DH
Ax-o-Lanterns By: D.H. L'OrangeIt was October 28, three days before Halloween. The long sleepy days of summer, had changed into the shorter, brisker days of autumn. The northern winds were whooshing down, cooling the warmer weather, and blowing the flame-colored leaves off the trees.
Ax and Tobias were inside Ax's scoop watching "Charlie Brown's the Great Pumpkin." It was now Ax's third time in a week to watch the "Great Pumpkin," and it was quickly becoming his most favorite Halloween movie, right behind "The Nightmare Before Christmas."
Axmili was very excited about celebrating his first Halloween. Based on all the data he'd collected from watching television, there were five main Halloween rituals that Ax needed to complete to fully partake in the religious occasion. These five Halloween rituals were: watching scary movies, carving jack-o-lanterns, picking out a costume, and going trick-or-treating, and meeting the Great Pumpkin.
Ax was half-way there to completing all the Halloween rituals. He had already seen quite a few scary movies and with Tobias' help, he had chosen a Halloween costume. Now all he had to do was carve his jack-o-lantern, go trick-or-treating, and then meet the Great Pumpkin who rose from the pumpkin patch on Halloween night.
Hey Ax! Jake, Marco, Rachel, and Cassie are coming. Tobias announced from his perch inside the scoop. With his enhanced hawk hearing, Tobias could hear the other Animorphs approaching almost a fourth a mile away. However, considering how much noise Rachel and Marco were making, hearing the others approaching wasn't any great feat.
"How come I have to be the one to carry two?" Tobias heard Marco whining. "They're really heavy."
"Marco you're such a wuss!" Rachel scoffed. "I've got two also, and they're not that heavy."
"Yeah, but mine are bigger," Marco argued.
"No they're not," Rachel argued back. "They're all the same size!"
"Yeah, but mine are heavier!" Marco complained.
"Stop crying, you big baby! Or I'll give you something to cry about!"
Marco was suddenly quiet for a moment as he took Rachel's threat into consideration. Moment passed, he then opened his mouth to complain some more. "Why do we have to walk all the way here? Why couldn't we just --"
"Marco, I swear if you don't shut up I'm going to--"
"Hey you guys, we're here." Cassie interrupted quickly. Cassie was always trying to play peacemaker to Marco and Rachel's constant bickering.
"About time," Marco sighed.
There was a knock on the scoop's door, and then the door was thrown open, revealing four very exhausted-looking Animorphs carrying six very large pumpkins.
"Hi guys," Marco greeted Tobias and Ax as he dumped his two pumpkins onto the ground.
Hello Marco. Cassie. Rachel. Prince Jake Ax returned. After pausing the VCR, Ax approached the other Animorphs. With his main eyes on his friends, he turned his stalk eyes onto the pumpkins. You have brought pumpkins? he asked wonderingly.
Cassie smiled. "We thought that since this is your first Halloween and all, that you might enjoy carving some jack-o-lanterns," she explained kindly.
Ax nodded excitedly, a very human gesture he had picked up during his short time spent on Earth. Oh yes! he exclaimed. I have seen these jack-o-lanterns on the television. I should enjoy making them very much!.
Ax was quite pleased that he could now fufill another Halloween requirement. He was going to be that much closer to fully experiencing the human religious occasion.
You guys have perfect timing Tobias told the others in private-thought speech. We were just finishing "The Great Pumpkin" for the third time in four days.
Tobias flew down to the ground and began to morph into his human form. Noticing Tobias morphing human, Ax followed suite. When they finished their morphs, Ax and Tobias followed the other Animorphs outside of the scoop.
"Go ahead and take your pick on the pumpkins," Jake prompted Ax. Jake indicated the six large pumpkins sitting on the ground. Along with the pumpkins, there was also a large plastic bowl, some candles, matches, and an assortment of carving knives.
Ax approached the pumpkins. He looked at one wrinkled pumpkin and then the next. "I will choose oose this one. on...e.ne." he decided, settling on a squat roundish one.
Ax held his pumpkin up, looking for the others' approval.
"Very nice," Cassie affirmed.
Ax smiled, obviously pleased by Cassie's praise.
"Alright, everyone else just grab one, I guess." Jake suggested.
The other Animorphs each took a pumpkin.
"Hey! Rachel that was my pumpkin!" Marco protested, eying the pumpkin in Rachel's arms. "I picked it out."
Rachel rolled her eyes. "They're all the same, you dork." She contended.
"No, my pumpkin was different!" Marco disputed. "I remember perfectly. It was big and egg-shaped."
"Hmmm, big and egg-shaped," Rachel said thoughtfully. "Marco, are you sure you're not talking about your head?" she asked innocently.
"Hey! I got that!" Marco exclaimed. "And it wasn't very nice! I'm telling on you to Jake! DAD! DAD!" he turned to Jake. "She's being mean to me!"
