❀ Pumpkin Carving ❀

The morning air had a nip to it that spoke to the rapidly approaching colder seasons, deeply contrasting with the breathtakingly warm sight of reds, oranges and yellows that had engulfed the usual greenery of the forest. Days like these were among Hachiko's favorites. He loved that chilly feeling in his chest when he breathed in the crisp air, and the way the sunlight set the landscape ablaze with color. The cheerful sylphling pulled his hood tighter as he hiked the familiar path to his forest home from the nearby farms, causing the hood’s ears to bounce atop his crown. He had gone pumpkin hunting that morning, making sure to get there early to ensure he procured only the finest specimens to carve this year.

Hachi glanced at his little cunicular familiar, Mei, who hopped by his side. She was cute with a small basket swinging back and forth from her mouth. Mei trilled happily when she noticed him looking at her as the little bunny nimbly navigated her way through the dead leaves and underbrush, stirring a chuckle from her sylphling partner. Behind him came the soft squeaking of the wagon he pulled, now carrying the oversized pumpkins he had proudly managed to get his paws on. It paid to be friends with the farmers at times like these because they had been kind enough to trade him multiple winning pumpkins this year. Hachi had one beautiful large pumpkin for display and several medium-sized but still good looking ones for his robuprawn friends.

Not only was autumn his favourite season, Halloween was also his favourite holiday - although Thanksgiving was a close second because of all of the yummy food. Every year he held a little carving competition for the robuprawns at his friend Thai's nearby sanctuary. The young sylphling had a lot of preparations on his to-do list if he hoped to top last years event. Hachi mentally ran through his checklist as he finished his trek home. Once he had unloaded his haul from the wagon, he set about cleaning his work area up to use it. He had to make sure he carved the most perfect pumpkins to be on display at the event. Hachi was pulling out his tools, setting up a good area for carving, when Mei bounded up to him with several papers in her mouth.

"Ahh I know, I know," Hachi said to the little familiar, sighing and taking the sheets of parchment from her. "I just have too many ideas in me, okay?" The sylphling had enthusiastically spent the last week sketching out way too many ideas for what to carve, and had yet to narrow down his options of which ones to actually carve. He rifled through the drawings, tilting his head from side to side as he studied each one.

"I think this one is my favourite! What do you think?" Hachi flashed one of the sheets at his small friend to reveal a sketch of a whale-like creature with various fungi growing from it. Mei trilled approvingly in response, nodding her head and pulling a sheepish smile from her partner. He turned the paper back to himself and sighed, biting his lip. It was a pretty complicated design, but he was feeling ambitious this year.

"Alright, this is the one!" Hachi set the paper next to his chosen pumpkin on his work table and began gutting the large gourd. Mei settled on her cushion nearby to wait and watch her friend work. He piled the orange innards into a bowl, planning to roast the seeds later - it was one of his favourite seasonal snacks. He made sure to scrape the inner walls meticulously before wiping everything down and cleaning up his mess. Swapping from carving tools to drawing tools, the excited sylphling pulled his sketch closer and began copying the design onto his canvas made of fruit - yes pumpkins are classified as fruit, so weird.

Hachi hummed as he worked, pulling back to scrutinize his progress as he went about shaving and carving. Hours passed and lunch time came and went. He was determined to make this the most perfect jack o' lantern ever, even down to the smallest detail. Mei knew that Hachi would most likely forget to take breaks and skip his meal, so the little bunny took it upon herself to bring him snacks while he worked. She had even brought him a small pot of tea that he accepted gratefully, sitting down to sip at it gingerly. After a couple of more hours, the diligent sylphling finally sat back for the last time and set down his tools. A wide smile crept across his lips and he beamed at Mei, proud of the work he had done. The little familiar trilled happily and bounced around in a circle.

"This is gonna look so cool, Mei! But I almost messed up on this part here and here." Hachi pointed to a couple of spots where he shaved the pumpkin but did not cut all of the way through. "I am still worried it isn't gonna be the right depth to show the light through at the right brightness here. But man look at these fungi!! They look pretty darn realistic if I say so myself!" The sylphling lit a small candle that Mei brought over and set it down inside before replacing the lid and closing the curtains to darken the room. Both of them let out little oohs and ahhs as the intricate details and full design was revealed by the candlelit backlighting. He trailed his finger along the indented line of the largest mushroom he had carved, a softer smile still ghosting his expression. This year's pumpkin carving competition was going to be pretty amazing indeed.