Author / Illustrator: Shin-Dii

On a slightly chilly autumn day just before Halloween, the entire street was adorned with pumpkins, painting the town in warm shades of orange. Ann begged her mum to buy her a pumpkin so she could carve a smiling face on it.

Ann and her mum picked out a beautiful, large pumpkin together. As the sky took on a shade of orange, they carried the big pumpkin back home.

Mum taught Ann how to carve the pumpkin step by step. First, they cut off the pumpkin's top, then scooped out the seeds, drew the pumpkin's face, and finally, used tools to cut out the hollow spaces—done!

Ann was very pleased with the cheerful pumpkin and gave it a name: Happy!

"Happy is the happiest pumpkin I've ever seen! I believe Happy will be always happy!" Mum talked to the pumpkin as if it were a pet, patting Happy's head, and then patting Ann's head.

.

"I'm not happy at all..."

Ann seemed to hear a voice, and she got scared, so she burrowed into her blanket.

"The smiling face is fake..." Ann was afraid but peeked out, and the voice did indeed come from beside her pillow. It was Happy! Happy was shining brightly, looking at Ann with a radiant smile. "Happy?" Ann asked tentatively.

"Yes, it's me," a faint voice came from inside the hollow pumpkin. "Stop saying happy all the time; I'm not happy at all."

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"Well, you wouldn't understand even if I told you. You're the one who's always carefree, right?" Happy said with its smiling face.

Happy noticed that Ann's expression had grown serious, and her smile had disappeared. It quickly apologized, "Sorry! I shouldn't have said that..."

In the dim light, Happy's eyes welled up with tears, though no one could see. But this time was different—Happy genuinely smiled.