In Pumpkin Hollow, tiny critters whisper to pumpkins, ensuring only the most extraordinary ones become Jack O’Lanterns. Now, Old Man Jack was the biggest pumpkin the Hollow had ever seen, yet had no whispering critters to guide him.
One chilly October day, an excitable little boy named Tommy picked Jack for his Halloween pumpkin. Carving him up, Tommy took great effort in transforming Old Man Jack into a toothy Jack O’Lantern. As dusk fell and the moon lit, Tommy excitedly dropped a glowing candle into Jack’s hollow interior. Suddenly, with a flicker of light, Jack’s face came alive!
Jack’s face brightened the night, his toothy grin casting long shadows on the garden. Neighbors gasped, children squealed, and everyone wondered how Tommy created such a spectacular Jack O’Lantern. Tommy, just grinned and shrugged, not letting out the secret of Old Man Jack.
As Halloween ended and the candlelight faded, to everyone’s surprise, Old Man Jack didn’t sag or rot. No! In fact, he began to grow, roots sinking into the soil, reclaiming what was taken from him.
And so, on the following Halloween, in Tommy’s backyard, stood not a fallen old lantern but a monumental Pumpkin King, the first of its kind in Pumpkin Hollow.