Hannah was pissed. The hot water heater at the apartment had failed yesterday, forcing her to take a cold shower in the morning. In her first lecture of the day the professor had denied her request for an extension on her differential equation homework. Shortly after she had returned to the apartment in a huff, she had learned that the landlord wouldn't be able to dispatch a workman to replace the hot water heater until late in the evening. To top everything off, her roommate Anna had reminded her with no small amount of vindictiveness that she had promised to pick up the pumpkins they were going to carve for the Halloween display.
They always say that you don't really know whether you'll get along with someone until you live with them, and in this case the saying was unfortunately true. The happy go-lucky, air headed personality that made Anna fun during parties had turned out to be hiding a dark streak that came out when she was asked to do the chores or if she didn't get her way. After several weeks of up putting up with spirited arguments, Hannah had given up trying to get through to her and had resolved to do the chores herself.
Her two other roommates, Lacey and Lucy, the twins, would rather retreat to their room to study physics than get involved in cat fights. This behavior just annoyed Hannah further -- it would have been nice to get some support. All of this meant that she was effectively doing the equivalent of two jobs simultaneously, which was quickly draining her ability to care about almost anything.
She was too much of a pushover. She didn't have the luxury of escaping like her other roommates, but she also didn't have the power to say no -- she felt trapped by her own personality. There was only so far she could be pushed, however, and she was now at the tipping point. The events of the day had just solidified her opinion -- after the semester was over, she was going to find new housing and ditch the house of drama that seemed to take up all her waking hours. Maybe that would prevent her grades from taking a nose dive, too.
The grim decision made, she continued to sort through the pumpkin display at the local Happy Time grocery store. Some of them were small, and others so big she wasn't sure she would be able to lift them off the ground. Some were unsuitable due to the markings they had acquired while lying on the ground in the pumpkin patch. It took her a few minutes to sort them out, but right when she was about to leave, one more caught her eye. It was way at the back, but it had a particular healthy, orange sheen that drew her eye.
It was slightly bigger than she was looking for, but it was perfectly formed. The round, orange flesh bulged in perfectly delineated lines. The stalk was nice and green, with no sign of rot. Oddly, it didn't possess any ground marks, as though the pumpkin had grown vertically -- not a very probable circumstance for a pumpkin that had grown so large. The only imperfection was a small, round grayish circle that formed a small, raised patch in the skin of perfect specimen. She almost put it back into the display with regret, but hesitated. They were planning on carving these pumpkins, right? They could simply carve into and remove the blemish, leaving the rest of the pumpkin alone. Certainly getting such a nice pumpkin and keeping it for herself might help her to relieve some of the burden the rest of the catastrophic day had caused.
Her decision made, she hoisted the pumpkin up and into her shopping cart. She was a little surprised that it felt lighter than she had expected -- it wasn't hollow already, was it? Her investigation was interrupted when she noticed a customer at the in store coffee shop watching her closely. It wasn't yet Halloween, yet the lady was dressed in a witch's costume, a formless black cloak topped with a dorky tall, pointed witches' hat sitting on the counter. Her lips were stained a shiny neon blue, with hair dyed to match. Her curls danced breezily as she took a sip from her drink, revealing finger nails painted the same unnatural color complete with tiny stars sprinkling their nail beds. The cloak she wore was free flowing, revealing little of what she wore underneath, but her boots ran up and over her knees. They were shiny and black with tall platforms, buckles running up the front. She probably wouldn't have looked out of place at a gothic techno party.
Her eyes were two stunning sapphires nestled deep behind an aquiline nose and strong cheekbones. Hannah felt strangely drawn to the intense gaze until one heavily mascaraed eyelash closed lazily in a suggestive wink.
"What are you looking at?" snarled Hannah, flustered and more than a little annoyed at feeling patronized while doing shopping in her sweats. It was laundry day, and she hadn't had the time or inclination to get her clothing to the laundromat since the hot water had quit on them. Her hair felt limp and unattractive on her neck, wet from the rain outside.
The witch only chuckled throatily and returned to her drink, ignoring Hannah's outburst as she swept over to the check-out line in a frustrated haze, her brown eyes flashing fire. If the witch had been unable to wash her hair it probably wouldn't look so perfect coiffed, either! And why was she suddenly feeling so jealous of her poise and carefree attitude?
***
Sighing, Hannah lugged the pumpkins up the front step to the apartment. There wasn't a plumber's work van out front, so she couldn't tell whether the hot water had been fixed yet. Just as she was returning from her car with the last, perfect looking pumpkin, she was fixed with a shrewish glare from Anna, who was just stalking out of the kitchen. "Did you remember to pick up more coffee creamer? We're still out."
Hannah pressed her fingers to her forehead. That damn witch had distracted her. "No, I was distracted while I was at the store. Calm down! I'll pick some up tomorrow after my first class." Crap, Anna was probably going to fly into another rage now.
As if on cue, Anna's face twisted in anger. "I've been waiting for over an hour for that creamer, and you know it!" Her voice started to raise in pitch. Hannah could hear a door slam at the back of the apartment -- probably Lacey and Lucy hiding again.
All of her anger at the day, her professor, the universe, the witch, and the shitty coffee creamer suddenly boiled over into a rage of her own. "You know what? I don't have to deal with this shit any more! I quit! As soon as I can find new housing, I'm out of here -- and then you can find your own coffee creamer, clean your own dishes, and empty your own trash!"
The pumpkin still in her hands, she shoved past a pissed Anna and slammed the door to her room, taking out some of her rage on the inanimate object. "Oh yeah?" yelled Anna through the closed door. "Good luck getting housing right before Halloween! Bitch!"
Hannah sank onto her bed and turned the pumpkin listlessly in her hands. Anna knew exactly what to do to push all of her hot buttons. But it just didn't matter any more -- she had to get out before she was pushed to physical violence. If the argument had continued for even a short while longer she might have ended up slapping Anna, and then they really would have been fighting like cats.
All this because of a stupid pumpkin and a witch. Disillusioned, she sat the pumpkin on her dresser and tried to figure out what to do next. Her thoughts chased themselves around in circles, ultimately unfulfilling. She tried to study, but she just couldn't focus while Anna's shrill voice was still bouncing around inside her head. She gave up and sneaked out to the kitchen, warming up a TV dinner quickly so she could bring it back to her room and hide. Fortunately, nobody was out of their rooms and she was left unmolested.
Back in her room, she ate her meager fare and tried to study again. She soon gave up -- her focus was gone, and until she could get it back, there was no use in continuing. Maybe the plumber would come in the morning and she'd be able to start the day out right.
Tired, she brushed her teeth and changed into her pajamas. Fortunately, one of the features of this apartment was separate bathrooms for each room, so she wouldn't have to risk running into Anna again during the night. She flicked out the light and slumped into bed, hoping some uninterrupted sleep would help her to find solutions in the morning.
***
Shortly past the witching hour, a dim blue glow flashed through the room from the dresser. The circular blister on the pumpkin throbbed slowly with blue light, flashes starting slowly, then coming more regularly until it was a solid blue glow. The blistered area started to turn like it was unscrewing, then the blue light strengthened. The outer flesh of the pumpkin appeared to be liquefying, slowly turning to pulp and vanishing, until a perfectly round hole had been burrowed from the interior to the exterior of the pumpkin.
