Ellie's Adventures with Pumpkin: Book I Winter Turns to Spring on the Way to Brightland

By Ginger O

On the Way to BrightLand
Is the first book in a series of stories
that follow Ellie and Pumpkin’s Adventures
to and from their home in BrightLand
to the Land-Where-the-Children-Live
where they visit Sam and Rosie every year.

In Book One, you will go on a treasure hunt,
help Ellie and Pumpkin solve a mystery,
and meet some of their friends:
the frogs who live in the pond by the waterfall,
the ponies who live in the apple orchard,
Ruby and Gemma who live in the mountains,
and Roger-the-Squirrel and Bonnie Bluebird.

Ellie loves to have fun and play games
and he is always ready to help his friends.
Soon you will think of Ellie as your friend too!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Sep 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9798765230862

Ginger O

The seed for Ellie and Pumpkin's Adventures was planted in the author's imagination a long time ago when she was telling stories to the children in her kindergarten. In the Waldorf School, where she taught, the kindergarten teachers would sew little dolls for the children that they called "Little Ones". In Ginger's class, the Little Ones had adventures at story time and the children so loved to hear them every day. From these stories, and the children's enthusiasm for them, Ellie's Adventures with Pumpkin began. "Ellie and Pumpkin live in my imagination, and my dream is to plant seeds in the imaginations of the children who read these stories to grow adventures of their own. Ellie and Pumpkin are my own." Ginger

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Copyright © 2022 Ginger O.

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ISBN: 979-8-7652-3085-5 (sc)

ISBN: 979-8-7652-3086-2 (e)

Balboa Press rev. date:   09/07/2022

ELLLIE’S ADVENTURES WITH PUMPKIN

For Jonathan

You brought me Ellie

And Much Love

Thank You

CONTENTS

Chapter 1     Off On Another Adventure

Chapter 2     Star Light Star Bright

Chapter 3     A Path of Moonlight

Chapter 4     What are Hieroglyphs?

Chapter 5     A Treasure Map

Chapter 6     And There’s Going to be Prizes!

Chapter 7     Lady Marigold and Princess Rachel

Chapter 8     Miki Tells A Pirate Tale

Chapter 9     A Secret is Told

Chapter 10   A Costume Ball

Chapter 11   Welcome to Seaside Town

Chapter 12   All Ellie’s Favorites

Chapter 13   A Campfire and Marshmallows

Chapter 14   Stepping Into BrightLand

Chapter 15   The Brightest Crystal

Chapter 16   Fun and Games

Chapter 17   Ponies and a Party

Chapter 18   Ellie Takes a Bath

Chapter 19   Mother Earth’s Redwood Tree

Chapter 20   Home Again

1

Off On Another Adventure

Ellie was packing his little suitcase when Sam came running into the room with the good news.

Guess what, Ellie, I’m going to summer camp this year. It’s on a lake, and there are canoes! Sam was so excited; at first, he didn’t notice what Ellie was doing. Then he saw the suitcase and stopped talking about summer camp.

Is it time for you to go, Ellie?

Almost, Ellie answered. Pumpkin will be here to get me soon, and I want to be ready. I will miss you, Sam, but I can’t go with you to summer camp, and you know I will be back in the autumn.

I know, Sam said, trying to smile. You always come back and have so many new stories to tell me about your adventures every time. And this year, I will have stories to tell you about summer camp.

I can’t fit my pillow into the suitcase, Ellie said. So how about you keep it for me and take it to camp with you.

Yes! Sam was happy about that idea. It will remind me of you. Your pillow is so soft and smells like peanut butter cookies. I know you hide cookies under your pillow, Ellie. I hear you eating them at night.

Then Sam continued telling Ellie all the details about the summer camp. His best friend, Evan, was going too, and there would be games and campfires and marshmallow smores. For sure, they would have so much fun!

It was just two days later, very early in the morning, when Pumpkin knocked at the door. Ellie was all ready to go. Sam was still sleeping, so Ellie gently ruffled his hair and whispered goodbye leaving his ‘peanut butter cookie’ pillow next to his little friend on the bed.

Then closing the front door quietly behind him, Ellie turned to Pumpkin and said with excitement, We’re off on another adventure!

Ellie was whistling as they walked together to the train station. He was so happy to be on his way to visit all their friends in BrightLand. You see, Pumpkin and Ellie are Bright-Ones, and their true home is in BrightLand. But every autumn, they leave their home and travel to be with Sam and Rosie in the Land-where-the-children-live. Here they stay for a long visit over the winter. And then, when the trees and flowers bloom in the springtime, they go home to BrightLand for the summer gardening season and the harvest. Before the long winter again settles over the land, Ellie and Pumpkin will return to visit the children.

It is a long journey to BrightLand, and it takes many days to get there. On this spring day, Ellie and Pumpkin were going to ride the train to the seacoast where the Good Ship Rainbow was waiting to carry them across the ocean to Seaside Town. After a short stay in Seaside, they planned to continue on the hiking part of their adventure, following the path they walk every year over the hills and through the valleys to where the Bright-Ones live.

