Not Him, But Still Di-Vine (Mr Pumpkin Pt 2)

Fate! It's What You Make It

A/N: Squeezed in a lot of places for my Facebook group, mainly California, but Illinois is in there too xx Alexis

Thanksgiving 2005

So there she, Miss Bella Swan or should I say, Miss Sabel Phoenix, now known as Belle, was heading south. With her new identity stating she was twenty-one, a new look and a truck full of pumpkin seeds. There were some in individual propagation cells, also some in trays. Because of this, she needed her own transport, it was essential. For now, nothing seemed to be happening and Bella was both worried and more than a little heartbroken. He had been her friend, her best and only friend and she couldn't lose him like this. It would take a couple of weeks for her to realise that her being in the vicinity of danger would cause the seeds to sprout. It was a random carjacking attempt that caused the initial growth. So where was this attempted carjacking, California?

Bella had made her way down through Oregon and even stopped for a break in Oakland. But it was unfortunately in San Jose where it happened. So danger to her, made them grow, well, that's good news, no it was excellent news! She wouldn't be hanging around to find out if anything happened to them. Luckily for Bella, it was she and not them who was armed; having a cop for a father had given her plenty of access to guns. She could shoot just as well with a handgun as a shotgun, having taught herself all those years ago out of sheer boredom! She had gotten fake documents from Jenks to carry both. Nothing like hours of free time and the drive to learn everything she could, since nobody cared to teach her anything important! She was academically clever, but sadly lacking in life skills.

So she had just gone into the forest and set up a target range for herself and got down to learning a new skill. Like everything else she knew, Bella just set her mind to it and eventually, she mastered that skill, maybe not sharpshooter level, but good enough. She was starting to notice other things about her new self, strange things! She didn't get tired anymore as the day wore on and needed less and less sleep now. Eating also became a slight problem everything made her feel nauseous at first, then plain old sick to the stomach. That's when the vines took over, once they started growing they got thicker, larger and generally bigger and the back of her truck was one huge prorogation tank. The first time she complained out loud how hungry she was they just wrapped themselves around her and basically fed her.

They grew small fruits and fed them to her whilst also injecting their sap into her. Was she scared, maybe a little at first, but these were Mr Pumpkin's children technically, so why be afraid. She stopped often and climbed into the back of the truck with them. That's when she slept, surrounded and protected by them as they cradled her body. Bella was just meandering down through California, not really heading anywhere as she learned all about the new her. So she was surprised to find herself in Firebaugh two days before Thanksgiving. She got herself a room, only to shower and clean up a bit. This is when she found out the only foods and drinks she could keep down were all pumpkin-based. She had gone to a store to buy sunglasses to shade her eyes from the much stronger than she was used to sun.

The owner was handing out little glasses of homemade Pumpkin Wine because Thanksgiving was just around the corner she explained. Bella not wanting to refuse the friendly offer drank it and it was absolutely wonderful. She smiled widely and complimented the woman, who did the same about her hair. Everyone was assuming it was dyed for Halloween and Thanksgiving, she didn't disabuse them. So she could consume anything with pumpkin in it, which was brilliant news. Bella was also looking to trade in her truck for an RV, that way she would have her own shower and more protection for both herself and the vines. She spent a couple of days researching them and decided after Thanksgiving she'd get one in Madera. In the back of her mind, Bella was starting to see a great business opportunity.

Some of the seedlings were just plain ordinary ones, with no magic involved, but really healthy and strong. They had started to grow after the main vine did. These were her food now and she could make so much with them. But to do that she would need a home base, the hunt was on for a place to live, at least for now. Somewhere where she could make food and drinks from pumpkins to sustain herself and maybe sell to others too, eventually. Like for instance pumpkin bread or pumpkin loaves and even pumpkin muffins, the choice was endless. So where would be the best place to grow pumpkins? With a quick Google search, she found it would be Texas or Illinois for this new venture. One other thing that started to happen was a pattern under the skin on her arms and legs that looked more like vines instead of veins had appeared.