Plotz and the Pumpkin Adventure
By Stacy A. Wright and the kids from
Frontline Kidz Korner
© 2012 All Rights Reserved
Far away, deep out in the darkness of space, is a little planet called
Plubonia Vopp, where a race of little green explorers live. Their
only goal in life is to travel from planet to planet to see the
different races of beings and animals that exist in the universe.
On this little planet so far away from Earth, lives Plotz, who was
so eager to join his people exploring the cosmos. The only
problem with that is he was old enough to be assigned a space ship.
Being only eighty two years old, Plotz is relatively young
Coming from a long line of explorers, Plotz believed that he had
the right stuff to venture out on his own. He wanted to travel the
space ways like his father, and his father before him, and his father
before him, and his father before him, and well, you get the
picture.
So, with his desire governing his actions, Plotz built his own
spaceship, with the help of his great great grandfather, Plasm.
Plasm was a hero of his people, having traveled all the way to
Earth, a long, long, time ago. What made him such a hero was that
he was the first to survive the very long trip, and return from the
little blue planet.
This was the advantage that Plotz has for this trip. With his great,
great grandfather’s knowledge and experience, Plotz should be
able to make the trip with no problem at all, and be home in plenty
of time for supper.
Days and days passed as Plasm and Plotz built his spaceship. To
keep it small enough for Plotz to handle, Plasm knew exactly how
to build the craft, and what to use. In no time at all, they had the
small flying saucer constructed and ready to fly. Great, great
grandmother Pluvia even helped by sewing a spacesuit for Plotz
that fit him perfectly. The trick was that she took one of Plasm’s
old suits and just trimmed it down to fit Plotz’s body.
Before long, Plotz was ready for the grand adventure. Grampa
Plasm sat Plotz down just to make sure the young one was ready
for such a journey. The old, old, explorer was sure that Plotz could
make the trip successfully. Plasm just wanted to make sure that
Plotz knew how to get there.
“You must stay away from gas clouds and nebulas,” Plasm
explained. They will stop up your engine and you will be stuck out
in space. Remember, you can’t just get out and push your ship
back home like that wagon over there. Oh and stay away from the
stars. Never get too close to them, because the heat from the stars
would melt the bubble screen on your saucer.”
“That would be terrible,” Plotz thinks, as his Grampa babbles on
about the perils of space travel. There is only one thing on Plotz’s
mind, candy! Grampa Plasm told Plotz once that on Earth, there is
a wonderful treat called candy, and that it alone was worth the trip
to Earth. Plotz believes that if he could bring home enough candy
for the entire planet, he would be a hero.
Finally, the time comes for Plotz to begin his journey to the far
off planet. He has been trained for this day by his father, his
grandfather, his great grandfather, and well you get the picture.
With all of that experience teaching him how and what to do and
why to do it, Plotz was sure that he would be home before his
parent returned from work, exploring the gas planet, Phrump.
“Remember,” Grampa Plasm, suggests, “that big red button on
the dash board is a signal to call for help. If anything goes wrong,
you can call for me to come get you.”
“I’ll be fine, Grampa,” Plotz says to assure his Grampa that
everything will be alright. Then, he closes the bubble screen and
starts the engine of his little flying saucer. Waving goodbye to
Grampa Plasm and Gramma Pluvia, Plotz takes to the skies, and
then to the stars.
It was more beautiful out here amongst the stars than he ever
imagined. Of in the distance, he could see the great gas cloud,
Buffoleen, and knows to stay clear of it. The star of their solar
system is off to the right, and Plotz was sure to stay away from it
as well.
With his course plotted and laid into the computer, Plotz pushes
the starter button to activate the ultra super duper speed drive,
sending Plotz flying back out of his seat, as the little saucer is sent
rocketing across the universe. It was a struggle, but by the time
Plotz was able to climb back into his command chair, the little
flying saucer was entering Earth’s solar system.
