Rescue 911...

...The Holiday Meal Recovery Unit Edition! Alternatively titled, Not Without My Sister, from the perspective of everyone's favorite Scaredy Pumpkin, Seamus O'Lantern.

Remember good ole Seamus?



Bet you didn't know Seamus has a sister eh? Well, he does and his precocious, talkative female sibling goes by the name of Leah. That's right, Leah O'Lantern.





Leah is not only precocious for a young Squashette, but she also gregarious, opinionated and slightly bossy. Despite best efforts by her parents to put restraints on their daughter's whims and whines, Leah refuses to let anything or anyone cramp her style. Oh, and style? Well, let's just say that Leah is the bling in bling of what is considered en vogue for the trendiest Pumpkinette with her penchant for coiffures pushing her over the stylized cliff...

...Wait a minute. Pumpkins don't have manes! It is common knowledge that members of the Cucurbitaceae Family are follicularly challenged. So what's a young Pumpkinette to do with all of her TiGi hair products sans locks?

WIGS.

Leah also enjoys faux lashes with her locks. This Pumpkin Princess may have watched Priscilla Queen of the Desert one too many times me thinks...I digress.

Here she is sporting a lovely orange do...



Please note that hair is REMOVABLE.

In addition to her innate style, precocious nature, ubiquitous opinions and bossy demeanor, young Leah O'Lantern is also quite gregarious. This little Pumpkinette could strike up a conversation with a wall if needed. Unfortunately, talking to anyone, anywhere, anytime is not always a wise practice for a little Pumpkin girlie around the holidays as Pumpkin and Pumpkinette Pie are considered a staple on nearly every Thanksgiving Day table in the United States.

So, who did Leah unknowingly find herself engaged in deep and thoughtful conversation with regarding the virtues of pump vs. aerosol hairspray just days before T-Day while strolling around the neighborhood patch? Unfortunately for Leah, she was talking to none other than a couple of corporate buyers from Libby's. Now the guys at Libby's like Pumpkins. They like them a lot. In fact, their Pumpkin Pack is a big seller this time of year so they ditched their earplugs for a grain sack and snatched the little Pumpkinette up with the hopes that her speech would cease when pureed in a can.

Now, it didn't take long for her family to notice that Leah was gone, for when it is quiet in the O'Lantern household that can only mean two things: (i) Leah is asleep or (ii) Leah is not there. The little Pumpkinette was not in her bed. She was not in the house. Nor was she in the neighborhood patch. In fact, Leah was nowhere to be found.

Siobhan O'Lantern, matriarch of the O'Lantern clan, was visibly distraught by her daughter's disappearance and immediately sought answers to the whereabouts of her daughter. Fortunately, there were plenty of eyewitnesses to the Pumpkin-napping of her Sproutling left in the neighborhood patch and they readily informed Siobhan and the rest of the O'Lantern clan of the Pumpkin Abduction of Leah O'Lantern (made-for-television movie in the works). Siobhan O'Lantern, despite her worry and grief, had enough clarity upon hearing the tale of her daughter's nefarious disappearance to remember that the Holiday Meal Recovery Unit ("HMRU") was readying itself for T-Day Operations over at VLA Headquarters. She immediately elected to send her youngest son, Seamus, to go to VLA HQ and enlist the HMRU's ground support in order to extract and recover her beloved Sprout from impending puree-ification. Frightened but determined, Seamus sought out the Veggie Warriors even if his sister was bossy, wore funky wigs and talked way too much, for Seamus loved his sister, Leah, after all and he didn't want to see her come back to the family in a can.

Needless to say, the brave HMRU combatants were able to rescue Leah from the Pumpkin Squashing Facility located in the Libby's Factory with the help of her formerly frightened brother, Seamus. Yes, Seamus stuffed his scaredy feelings beneath his seeds and played a pivotal role in the successful rescue and recovery of his little sister just minutes before she was about to be squashed, pureed and stuffed in a can! The entire harrowing operation was completed using nothing more than a butter knife, mint-flavored dental floss, and a balsa wood airplane. Amazing!

Henceforth, Scaredy Seamus O'Lantern shall be known as Chivalrous Seamus O'Lantern. He will be scared no more, but he will retain his earplugs as his sister is safe and will live to talk another day. And another. And another after that...

Stay tuned! More Holiday Meal Recovery Unit tales to fill your December days and nights!

Copyright 2005-2006 Regina Rioux Gonzalez. All rights reserved.