him and how she
had ruined his life.
He started hitting her, and kept going. Threw her right into the table, right through all the
silverware she was using, right through the pumpkins.
The pumpkins had exploded on the ground, she had seen them explode like that before,
when her
mother used to let her drop old ones off the roof. Orange guts and seeds everywhere. As
she lay
there, trying to find a dry spot to place her hand on so she could get up, that was the only
thing
that really upset her. The pumpkins hadn’t hurt anyone.
Halloween never hurt anyone.
She wondered who looked more surprised at the knife plunged deep into Jim’s chest.
Clearly his
face had a look of shock on it, but Tanya imagined she looked pretty amazed herself.
Tanya didn’t want to dwell too much on the problems they had had earlier. It was time to
decorate. As she made her way back into the kitchen, she was more than a little annoyed to
see
that Jim had fallen out of the chair at the table again.
With a sigh she hoisted him back up, wanting him to get a full view of the pumpkin carving
equipment. He had broken all the pumpkins, but not her tools.
Gently she rubbed the hair from his face, and then took a small marker from the table. She
wanted to draw her design, a happy smiling face, on Jim’s before she began.
As her mother always said, you had to make sure you planned your decorating before you
started,
or, as Jim had said, ‘measure twice, cut once’.
THE END
filled
with happy autumn memories from her childhood.
Her mother didn’t have much money, tending bar in a small town like this would do that, so
each
year she made Tanya’s costume. It wasn’t tacky hand me down stuff, it was always a hand
made
beauty. She had one favorite that stuck out in her memory, the one her mother had made
when
Tanya was only eight. It was a huge pumpkin. That year Tanya was black, and orange and
smiles all over, as her mother had said.
But since she had married Jim, holidays weren’t anything special. He perked up around
Christmas each year, but always seemed disappointed by his presents, or the weather, or
something else.
He hated the cold, the snow and all that. Since he always hated the heat and dryness of
summer,
Tanya held out hope that he might enjoy fall. The cool air, not too cold, the colors changing
on
the trees, before the leaves had to be raked, and all the kids in the neighborhood playing
happily
and being polite. All the children eager for the coming candy storm, and trying to get in
points
with the man at the North Pole even before the snow came.
Jim didn’t like kids, and Tanya had resigned herself to not having any, forced to live
through the
ones in her neighborhood. That was why it was so important to her to decorate the house as
wonderfully as she could at Halloween.
She didn’t like the gory things that you see everywhere now. The zombies and headless
ghouls
just weren’t her cup of tea. Jim liked scary things, so he could have them.
But he didn’t really care how she decorated, nor even if she did.
Tanya had been busy all day, streaming fake cobwebs everywhere, and placing small
ghosts and
witches (all very cute) that had words like BOO and HAPPY HALLOWEEN on them in the
windows.
As she placed one on the doorway glass, she caught a glimpse of herself in the reflection.
Her
pretty pink blouse was ruined, and there was blood coming from her nose. She saw the
black eye
she knew she would be nursing for a few days. Her normally perfect brown hair had clumps
of
some dark liquid causing it to mat and stick to her face and forehead. Oh what a mess she
was.
Jim had hit her before, a lot harder. He wasn’t really a bad person, and it never really
bothered
her. Jim loved her, just like her dad loved her mom.
But still, Jim had never gotten upset at her for decorating before. It was one of the few
things he
let her have.
When she had announced it was time to carve the pumpkins though, he got upset.
Something about a game he was watching, and how she was bothering him and how she
had ruined his life.
He started hitting her, and kept going. Threw her right into the table, right through all the
silverware she was using, right through the pumpkins.
The pumpkins had exploded on the ground, she had seen them explode like that before,
when her
mother used to let her drop old ones off the roof. Orange guts and seeds everywhere. As
she lay
there, trying to find a dry spot to place her hand on so she could get up, that was the only
thing
that really upset her. The pumpkins hadn’t hurt anyone.
Halloween never hurt anyone.
She wondered who looked more surprised at the knife plunged deep into Jim’s chest.
Clearly his
face had a look of shock on it, but Tanya imagined she looked pretty amazed herself.
Tanya didn’t want to dwell too much on the problems they had had earlier. It was time to
decorate. As she made her way back into the kitchen, she was more than a little annoyed to
see
that Jim had fallen out of the chair at the table again.
With a sigh she hoisted him back up, wanting him to get a full view of the pumpkin carving
equipment. He had broken all the pumpkins, but not her tools.
Gently she rubbed the hair from his face, and then took a small marker from the table. She
wanted to draw her design, a happy smiling face, on Jim’s before she began.
As her mother always said, you had to make sure you planned your decorating before you
started,
or, as Jim had said, ‘measure twice, cut once’.
THE END
