“The Pumpkin Problem”

by Sofia Shaw

Boo looked around. Just then, she saw a carnival poster. It said: SPIDER PUMPKIN CARVING CONTEST.

Boo said to herself, Oh, I’m gonna go. Maybe I will be the luckiest spider of all. But wait! I don’t know how to carve a pumpkin. I know! I will ask Scarecrow.

So Boo asked Scarecrow, but he said, “No. Go ask Crow, and while you’re there, tell him to leave my corn alone!”

So Boo asked Crow, but he said, “No. Go ask Owl, and while you’re at it, tell him to let me sleep tonight!”

So Boo asked Wise Owl, but he said, “I don’t know. We can Google it though.”

So Boo and Owl got to it.

Much to their disappointment, all it said was get a knife and cut out shapes.

“But Owl!” said Boo. “I’m just a spider, and you’re just an owl. We don’t have a knife!”

Owl said, “Yes, that is true. But I have a beak, and that’s true too.”

So Boo told Owl to peck two triangles on the top of her pumpkin and a circle on the bottom.

Just then, Boo realized that the pumpkin looked like a face.

“He needs a name!” Boo exclaimed. So she named him Bob.

The next day, Boo brought her pumpkin to the carnival. She pushed her way through the crowd to the pumpkin carving contest tent. She was quivering with excitement and nerves. She showed Bob the Pumpkin to the judge.

A little while later, a crowd gathered around for the results.

Boo held her breath as the judge announced:

“Third place… Crawly! Second place… Webs! And first place goes to…

BOO!”