Sheri Yutzy - Speculative Fiction Author

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You are here: Home / All Posts / #FallintoFF / The Midnight Pumpkin #FallintoFF

The Midnight Pumpkin #FallintoFF

October 21, 2019 by Sheri

 

As the clock on the Palace wall neared midnight, I was beginning to wish I’d never grown my prize pumpkin. If I hadn’t been hauling it to the fair when that fairy went flying by, I’d never be in this position.

I fiddled with my bowtie and shifted my weight on the rigid driver’s seat. The night was foggy and beginning to chill. Harness bells jangled as another coach rattled past in search of a parking spot. I narrowed my eyes at the six steeds hitched to my coach. The fairy had done well, all things considered, but the two closest to me definitely still had mouse ears.

I had just slumped into a yawn, hands over my face, when a shout from the Palace made me sit up.

The girl, for whom I’d been bewitched into a coach driver, was flying down the Palace steps. A tall man in black pounded after her, his scowl blacker than his coat. As the girl reached the driveway, she stumbled and lost a slipper.

Disgruntled as I might be by my circumstances, this damsel was in some major distress. I jumped down, whisked open the door, and lifted her into the coach, stuffing her dress after her. The mice/horses were champing to run, and I gave them their heads.

As we passed the Palace gates, which, thankfully, had not yet been closed, the clock began to chime twelve.

“Hurry, driver!” the girl called from within. “The enchantment will end at midnight.”

I rattled the reins, and the horses began to gallop. “Not to worry, miss.”

The road behind us disappeared into fog, but I could hear the shouts of pursuing men. The final peal from the clock echoed and the coach began to shake.

“Faster, mice!”

The horses neighed, shaking their heads and galloping faster. We rounded a corner and I spotted what I needed—a farm lane barely visible in the fog. I pulled hard on the reins and we careened off the main road and onto the dirt path. The coach wobbled, the horses began to shrink and slow, and suddenly, we were sitting on the hard ground.

“Oof,” said the girl.

The six mice ran off into the fields, squeaking. Now that our coach was quiet, the sound of pursuing horses was deafening. I lurched to my feet and pulled the girl up with an arm around her waist, ignoring the fact that she was now wearing some kind of torn ensemble. Certainly easier to deal with than that poufy blue dress.

I dragged her into the trees that lined one side of the path. We had just dropped into hiding when a horde of guardsmen rode by. The man in black led the group.

“I saw them go this way,” the leader shouted back to the others.

His horse was the first to crush my pumpkin, now abandoned in the middle of the path. Only orange pulp was left after they all passed.

“I’m sorry about your pumpkin,” the girl whispered.

I looked at her, my angry eyes softening without my permission. “It’s not your fault.”

“But it is. I’m sorry the Godmother used you and your pumpkin in the first place.” She sighed and picked at the torn seam on her left sleeve. “She meant well. But how could she know the Prince would turn out to be insane?”

“Really? I mean, I know Princes can be stuck up, but insane?” I pulled off my jacket and draped it over her shoulders. Did she just scoot closer to me?

She nodded. “I know, that’s what I thought too. He ordered me to sing a mermaid’s song, and when I couldn’t, he tried to lock me up. I only got away because he slipped on a puddle of cider.”

By the time she was finished, I could definitely feel her shoulder against mine. She was shivering. Feeling bold, I put my arm around her. “I’m sorry. That sounds awful.”

She looked up at me and smiled. “It hasn’t been all bad.

I couldn’t help but smile back. “Want to help me gather seeds from the mess on the lane? This was my best pumpkin yet.”

She giggled. “Let’s try again next year.”

Filed Under: #FallintoFF, All Posts

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About Sheri

Here Goes Something New!

Hi, I'm Sheri Yutzy. I love forests under the night sky, trying new foods, and drinking Irish tea.
I'm married to a musician who looks good in black, mama to two toddlers who love to eat, and happy resident of a Cape Cod cottage in Ohio.
I write YA fantasy and am acquisitions editor at sparkflashfiction.com.
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One thing I love about Ohio yards: no matter where One thing I love about Ohio yards: no matter where I go, I can always find a little patch of whimsical greenery somewhere that whispers spring is here. My yard right now is strewn with little branches and dried plants from the flowerbeds and old, brown leaves. But soon the grass will grow tall and we’ll gather the branches and everything will be lush and green again.
Fairy tales always seem like a spring thing. The curses end in spring, the eggs hatch in spring, the weddings happen in spring. But I love to see the magic woven into each season, each so different, preparing the earth for the next phase.

What whimsically green corners have you found this week?

#whimsicalwednesday #sheriyutzy #whimsicalgreen #whimsicalcottage #whimsicalspring #whimsicalgarden #yafantasyauthor #hanschristianandersen #bestlovedfairytales #fairytales #springfairytale #magicalspring #magicalcottage #booksoutside #slowliving #changingseasons #marchgreens
🌿✨🌿 Enough words in the world Enough bulbs 🌿✨🌿
Enough words in the world
Enough bulbs budding 
And stretching their hearty arms
Like solid poems, fragrant poems
The world outside is living poetry.
🌿✨🌿

#twentywordtuesday #poetsofinstagram #springpoetry #ednastvincentmillay #springinthegarden #poetryoutside #moodycottage #sheriyutzy #shortpoems
Mondays do odd things for me as an introvert. (By Mondays do odd things for me as an introvert. (By introvert I mean I need solitude to recharge.) 
🌿🌿🌿
Here’s what I mean. By the end of every week I’m ready to see my people, engage in my church community. And by the end of Sunday? I’m ready to be alone again. My kids usually are too, so they spend Monday playing pretend together and I lurk around catching up on housework, reading a book, and gazing out the window, enjoying my own inner silence. (It’s not super silent outside of me, but that’s okay.)
Monday is just lovely, because I’m filled up and rich with community, and I have a whole day to be home and ponder that fullness.
Yes, sometimes I want to be with adults after hearing children chatter all day, but most of the time their conversation is refreshing.

How do you find Mondays? Do you like to get started on the week, or would you like to stay in the weekend?
The wisteria is budding, and will soon be spreadin The wisteria is budding, and will soon be spreading its sunshine across the yard. Our bush was here when we moved and I’ve been so grateful for it. It blooms so early, the brightest thing around.
This weekend was a bit crazy. I did some new things, like make meatballs for a crowd, and juggle three Airbnb guests’ requests at once, and change a car key battery while away from home (thank God for the extra battery in the glove box) but here I am at Sunday afternoon, my time to take a look at the week before, and everything worked out.
I know it doesn’t always, but for today, I am grateful.

What made you grateful this weekend?

#wisteria #buddingwisteria #sheriyutzy #gratefulsunday #kingdomofashandbriars #hannahwest #yafantasyauthor #booksoutside #slowliving #gratefulliving #moodycottage #cottagegarden #intentionalliving #gratefulthoughts #springtimeblooms #timeforspring
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