Ellie loves to travel, and the train is especially fun for him. He and Pumpkin have their own little room where they sleep in bunk beds and play card games while watching the towns and farmlands whiz by. Sometimes the conductor lets Ellie pull the rope that makes the train whistle ‘toot toot,’ quite loudly as they pass through tunnels along the way.

The first thing Ellie wanted to do when they boarded the train that day was go to the Dining Car and eat one of his favorite lunches: spaghetti and salad with a big piece of blueberry pie for dessert. So as soon as he put his suitcase in the little room where he and Pumpkin would be sleeping, he did just that.

The food was delicious, as usual. After Ellie had eaten his fill and thanked the waiter, he went to meet Pumpkin in the Observation Car. Here, looking out the window and listening to the train wheels going clickety-clak, Ellie was thinking about all his friends that he would soon see along the path they would travel to BrightLand: Ruby and Gemma who live in the caves in the mountains, the ponies that live near the apple orchard, the frogs that live in the pond with the beautiful water lilies, Benjamin Bunny who lives in the rabbit meadow, and of course, Roger-the-Squirrel and Bonnie Bluebird.

The afternoon went whizzing by, and when it was time to go to the Dining Car for dinner, Pumpkin was hungry, and Ellie said he would go with her and have something to eat too. The waiter seated the two friends at a table with other travelers who were going on a very long train ride way up the coast. It was always fun to meet people on the train and hear about their travels.

Ellie ordered tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich and was thinking about the chocolate pudding he saw on the menu for dessert. Pumpkin had the tortellini soup and said she liked chocolate pudding too. It was a leisurely dinner hour with a pot of tea and a sharing of travel adventure stories with their new friends when the eating was done.

On the way back to their cabin, Ellie mentioned that he was reading a mystery book and couldn’t wait to snuggle in to his bunk bed and see what would happen next in the story. After changing quickly into his pajamas, Ellie climbed into the top bunk and settled in for the night. In fact, Ellie was so involved in the story that he didn’t hear Pumpkin say that she had received a curious letter from Rosebud. Since Ellie didn’t answer, Pumpkin thought he had fallen asleep, so she put the letter in her pocket to read to him later.

When Ellie woke up the next morning, he remembered right away that he was on the train. How could he forget with the sound of the wheels going clickety-clak. Climbing down from his top bunk, Ellie found the note Pumpkin had left on her neatly made bed that said she was going to the Dining Car. Ellie didn’t want to miss breakfast, so he left his bed unmade and hurried off to meet her there. When he got to where Pumpkin was seated, he saw she was already eating French Toast. Ellie ordered the same and a fruit bowl to go with his breakfast.

Later that afternoon, when the train arrived at the seacoast, the Good Ship Rainbow was waiting in the harbor. Ellie ran up the gangplank in a few quick steps, happy to see Captain Jon, who greeted him with a salute and a Welcome Aboard nod and smile. And there, standing next to the captain, was their friend Miki-the-Steward, who was ready to show them to their cabin.

While they were settling in and getting comfortable, and Ellie was already swinging in his hammock; the ship’s whistle blew loudly. Ellie knew this meant they were leaving the dock, so he hurried up to the deck with Pumpkin close behind. Standing at the railing, they watched the land slowly get farther and farther away. As they headed out to sea, some seagulls were flying over and around the ship. Ellie was sure he heard one of them say, Bon voyage, Ellie, have a good adventure.

It was still afternoon, so the two friends decided to sit in the lounge chairs on the deck for a while to enjoy the ocean breezes and the beautiful colors the sun made in the clouds on its way to sunset. There was not a lot to do on a sea voyage. Ellie would spend much of his time relaxing here on the deck and in the Dining Hall, eating the delicious dinners Chef Leah made. It was a fun time to meet new friends, and sometimes Miki let Ellie help him with his steward duties. Usually, there were games and shows on the ship too.

Ellie was thinking about this and that, and when he saw Pumpkin yawning, he suggested they head back to their cabin. I’m ready to read more of my mystery story; it is so exciting. Are you ready to go and settle in for the night?

Pumpkin said yes, and they were both soon swinging gently off to sleep in their comfortable hammocks. Ellie read a few chapters and then was on his way to dreamland with a captain’s cap on his head, just like the one he had seen Captain Jon wearing earlier that day when he welcomed them aboard the Good Ship Rainbow.

The next morning, after a very delicious breakfast of blueberry pancakes with bananas, yogurt, and honey, Ellie and Pumpkin were again on the deck of the ship, this time enjoying the warm morning sunshine and eating oranges.

I have something to show you, Ellie, Pumpkin said as she took a neatly folded little piece of paper out of her pocket. This letter came for us a few days ago from Rosebud. Ellie was busy peeling an orange, so she read it out loud to him:

Dear Pumpkin and Ellie, Please come quickly. The seedlings are missing! A note was left in their place, but it was written in a language we cannot read. We need your help! Love Rosebud

Hmmm, Ellie stopped what he was doing and said with interest, seems we are needed to help solve a mystery. Oh, how I love a mystery! Ellie was quiet for a moment, with a far away look in his eyes, then he added, "But I can’t figure out what Rosebud’s letter means. How can this be? The seedlings do not write notes in any language, and no one ever steals anything in BrightLand.