Pumpkin Hope

I hear Mother's call for me echo through the house. "Maria! Take this to the new neighbours!" I search each room, trying to find where she is. Finally I find her in the kitchen, holding a pumpkin. It's almost unbelievably orange and, as I enter the room, she passes it to me.

"This?" I ask, blankly.

"Yeah," she replies before she turns back to the vegetables she was chopping before I came in. "And don't forget to put on a jumper before you go outside - it's an abnormally cold day for autumn."

I sigh and ignore her, carrying the pumpkin to the door. Why a pumpkin? And why does it have to be this bright?

I step outside, my brown boots sinking into the soggy ground. The light drizzle sprinkles onto my bare neck and my shirt begins to grow damp. The ends of my jeans are already soaked.

I can see the moving truck outside the neighbours' house, the moving men still carrying furniture across the lawn and through the door. They must have barely arrived when Mother called me. I roll my eyes, thinking - that is so like her.

"Let's go welcome the new people with bright orange vegetables!" I mutter to myself dully and start to move towards the front door, but then I hear someone behind me speak.

"Do you always talk to yourself or is it just a one-time thing in honour of us 'new people'?" a male voice says.

I turn around and see a teenage boy - probably about the same age as me. "The answer to that is none of your business," I say back, trying my best to keep my voice from wobbling. It's hard though - after all I'm right in front of the most beautiful person I've ever seen.

His head is mostly tilted downwards and his dark brown hair covers his eyes - which is probably a good thing. I just love boy’s eyes and if his eyes are as beautiful as the rest of him, I may've just fallen in love right here - no matter how shallow that sounds. He's wearing jeans and brown boots - like me - but of course a different shirt.

I see his mouth turn up in an amused smile. "Well, as neighbours, I should think we'll learn a lot about each other. Isn't that what neighbours do?" he says.

"Actually around here we basically just ignore each other and get on with our lives," I inform him.

I see his mouth turn down into a frown this time. "I don't like that idea." And then he looks up.

We both gasp at the same time and I wonder if he felt his stomach jump too when our eyes met. I can't even describe how amazing his eyes are. They're golden brown and I can't stop looking into them.

He doesn't seem to have the same trouble with my eyes - he looks away and then returns his gaze to the ground. He starts to walk past me but then he notices something.

"Hey, you're shivering," he says softly and stops right beside me. He pulls off his jacket and drapes it across my shoulders.

"Won't you be cold?" I ask, but wrap the jacket around me tighter anyway.

He shakes his head, smiling slightly. "I'm used to being cold." Then he walks past me and enters his house, leaving me on the street wrapped up in his jacket.

That's when I realise I still have that pumpkin in my arms.

I sigh and walk to the door that boy had entered through. Knocking lightly on the door frame - the door's already open for the moving men - I have to step aside for someone to carry a wooden chair in.

"Back so soon?" the boy says, grinning, as he appears suddenly at the door. "Just can't resist me?"

"Yeah, you wish," I say, grinning back. "Actually my mother told me to bring this to you." I hold the pumpkin out to him.

"For me? I'm so flattered," he says, taking the pumpkin from me.

I laugh and roll my eyes. "Not just for you. For the rest of your family too."

"Why don't we go for a walk?" he asks suddenly. "We don't even know each other's names, so since we're neighbours, I think we should at least try to get to know each other."

"In this cold?" I ask, laughing.

"Yeah, you've got my jacket and I'm used to the cold," he answers me. "I'm Aaron, by the way."

"Maria," I reply. "And okay."

"Nice to meet you," he says, laughing slightly as we head out, me leading since I know the way around. We forgot he was still holding the pumpkin.

"What's so funny?" I ask.

"Well, just the fact that your mother gives the new neighbours a bright orange pumpkin and you like to talk to yourself. What kind of neighbourhood is this exactly?"

"Oh, you don't even want to know," I reply, not even joking.

"So, why don't people talk to each other here?" he asks, abruptly serious.

"I'm not sure," I answer, thinking about it. "Something about a fight that happened a while ago - people just don't trust each other anymore. They aren't even friends anymore."

"Well," he says softly, stopping beside me. "Do you have any friends? Can I be your friend?"

I smile at him. "I don't have any friends. I don't even need a friend. But maybe you can be my pumpkin." I smile again at his confused expression. We are at the park now, amidst the leaves falling from the trees.

"Pumpkin?" he asks.

"Yes," I say, taking the pumpkin out of his hands and showing it to him, making sure he can see it. "Someone who can satisfy my hunger for love. Someone who can warm me, like pumpkin soup, on a cold night. Someone who can be sweet, like a pumpkin pie. Someone who can change and change but still be the same. Someone who doesn't judge and is there for me through the bad times and good times."

"Well, I can be your pumpkin." He laughs lightly. "As long as you're mine." He brushes away a leaf that had landed in my hair.

I smile. Maybe now I have a hope in my life. "Of course."