He flew passed Pluto, which isn’t really big enough to consider a
planet. He flew passed Neptune and Uranus, and wasn’t much
more impressed by them. But then, when he came to the gas giants
of the solar system, Saturn and Jupiter, Plotz had to slow down a
little, just to admire their awesome beauty.
Just a little farther and he will be reaching his target. Next is
Mars, and then is Earth. Not knowing exactly what candy looked
like, or even tastes like, Plotz lets his imagination run wild as his
saucer enters Earth’s atmosphere.
Finding a large field, Plotz lands his space ship at the edge of the
woods nearby, and readies himself for his journey to the small
town just down the road. All he wants to do is find this wondrous
creation called candy and take some home with him.
When he reaches the fence around the large field, he sees
something off in the distance that startles him. It wasn’t much
taller than him, but it moved around in a large white sheet of cloth
that resembled some sort of galactic spirit out on a haunt. This was
definitely something that Plotz never expected.
Using a laser tool that he took from his Grampa’s work bench,
Plotz cuts a hole in the fencing just big enough for him to get
through, and then cautiously heads down the street. As he walks
along, he sees a robot walk out of a house and start down the street.
Seeing something familiar like a robot walking around eases
Plotz’s stress, but then just as quick, the robot is approached by
several scary creatures that walk down the street with the poor
robot.
This is a very strange planet, and nothing like his Grampa had
described. Where were all of these human children that were his
size, cute and playful? Plotz would certainly be more comfortable
with them, than the spooks and monsters that seem to be out
roaming the streets this night.
At one house another ghostly figure leaps from a porch and runs
off to catch up with several other little monsters that were waiting
at the street. Why are these creatures tormenting the residents of
this town? It is becoming more and more apparent that Plotz
should have thought this through a little better.
“Hey kid, that’s a really cool costume,” a voice points out from
behind the little alien. “I’m a magician, what do ya think?”
Plotz spins around to see a young boy, probably nine or ten,
dressed up like an old vaudeville magician, and pulling a bouquet
of flowers from the sleeve of his coat. Plotz didn’t catch the slight
of hand trick and was truly amazed by the boy’s talent. “Ooh.”
My name is Billy, these are my friends, Natalee Jo, Cami, Bobby,
and the little one over there is Kayla. Cami and Natalee Jo are
fairies, Bobby thinks he makes a good zombie, and little Kayla is
the good witch from the north, Glenda.
Kayla snickers at Plotz’s funny appearance, and she isn’t scared
of Bobby’s makeup no matter how hard he tries to frighten her.
“What’s your name kid?” Billy asks.
“My name is Plotz,” Plotz replies. “Do you know where I can
find candy?”
“Sure kid, tonight’s Halloween. You can find candy just about
anywhere you go,” Bobby chimes in. You wanna go trick or
treatin’ with us?”
“Here, Plotz,” Billy offers. “You can use my pumpkin to collect
candy in. I brought a big kid’s bag,” He explains, pulling his
pillow case out from under his coat. “Mom made me take that
stupid plastic pumpkin. She don’t understand that I’m a big kid
now, and shouldn’t be forced to use that little kid stuff any more.”
“Yeah, you’re so much older than we are,” Natalee Jo agrees
sarcastically.
“Come on, people,” Cami says, “We’re wasting time just standing
around here.”
Plotz can’t believe the luck of it all. Not only will he finally learn
the truth about this mythical candy, but these strange creatures
have offered to show him where it is! Taking the hollow plastic
pumpkin from Billy, Plotz falls in behind the group as the children
head off down the street.
The magician was quite impressive, and the two fairies seemed
like delightful creature. Plotz wasn’t quite sure why this zombie is
allowed to associate with the others. He seemed nice enough, but
his appearance is quite frightening. Surely this Bobby has been
sick for some time. The littlest one is precious to say the least, and
she is definitely the least to cause him harm.
When the children walk up to the front door of the house, Billy
pushes the doorbell while the others sing out, “Trick or Treat!” A
sweet little old lady opens the door, holding a large bowl full of
assorted candies.
