The Pumpkin That Wanted to Glow

In Farmer Dale's big round pumpkin patch, among hundreds of orange pumpkins, sat the very smallest one of all. His name was Pip. Every morning, Pip stretched his tiny green stem toward the sun and whispered his biggest wish. He was so small that the ladybugs used him as a hill, and the morning dew slid off his round sides like tiny glass marbles. "One day," he said, "I will glow."

The Little Pumpkin's Big Dream

The big pumpkins laughed when they heard him. "Glow? You?" chuckled Bruno, the largest pumpkin in the patch. "Jack-o'-lanterns are made from big, grand pumpkins like me!" Pip's round cheeks turned a deeper orange. But an old crow named Cora, who perched on the fence every day, ruffled her feathers and said, "Pay them no mind, little one. The sun does not ask a flower how big it is before it lets it bloom. One day, someone kind will see past your size," Cora added, and Pip held those words close like a warm blanket all through the autumn days. So Pip kept dreaming. He practiced making happy faces in the morning dew, and every night he watched the farmhouse porch and imagined a warm candle glowing inside him.

The Farmer's Kind Daughter

On the morning before Halloween, Farmer Dale's daughter Lily came to the patch with her basket. The big pumpkins puffed out their chests, but Lily walked right past them. "This one," she said softly, picking up little Pip. "He has the kindest shape." Back at the farmhouse, Lily worked with great care. She drew a wide, happy smile on Pip's face and two round, friendly eyes. "There," she said, placing a small candle inside him. "Now let us see your light, little friend." She set him on the kitchen table where he could watch her hang paper bats from the ceiling, and Pip felt braver than he had ever felt out in the patch.

Glow, Pip, Glow

That evening, Lily set Pip on the farmhouse porch right beside the door. When she lit the candle, something wonderful happened. Pip's happy smile blazed golden in the dusk. His round eyes twinkled like stars. Children passing by stopped and pointed. "Look at the little pumpkin! He is the brightest one on the street!" Bruno the big pumpkin watched from the patch and said nothing at all. Pip glowed all night long, proud and happy, the smallest jack-o'-lantern with the biggest light. Even Bruno rolled a little closer to the fence to watch, and Cora the crow cawed with delight from her perch on the gate.

Moral of the Story

Pip learned that it is not how big you are that matters, but the light you carry inside. Even the smallest among us can shine the brightest when given a little kindness and a chance.