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Vegetables don’t have a particularly exciting life.
They simply sit around in the dirt, collecting worms and a hungry rabbit on occasion. If a particular vegetable was lucky, they would be plucked up by a farmer and mixed into a nice stew.
Sentient vegetables, on the other hand, have quite enjoyable lives.
Take for instance, Pumpkin, who was a small little pup with a vine tail and round orange body. She had a very nice life, all things considered.
She lived in a very quaint little town, filled with geometrical architecture and strange looking people. Her home in this village was another one of these geometrical buildings, with its structure mixed with a bit of wood from her previous home. It was a pleasant fusion of old and new that made it comfortable.
Her daily activities included trotting out through the town on her own, visiting the strange residents, getting into good-natured mischief in the greenhouse dirt, and playing with many of the other veggie pals that had started to pop up as of recently. It was such a fine way to pass the time
But the absolute favorite part of her day was coming home to her two mothers.
They were the nicest creatures she ever had the pleasure of knowing. The first was a short little green one, who loved to spoil and lavish the pup with praise whenever she returned home. The second was a tall and lean blue one, who she would always leap up into her arms and rest comfortably in them, letting out happy barks whenever she would talk and smile at her.
They loved her so very much, and she loved them. They had been with her for her entire life, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. If, for some reason, they disappeared one day, then Pumpkin would be distraught and saddened beyond belief.
But she almost never thought about that, especially not on a day like this. She had just gotten done with rolling around in some mud puddles with a bunch of living zuccinies and a particularly small sentient squash, when she felt quite tired for the day. She let out an adorable little yawn and shook off most of the mush from her body. She barked a goodbye to the rest of her friends, the group shouting similar farewells as she made her way back home.
Crossing the street and walking up the path where her home was, she began to daydream (or rather late afternoon-dream) on what her mamas had planned for that evening. Perhaps the green one would put on that funny show on the TV, or perhaps the blue one would fly her up into her hammock for a relaxing nap. Either way, there were most certainly cuddles guaranteed tonight.
She pushed her head through the small pet flap in the front door and scraped her feet on the doormat. No, it wasn’t a trick she learnt. It was basic decency.
She walked into the main area of the house, searching around for anyone there, and letting out a confused whine when she spotted no one. Strange, the little pup knew she came home earlier than before, but she always figured that they would be at home no matter what time she arrived.
Then, her keen ears picked up whistling coming from another part of the building.
Oh, of course, Pumpkin let out a happy bark as soon as she realized what was going on. Her mamas must be busy with a new Meep Morp project, why hadn’t she realized sooner? She pushed open the cracked open door and skipped into the hallway that led to the room the whistling was coming from.
However, as soon as she got close enough to hear the whistling clearer, she paused. The sound didn’t sound like any her mamas would make. Perhaps they were harmonizing? But if so, they were so perfectly in tune, it sounded like one person.
Pumpkin approached the room more cautiously, sniffing and searching around in case she picked up any more suspicious details. She finally reached the Morp studio and entered inside.
Her paws skidded to a halt as she spotted a strange and perilous sight in front of her.
Standing in front of a stained canvas, towering above the veggie and whistling a pleasant tune, was a turquoise colored intruder in her home. The stranger was completely distracted with the project in front of it, the four arms attached to it doing multiple different things while streaks of paint crossed over itself. The giant was faintly familiar, but no one that Pumpkin immediately recognized.
Which led her to immediately start barking angrily at this being in her home.
The turquoise stranger let out an eep as it mistakenly painted a streak right across the middle of the painting, spinning around and staring down at Pumpkin. The intruder’s semi annoyed expression softened at the sight of the pet in the home.
“Oh, Pumpkin, it's just you.” it said, setting down her paintbrushes and approaching the pup with open arms.
Pumpkin yipped and hastily backed up, beginning to growl at the approaching creature. She was trying to stay brave, but deep down she was worried sick. Where were her mamas? Why did this Giant mess with their paints and templates? A horrible thought entered her mind: What if this creature did something to them?
Stay brave veggie, she knew she had to stay brave.
The giant flinched in response to the growl, its four eyes scrunching up. “Pumpkin, it's me! I mean, us. I mean…”
It looked down at itself, realizing the origin of the pet’s confusion. “P-Pumpkin, don’t worry! I’m us, we’re me. You recognize us, right?”
Pumpkin barked again, and she was indeed worrying. It kept holding out its arms like it expected it to just calm down and leap into the hug, but there were only a handful of people she accepted hugs from.
Well, that wasn’t true. She accepted hugs from pretty much anyone.
But not intruders! And certainly not ones that…
…wore clothes that were just like its mamas’?
Pumpkin stopped growling, still backing up as she hesitantly stared down the giant. Why was her clothing so similar to her caretakers? Had she stolen them? But these clothes were like a mix of both of their clothes, they had to be its own.
The creature’s eyes almost stared at each other as their arms came to encompass itself. “Maybe we should split to calm her? But then she would just be even more confused. We have to show her like this. Like me.” It muttered strangely.
It sighed and closed their eyes, taking in a deep breath before opening them and kneeling down. It held out two of its hands, beckoning the pup without moving any closer.
“Pumpkin, don’t be scared. I know I look different, but I promise I’m not going to hurt you.” It said softly.
Pumpkin stayed firmly still with her back pressed up against the back wall, her eyes shifting from the open hands to the smiling face. There was something she wasn’t seeing here, something she could see but wasn’t understanding. Why else would this intruder be acting so friendly?
She was a smart vegetable, a seed above the rest. She slowly approached the giant and sniffed the palm of her hand. Her mind lit up as she recognized a familiar scent: a mixture of paint, the ocean, grass, and metal. It was so comforting, but unsettling as to why the creature looked like her mamas.
But then it clicked, and she finally realized why the creature seemed so familiar.
It clicked because she saw, above its eyes, a turquoise colored triangular stone. It was the same shape and size as the one her green mama had in her forehead.
It all made sense now! The familiar smells, the mixture of clothing, and even the same gem in its forehead; her mamas, in some strange turn of events, have suddenly turned into one big, super mama!
She quickly jumped up into their arms, causing this weird mama-fusion to yelp and fall backwards, giggling as Pumpkin began happily licking their face.
“Ah, veggie-head! Oh, I'm overjoyed you’re comfortable with this. I was afraid you wouldn’t understand.” They said in a now recognizable mashup of their two voices.
Pumpkin tilted her head slightly. Understood what? It seemed to her there wasn’t anything. Her mamas were here, her mamas were safe, and most importantly, her mamas were happy. The big, fusion thing was just something new she would get to experience, now that she knew she was safe.
The super mama smiled and picked up the pup in their arms, walking away from the Morp room and towards the bedrooms of the house. “Don’t worry, Pumpkin, it isn’t permanent. You’ll still get to see Lapis and Peridot every day, we’re just exploring for right now. Just… expect to see me every so often, especially if you plan on coming home early like today.”
Pumpkin snuggled deeper into their arms, letting out another yawn as her eyes started to flutter close.
“But, seems like you’re all tuckered out from today, huh? My brave little veggie-head, defending the home from… heh, from me I guess..” They raised their pet to their lips, pressing a kiss to her forehead while walking into their bedroom. They gently laid down in the hanging hammock, cuddling their pet closer as their now longer foot started to rock them back and forth.
“Go ahead and sleep, Pumpkin. I love you, pup.” They whispered, closing their eyes as they all laid peacefully in silence.
Pumpkin fell asleep content. She was lucky to have such an enjoyable life. She didn’t think the other sentient vegetables got so many mamas to enjoy.