Pumpkin Fairy and the Pumpkin Bugs
Pumpkin Fairy was in the pumpkin patch taking a good look at the pumpkins. She needed to make sure the pumpkins were healthy.
“Help!” Pumpkin Fairy heard someone scream.
She looked up and saw Farmer John, her neighbour, running through the pumpkin patch, waiving her arms in the air.
“Pumpkin bugs!” screamed Farmer John. “They have destroyed some of my pumpkins.”
“Oh no!” exclaimed Pumpkin Fairy. “Do you have any on you? They will destroy every pumpkin there is.”
“I didn’t even check,” said Farmer John. “I am sorry.”
Farmer John checked his jacket, pants and boots. A few orange and black striped bugs fell to the ground. They scurried under the pumpkins before anyone saw them.
“It doesn’t matter anyway,” said Pumpkin Fairy. “If they are in your field, it won’t take long for them to work their way here. We are all in trouble.”
“Is there anything that we can do?” asked Farmer John. “We have to stop them. They will destroy us.”
“How many pumpkins have they gotten to so far?” asked Pumpkin Fairy.
“About twenty of them,” said Farmer John.
“In a few hours half of your pumpkins will be gone and by the end of the day you won’t have any pumpkins left,” said Pumpkin Fairy.
“We need to do something,” said Farmer John.
Pumpkin Fairy took a good look around the pumpkin patch. She saw a few pumpkins that had been eaten. She knew the pumpkin bugs were there.
“Oh dear!” cried Pumpkin Fairy. “They are here. You must have brought them with you.”
“I am sorry,” said Farmer John. “I wasn’t even thinking.”
Pumpkin Fairy started to get an itch on her arm. She started scratching it but couldn’t stop.
“Why are you scratching yourself?” asked Farmer John.
“I don’t know,” said Pumpkin Fairy. “I usually only get like this when I am around garlic. I am allergic to garlic.”
“Oh look,” said Farmer John, looking down on the ground. “There is some garlic planted right beside the pumpkin you are standing beside.”
“Oh dear,” said Pumpkin Fairy. “No wonder I am itchy.”
“Look though,” said Farmer John, pointing to a few dead pumpkin bugs that were laying on the ground. “It looks like they might be allergic to garlic too. Quick, we need garlic and tons of it.”
“Come with me,” said Pumpkin Fairy. “I know where there is a whole field of garlic.”
“But what about your allergy,” said Farmer John, noticing the rash was on both her arms now.
“I have no choice but to save the pumpkins,” said Pumpkin Fairy.
Pumpkin Fairy knew that she was taking a risk by gathering the garlic but she couldn’t stand by and watch the pumpkins be destroyed.
“I don’t have a choice,” said Pumpkin Fairy. “I can’t have the pumpkins destroyed.”
“Take these,” said Farmer John, pulling a pair of gloves out of his pocket.
Pumpkin Fairy thanked him and put the gloves on. That seemed to stop her rash from spreading even worse.
Quickly, Pumpkin Fairy grabbed a wheelbarrow load full of garlic and she placed some around the pumpkin patch. She saw the pumpkin bugs come out from the pumpkins they were eating and scurry away. Farmer John did the same thing to his pumpkin patch and had the same results.
“We have saved the pumpkins,” said Farmer John, happily. “I have only lost about twenty of them.”
“I am so glad,” said Pumpkin Fairy. “We saved the pumpkin patches. We only lost a few here.”
“Yes we did,” said Farmer John. “Yes we did.”
Moral of this Story:
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