Jake smirked. "Well I'm sure you deserved it," he said.
Ignoring Marco's wounded gasp, Jake then turned to Ax.
"Alright Ax, if you watch me, I'll show you how to carve the pumpkin," Jake said. "The first thing that you have to do is carve out the pumpkin," Jake" he directed.
Jake picked up a carving knife and then slit a circular shaped hole around the stem of his pumpkin. When the hole was finished, Jake set the knife aside.
"The thing I just cut is called the pumpkin top," he explained to Ax. "You have to take the top off so you can get inside to the pumpkin's guts."
Ax nodded and Jake handed Ax a carving knife. Gingerly Ax cut into the tough pumpkin hide.
"Make sure you cut on a slant," Tobias advised the Andalite in morph. "Otherwise the top will fall into the pumpkin."
Ax nodded and then painstakingly cut the pumpkin top in a circular fashion, careful to cut at a slant as Tobias had counseled. When Ax had finished cutting the top, he turned to Jake and Tobias for approval. "Is this good?"
"Very nice," Jake replied.
Ax beamed proudly. "Thank you Prince Jake," he said gratefully.
"Ax, don't call me Prince," Jake remonstrated the Andalite.
"Yes, Prince Jake."
The not-Prince Jake sighed, defeated. The Andalite would never stop with the titles.
"What do I do now, Prince Jake?" Ax questioned.
"Well, now you scoop out all the stuff inside the pumpkin," Jake instructed. To demonstrate the scooping process, Jake reached inside his pumpkin and pulled out a handful of seeds and pumpkin inards.
"The pumpkin guts," Jake said, displaying a handful of slimy orange goo to Ax.
Ax nodded, and then Jake threw the handful of orange slime into the large plastic bowl.
"We're throwing all the pumpkin guts into this bowl." Jake said, indicating the plastic bowl. "We'll throw out the stuff later."
Ax nodded and then turned to his own pumpkin. He reached his hands deep into the pumpkin and returned with a large handful of slippery orange tendrils and tear-drop shaped pumpkin seeds.
"Throw the guts into here," Cassie said, passing Ax the large bowl.
Ax nodded and then dumped his handful of pumpkin guts into the bowl. Then Ax returned to his pumpkin and pulled out another handful of orange slime.
"I always hate this part," Rachel said as she reached into her pumpkin and pulled out a mass of orange slime. "It's so gross."
"Awww, Xena doesn't like getting dirty?" Marco quipped.
Rachel glared at Marco. "No, I don't," she said. "But I'm sure you don't mind," she said offhandedly.
Rachel scooped out a handful of the pumpkin guts and chunked the orange slimy wad at Marco. Marco dodged it.
"Hey! You almost him me!" He protested.
"Yeah, I know." Rachel replied in disappoint. "So close."
"I don't know," Cassie said ignoring Rachel and Marco's antics. "I always liked the scooping part the best. Mom and I would take out all the pumpkin guts and then we'd sort the pumpkin seeds. Mom would roast the pumpkin seeds with salt, and then we'd eat them."
"I didn't know that you could eat the seeds," Jake said thoughtfully.
"Oh, yeah, they're really good."
Ax, who had been listening to Cassie's seed talk, decided to try one of the pumpkin seeds just to see if they were as good as she promised. Ax fished through his pumpkin's insides until he found one of the tan-colored pumpkin seeds.
"Yes, these are very good..ood..d.." Ax agreed as he placed the seed into his mouth. "Very good," he repeated as he reached into his pumpkin, searching for another. Locating another pumpkin seed, he popped it into his mouth. "Pumpkin seeds are delicious! De! Licious! Ious! Elious!"
He rammed his hand back into his pumpkin and pulled out another wad of orange slime mixed with pumpkin seeds. "Pumpkin seeds! Eeds! Eds!" he cried, fishing out a few more seeds and stuffing them into his mouth.
Unaccostumed to the taste-input in Andalite mode, Ax was in sensory overload in human mode. Ax thrust his hand back into his pumpkin and removed a slimey wad of pumpkin guts. Impatiently he tried to locate the seeds in his mass of orange slime. Giving up, Ax shoved the entire mass of orange slime into his mouth.
"MMMmmmm! Pumpkin...kin...pkin guts are delicious also!"
As the other Animorphs watched in sick amazement, Ax scooped out the remaining guts from his pumpkin, and crammed the orange slime into his mouth.
"So good! Ood! D!" Ax declared, as he finished off his pumpkin's insides. When his pumpkin had been scraped clean, Ax started for the large plastic bowl.
"Pumpkin seeds! Eeds! Pump! Kin! In!" Ax cried.
"Oh, that's nasty," Marco commented as Ax dunked his head into the plastic bowl filled with pumpkin slime. "Anyone going to stop him?"
Jake dutifully went after Ax. Between Tobias, Jake, and Rachel, the Animorphs managed to restrain the exuberant Andalite.
