Welcome to Gaia! ::

Ariel was late for the contest today. She looked at the winner like every day.
Oh Cinderella, nice she thought. Then it looked like no one was here anymore.
She sat and started decorating her pumpkin. Just doing it quickly because she was scared she would be too late before it closed.

It was a really regular halloween pumpkin, but she thought maybe it is not that bad to do something normal for once

Pumpkin decorating was never Tara's favorite Halloween activity. It required sitting still too long and didn't involve sugar, so what was the point? But when, as she passed, she spotted a particular pumpkin in the day's lineup, and knew she had to give it a try.

It wasn't likely that she could beat the Death Star of all things, but Tara wasn't one to go down without a fight.

Surprisingly, the activity was actually kind of fun. There were other kids around- none that Tara knew too well, but people she didn't mind poking fun at, or cracking jokes with. She shared some of her secret stash of Mars bars while she fiddled and poked and carved and sliced, slowly making her pumpkin come to life. It took a lot longer than she thought it would, but in the end, she decided, it was well worth the time and effort.



While the Jedi were generally preferable subjects, Tara had to admit that they didn't have the same impact that Darth Vader could give. "Maybe next time," she decided, giving her finished pumpkin an affectionate pat. "Maybe next time."

There was definitely a mix of pumpkins today. Many seemed to be cultural references, and one entry, though creative, had managed to make Howl feel uncomfortable during the remainder of his shift.

"Good evening, Mother," he greeted as Anastasia entered the booth. However, the brunette was on the phone.

"Yes, I am quite aware you need me there, but I already cleared it with you that I had prior engagements all this week around this time!"

Howl knew this meant his mother's publicist was giving the woman a hard time. His mother's tone rarely got so sharp unless someone was trying to bully her into doing something when she was in the right. He watched as she walked up to the display, still talking on the phone. She didn't even dignify the overall wearing pumpkins with a glance and rather quickly pointed to the plainest of the pumpkins. It truly was a Halloween Jack-o-Lantern.

I suppose we can not go wrong with the basics Howl couldn't help but feel that his mother's distracted state had prevented her from judging as she usually did. The woman turned back towards the entrance, gave her son a crisp wave, then departed.

"Hopefully she will not be like this tomorrow" he sighed as he prepared to clean up for the evening. The next day was a weekend, so he was able to show up earlier to open up the booth for the day.

Poor Istas was almost out of ideas. She sighed as she sat down looking at the winning pumpkin with a brow lofted. She seemed slightly torn about what to do.

She didn't bring a knife, she wasn't like the others, he mother would probably scold her for bringing a knife anyways. She was only 9! Istas looked at the paints and the pumpkin and back again.

What was left to do?

She paused as she remembered a cartoon she liked to watch. she started painting the whole pumpkin brown then using a light brown for the center and then back to the brown she had for a few details marks before using white paint for eyes and black dots.

She then grabbed some brown felt and started cutting, before long she was finished... She just hoped she did the character justice



((edit >>; Just pretend it's painted. ^^;;; ))

Well, clearly some people weren't thinking straight. If not for her excellent carving-skills, than for her beauty Elegancia should win! The brunette made sure to dress appropriately for the occasion. For that day, Elegancia arrived on the scene in suitably Halloween-ish garb-- a vintage orange blouse with a black lace scarf (it was scalloped at the ends), black jeans, and orange stap heels. If she was going to win, she would most definitely want to look the part of a true pumpkin-carver!

Perhaps the judges were looking for something truly fierce-some! But Elegancia wanted to be consistent with her line of work, so she had to think of an even more frightening creature of the deep, dark seas. She began to think about things in the sea that frightened people, and only one thing came to mind-- sharks. She recalled how she was afraid to get into the pool (or the tub, for that matter) after she had seen Jaws as a child. Elegancia felt truly inspired.

Tallulah stared at the judging table, deep in thought. No, not today, either. She would have to go bigger - could she go bigger? She was going to have to - there was no way she was going to let this contest go un-won.

She carved with concentration and passionate fury - She refused to be beaten again!

It seemed like there were less people around today. Perhaps it was due to the fact they were preparing for the Masquerade ball. Howl didn't really mind. It gave him time to work on his homework while tending to the booth. By this time his mother had arrived, his homework was done and already tucked away safely. There was no way his mother could accuse him of shirking his responsibilities.

The woman clearly looked disappointed at the smaller number of pumpkins. However, she made do with what she had. Judging seemed to be more difficult this time around, since none really stood out to her as a clear favorite.

Eventually a slim finger pointed to the shark pumpkin. She didn't offer an explanation. "I will see you tomorrow, Son." With that, she departed.

Howl sighed. Tomorrow would be the last day he'd tend to this booth. It would also be Halloween day, so he was uncertain as to whether it would be jam packed all day or if it would be miserably slow.