The pumpkin patch was filled with pumpkins of all sizes: large ones, medium, small, and even one gigantic sized pumpkin. There was a temporary wood rail fence surrounding it. There were a few scarecrows leaning against the fence to make it more authentic looking.
One day, four school buses filled with children arrived. Each child had money with which to buy a pumpkin. One very husky boy chose the gigantic pumpkin for his own. He paid the man in charge of sales and had one of the helpers load it onto the bus for him. One by one the pumpkins were sold, until all that was left was one very small, very irregular looking pumpkin. It was left alone in the field. All the children boarded the bus with their pumpkins. One of the teachers looked out a bus window at the forlorn looking, funny looking little pumpkin and took pity on it. She got off the bus and paid for the little pumpkin and brought it onto the bus to take back to class. The children teased and laughed about how funny it looked.
The next day, all the children started carving faces on their pumpkins. Some gave their pumpkins funny faces with fanged teeth and slanted eyes. Some cut smiley faces on their pumpkins. But the teacher decided not to cut up her pumpkin. She got out some water colors and painted a very nice face on her little pumpkin and called him Sam.
Again the children laughed. Whoever heard of a pumpkin being called Sam. But the little pumpkin sat on the teacher's desk until school let out that day. Then she took him out to her car and drove to the hospital where she took Sam to the children's ward. She brought him into a room where one pale little girl lay in her bed. The little girl had no hair. She was being treated for cancer. She was tiny, pale, and very weak. But when she saw the little pumpkin she smiled. It was the first time she had smiled in many weeks. She knew that she had not much longer on earth, but seeing the funny little pumpkin, brought happiness into her otherwise bleak world.
The little girl's name was Samantha. So she thought it was really neat that the pumpkin's name was Sam. She thanked the teacher for bringing Sam to her. For several days she talked with Sam, just as though he were a real person. The first thing she saw when she awoke in the morning was Sam. The last thing she saw at night before sleep was Sam. That little pumpkin's smile brought a smile to Samantha. She didn't mind that he was not a normal looking round pumpkin. After all, she was not a normal healthy looking child. They were a good match.
Samantha was allowed to go home. But it wasn't to live a life with her family. She was allowed to go home to have her last moments with her family. She brought Sam home with her. She died only a few days later.
When Samantha was buried at the local cemetery, her Mother asked that Sam be put on top of her casket, as he had brought so much enjoyment to Samantha for her last days on earth. The cemetery agreed to this.
The next October, a vine had grown on top of the grave. Several pumpkins were attached to the vine. Even though his life was gone, just like Samantha's, his family continued on. And in Samantha's case, her memory lingered on in the hearts of her family.