"Hey Ax-man, I think that you might want to finish your jack-o-lantern in Andalite-mode," Tobias calmly suggested. "That way you don't try to get the candles or the carving knives or something like that."
Ax nodded, and after the others had let him go, Ax began to demorph into his Andalite form. When he'd finished, Ax returned to his pumpkin.
"Well, at least he's finished with the scooping-part," Marco said thoughtfully, eying Ax's pumpkin.
Ax ignored Marco's comment and then turned to Cassie. What do I do now? he questioned.
"The best part," Cassie replied. "You get to carve a face into your pumpkin."
Ah, yes! The pumpkin face! Ax thought-spoke excitedly. I have seen many television programs with jack-o-lanterns. The face must be frightening. Ax stated firmly.
Ax was very pleased with himself for knowing all about scary jack-o-lantern faces. He had logged many hours of Halloween TV specials to find out about them.
"No, not really." Cassie answered. "Jack-o-lanterns don't have to have scary faces."
Ax's eye-stalks fell dejectedly. But, jack-o-lanterns are primitive security devices. he protested. How do they keep other humans away if they are not frightening?
"Ax, jack-o-lanterns aren't supposed to scare people away," Cassie laughed.
But why are they placed in front of a human's house? Ax asked confusedly. What is a jack-o-lantern's purpose if not to scare other humans away?
Cassie was at a loss for words. "You know, I don't really know," she admitted. "Humans just carve jack-o-lanterns at Halloween because it's a fun tradition," she said lamely. "Anyway, why don't you carve your pumpkin?" she said, trying to change the subject.
Alright Ax agreed, letting the matter drop. What kind of face should I carve?
"Anything you want," Cassie replied.
Ax was thoughtful, as he tried to envision an appropriate face for his pumpkin. He turned his eye stalks towards the other Animorphs, searching for inspiration. Rachel was carving a very wicked looking pumpkin face complete with angry eyes and fangs. Jake was going for the classic jack-o-lantern grin. Tobias was carving a cycloptic pumpkin with very sharp looking triangular features.
Suddenly, Ax got a idea. He got a positively brilliant idea. Picking up a carving knife with his many-fingered hands, he delve eagerly into his pumpkin.
"Marco, what is that supposed to be?" Rachel wondered, scrutinizing Marco's jack-o-lantern.
"Whaddaya mean?" Marco asked. "It's Spider-man."
"Looks more like Constipation-man, to me." Rachel snickered.
Marco opened his mouth to make a comment about Rachel's pumpkin. However, in her typical Rachel fashion, Rachel's jack-o-lantern face looked perfectly symmetric and expertly carved.
"Yeah well, at least mine's its not as bad as Ax's." Marco shot back instead.
Rachel turned to examine Ax's pumpkin. A series of long, uneven slits had been slashed into the pumpkin's side. Ax was obviously trying for something, but his weak Andalite hands were having trouble coordinating the actions of the carving knife.
"What are you making?" Cassie asked Ax, in the same tone she'd use on a pre-schooler.
I am creating a replica of the great War-Prince Belan-Hamula-Writrek Ax replied, almost haughtily.
"It looks more like a replica of Tobias' last meal," Marco snorted.
Tobias, grinned in wry amusement, but Ax looked slightly offended. The Andalite, obviously did not understand that Marco was only teasing him.
You do not think my replica seems realistic? Ax asked testily.
"No Ax, Marco's just teasing you because he's sore about Constipated-Man," Jake assured the Andalite.
"It's Spider-Man," Marco stressed. "Spider-man, and he looks a lot more realistic than Ax's War-Prince Slash Victim."
Ax studied his pumpkin face, and then turned to scrutinize Marco's pumpkin. You are correct, Marco Ax agreed. Your jack-o-lantern does look much more realistic than mine. Perhaps I shall correct this error.
Dropping his carving knife onto the ground, Ax whirled the pumpkin about to the un-carved side. Then, raising his tail blade, Ax executed a series of quick slashes across the pumpkin skin. When he'd finished, Ax turned the pumpkin around to face Marco.
How does my jack-o-lantern appear now, Marco?
As Marco's face fell, Rachel snickered. The jack-o-lantern sported a perfect replica of an Andalite War Prince. The War Prince was standing proudly, tail arched defiantly.
"Definitely better than Constipation-Man," Tobias praised.
Ax's eye-stalks flashed in a smug Andalite smile.
"But! But! That's not fair!" Marco sputtered. "Ax cheated! He got to use his tail! I don't have a tail!"
"You don't have a brain either, and I don't see you whining about that." Rachel sneered.
"But that's not a jack-o-lantern," Marco continued. "Ax didn't make it right! He didn't even carve it right! So can't be a jack-o-lantern!"
"Well, if its not a jack-o-lantern, then what is it?" Rachel sneered.
Marco thought for a second before replying. "It's an Ax-o-lantern."
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