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When his mother arrived, Howl almost felt as if there was a slight spring in his step. It was most likely due to the fact there was a pumpkin he was especially rooting for. As usual, they made their way to the area where the pumpkins were being displayed for the day. Yet the lad seemed to hover around a pumpkin that had been decorated to look like a flower. It was absolutely charming in his opinion.

The entries of the day for the most part did not seem to impress the woman. However, the moment she stood in front of the pumpkin with the "knife" sticking out of its head.

"It is so simply grotesque." It was obvious the woman was trying to cover up the slight smile she had upon her face, since it was probably improper for her to think something was humorous. She tapped the pumpkin stem. "This one, my son."

Howl's heart dropped a bit, but he tried to not let it show. "I will contact the winner tomorrow, Mother."

All Howl could hope was that the entrant with the flower pumpkin decided to show another day to participate.

Tallulah was admittedly a bit upset that her Pac Pumpkin hadn't won - she'd thought it had been great! A bit simple, though. She couldn't begrudge the winning design - it was awfully clever! She'd just have to try harder today!

Feeling inspired by last night's encounter in the haunted house, she picked a fairly large, nearly spherical pumpkin and started carving it with renewed vigor. Maybe a Freddy Krueger pumpkin would be what she needed to win this contest!

He'd skipped the next day of pumpkin decorating to fix his costume's hat, and see if nothing else could grab his attention. But almost like clockwork, the fourth night rolled around and Marx was right back at the pumpkin booth to give it another go.

This time his pocket was not filled with m&m's to sway him, and he sat staring at the blank orange gourd for what felt like hours for some idea to hit him. A look down at his jafar costume and he shrugged. Hey, why not go cartoon with it?

Or well.. close enough to a cartoon. Hey, he was good at faces, why change his tactics now?

Howl didn't have to worry; Eve had a much more competitive streak than Serenade and didn't need to be dragged to the booth twice. It was rather strange, she thought with a raised eyebrow while regarding yesterday's winner skeptically. Oh well, beauty was in the eye of the beholder? She shrugged her shoulders and sat down, determined to try again. Anyway, it was practice, and she was getting better at carving pumpkins! Serenade came by and watched her, encouraging her softly and sitting patiently by her side until she was done.

I am so predictable. She reflected with a laugh when as she looked down at her finished product. Oh well! Flowers were nice after all!

Nyasa had been at the Halloween Carnival every day so far, but not because she wanted to. No, Nyasa was on the job, so to speak. Although it was Destiny City’s fondest wish that nothing would go wrong at the carnival, the sponsors of the event had not been so foolish as to rely on hope. As a result, Nyasa was at the carnival on standby, ready to help any injured carnival goers.

For the first couple of days, Nyasa had been content to hang out at the emergency tent, sitting around with the other first responders. Now Nyasa was bored, so she grabbed a walkie-talkie and left the tent, looking for things nearby that she could do to kill time. She quickly discovered a pumpkin decorating booth, and while it was not normally something she would do, the prize of a gift card had her wandering over and grabbing a pumpkin.

The lack of knives was stymied her a minute, and she didn’t feel like go back to the emergency tent to pick one up. Eventually Nyasa just grabbed some ribbons and glue and set to work. Her finished product wasn't as elborate as some of the others, but she figured it was decent. Next time she'd bring a knife though.

In Howl's humble opinion, he couldn't help but be content with the fact so many people made repeat visits to the booth he was manning. Certainly, it was not his cup of tea (in fact, he would have preferred a booth that was serving tea), but seeing others trying their hardest with win the contest fair and square felt a bit rewarding. Even the girl who had carved the flower pumpkin had shown up again.

Yet, even with his personal bias towards flowers, there were some rather handsome pumpkins that had been decorated for the contest. Upon the sight of the brunette judge, his head tilted, and today he felt the need to remove his hat.

"Evening, Mother."

Anastasia nodded back to him, signaling his hat could go back to covering his vaguely matted locks. As the hat was set back upon the lad's head, the woman began to approach the display area. The woman had to pause in front of several of the pumpkins, and even had to pull out a few to the front so she could compare them.

"This one... I can not help but feel attracted to the alternate decorating style from the usual paints or carvings."

The lad merely nodded in agreement. No flowers today, but at least he wasn't nearly as confused as he had been with the prior day's winner. "I will contact the winner tomorrow." He cleaned up for the evening and let his mother wander off to visit some of the other booths at the carnival.

He had yet to really wander the carnival grounds, but he had his duties. The next day, he was back at the pumpkin decorating booth, ready for a new day of pumpkin decorating.

Well, people obviously had no taste in not picking her mermaid carving. It was supremely elegant and beautiful compared to all the other entrants, and when her Ariel pumpkin not called as the winner, Elegancia stood with her mouth agape. She didn't clap, being the sore loser she was.

But, if there was one thing good about her, Elegancia was resolute. She would win the contest one way or another. Pondering upon what her next carving could be, she was stuck between another Disney Princess or a fairy... But then she decided to continue with her aquatic theme, with an added twist.



The candle was visible! Elegancia tried to pick the most sophisticated one possible-- it was Ocean Breeze scented.