Who said greens were good for you?

“To eat or not to eat, that is the question,” she said to herself as she contemplated, peering into the fridge which now illuminated the darkened kitchen. She knew it was late as she scanned the shelves but her body didn’t seem to care. Her stomach was rumbling. She grabbed the only thing that was there and edible, a cucumber then unwrapped and washed it. “Well this is better than nothing,” she murmured before chomping down on the cucumber till it was just the stumpy end where it was clearly growing from before rudely removed from the soil. Somewhat satisfied she headed upstairs to bed.

            With no blinds to cover her window she had no choice but to be an early riser with the sun, the sun calmly and warmly nudged her to consciousness. With the sensation of a stretch brewing, she willed her body to comply. With half her consciousness still influenced by sleep she followed the feeling of a whole body stretch as she imagined it sizzling through her body from her head to her torso, expanding its reach through her lim… SMACK! She hit imaginary walls. This immediately halted the whole stretch process rendering it incomplete. This abrupt halting of what should have been pleasurable jolted the rest of her consciousness awake, her eyelids with it.

            Initially everything appeared to be the same as when she last was awake. The room was bright and sun-filled, reflecting off of the brown tape that held her belongings still in the unpacked boxes spread across her room. She tried to turn her head to survey the rest of the room but was unable to. Am I paralysed? She thought to herself as she looked down to view her body. Much to her confusion, she was met by an evenly flat bed where her body shape should have been moulded into the covers; all that met her gaze was an orange mound where her breasts should have been and ultimately her body. What the…? Her “skin”, though orange, looked healthy and smooth as it always had been, but now had wide ridges that rippled around her as far as she could tell, reminding her of a… Pumpkin? All she could think of was Cinderella. But that’s not right; she didn’t turn in to a pumpkin. Did she? But people don’t turn in to pumpkins. Do they? As she was consumed by her many floundering thoughts, a small breeze danced through the open bedroom window around her, brushing something into her line of vision. This visual obstruction appeared to be originating from what she still assumed was the top of her head. It was light, fluttery and green. Since when have I had green ha…

            After minutes of non-stop screaming, she ran out of breath leaving the wake trail of what once was, echoing inside her. Inside? A realisation hit her on reflection of her recent outburst, all of it sounded way too internal for her liking. Just then she heard footsteps passing her door. She cried out for her roommate; Jenna! Jenna! The footsteps continued without a falter. Slowly she began to realise how hopeless her situation had become. She just sat there. Unable to move, unable to speak, unable to do anything but think and observe the stillness of the same forward facing section of her room.

            If she were able to do anything she would surely be crying little pumpkin seeds, dehydrating her little round pumpkin body of its essential pumpkin juices, for one or more of the many reasons she could mentally list of why she wanted to cry. One of which was from boredom. Why didn’t I make my room more interesting to look at sooner? If, no, when I return to my human form that is so going to be at the top of my “To do” list. From the time it took for the sun to beat mercilessly at the back of her, to mercilessly beat more towards the top of the back of her, she had already counted how many material bobbles there were on her very worn jumper that was still out from last night’s wear. Twice. Now she resorted to wracking her brain as to how this could be possible to pass the time. All was normal as she retraced her previous day. Except! The one thing she did do out of the ordinary was eat that cucumber. Cucumber wasn’t one of her usual choices, for some reason or another she would always shy away from the vegetable. And now I know why!, she thought to herself as she attributed all the blame of her now fruity complexion on to that one small, green vegetable.

            As the sun crawled across the sky it never ceased its relentless torment, somehow always able to be in the perfect position to beat down its blazing heat in mockery. She thought to herself as she sat there helpless, Why oh why did I have to pick the room with the biggest window, and, Curse my laziness for not putting up my blinds yet. The sun continued its brutal beating against her orange wrinkling skin. Her vision began to waver as she radiated some of the heat her little, round body could no longer absorb.

            The sun had really taken its toll on her, now reducing her to wrinkle upon wrinkle, that which are commonly found among the older, leathery generation. She was no longer round, firm and perky; instead she was squishy, soft and deflating like a basketball. As the remains of her inside mush bubbled, she learned with her last dying sun absorption that eating your greens wasn’t always good for you, though she still didn’t understand why she turned into a pumpkin when she ate a cucumber.

            Evening came, the sun set and the temperature cooled. The remains of the poor, decomposed fruit goo solidified with the darkening of the night sky. What resulted was surprisingly presentable considering the horrendous end to it.

A knock sounded on the door followed by Jenna’s voice as she slowly pushed the door open, “Rise and shine sleepy head, you have now officially missed the sun.” Met by darkness she flipped on the light to scan the room for her missing in action roommate. She expected to find her drunkenly collapsed in some sort of uncomfortable position only tolerable to those that had passed out. She was shocked to find the room empty though it still held the usual dishevelled contents. She shook her head and muttered, “I live with such a slob.”

Jenna was about to turn and leave the room when something caught her eye on her roommate’s bed. She faced the direction of interest and walked toward the object for a closer inspection. She stopped hovered above it, then after a moment she exclaimed excitedly, “Oooo, pumpkin pie!” She picked it up and headed back out the room, not forgetting to switch off the light. As she was pulling the door closed she said to the pie like a cat would say to a mouse, “I’m going to enjoy you.”