“With a grandmother’s smile, she says, “Oh my, what darling
little monsters we have tonight. Surely I must give them all candy
so they will go away.”
Her last statement was said in jest, of course, but Plotz picked up
on it right away. This old human specimen was going to give him
and the children CANDY! By the stars of Ferninkling’s Sword,
this has got to be the most luckiest night of Plotz’s life! Pushing
forward, he holds the pumpkin out and pushes his way forward.
Just to keep from seeming out of the ordinary, Plotz says, “Trick or
Treating.”
The old woman just smiles at his request, and drops two handfuls
of candy into Plotz’s pumpkin. Perhaps if she was wearing her
glasses, she might have noticed Plotz’s unusually sized and shaped
head. Instead she just bids them a good and safe night to send
them on their way. “Candy,” Plotz mumbles, staring into the
pumpkin. “I have never had candy before.”
“Are you serious? Little man, you have got to try a tootsie roll!”
Bobby pushes the button at the base of Plotz’s helmet, causing the
bubble to open. All he wanted to do was give Plotz a tootsie roll.
How was he supposed to know that our air is poisonous to Plotz?
Immediately, Plotz begins to gag, cough, and stumble around, as
the precious air from his suit escapes. Slapping at the button, he
finally is able to get the helmet to close so he can breathe again.
“Dude, are you out of your mind?” Billy asks. “You should never
open an alien’s helmet if you don’t know if they can breathe our
air!”
“You could have killed him, Bobby!” Cami and Natalee Jo
exclaim in unison.
“I’m so sorry, Mr. Alien, sir. I hope I didn’t hurt you too bad,”
Bobby says, feeling really bad about his shortsighted action. He
really didn’t mean any harm. He knows how great candy is, and
everyone else should know too.
“You know that I’m not from around here?” Plotz asks, surprised
that these creatures weren’t afraid of him. “How did you know?”
“Dude, are you serious?” Billy asks, and then points out, “Just
look at your head. And, there is no kid from around here that is
going to have such a hi-tech costume like that.”
“We like your head,” Kayla and the girls sing out.
Plotz is happily surprised that he is able to interact with this alien
species without any judgment or conviction. The best part is that
they are going to get more candy. “In that case, my new friends,
you should share in this bounty that you have provided for me.”
“Don’t sweat it, Plotz,” Billy explains. “I’m gonna fill this bag
up tonight. You keep what you get and take it home to your
friends.”
Now this Billy Magician fellow is working his way up to be
Plotz’s best friend on this planet. Giving his new friends a
thumb’s up to show that he is ready to go, Plotz motions for the
girls to go first. At the next house, they all receive candy apples,
and at the next house they were given bags of caramel pop corn.
One house gave out Halloween cookies, and the one after that gave
out the most candy of all.
This had to be the best night of Plotz’s life. Somehow, he is
going to have to come back for this traditional adventure and stock
up on the wondrous treats he has received. Suddenly, several
teenagers jump out from behind the corner of a gas station and
scare the group of kids, just to be mean. Off they run, the teens do,
laughing and heckling the kids for being such fraidy cats,
What they didn’t know was that this mean act might have hurt
Plotz most of all. Scared more than the other kids were, Plotz
stumbled back against the corner of the brick building, causing a
crack to form in his helmet bubble when it bounced of the
building. “I have a big problem,” he announces.
Billy and Bobby are quick to react, looking around for something,
or some way to solve Plotz’s problem. Seeing a roll of duct tape
just inside the garage entrance, Bobby slips in and grabs the
partial roll and hurries back over to his friend in need.
Being the oldest Billy takes charge, grabbing the roll of tape from
Bobby and proceeds to tear off a strip. Handing the piece of sticky
tape to Bobby, Billy pulls off another just in case it is needed. By
the time the boys were done, there was a big lump of grey duct
tape on the back of Plotz’s helmet but the boys were sure that they
had succeeded with their emergency repairs.
Unfortunately, Plotz must inform them that their efforts, although
noble, were not a complete success. “My friends, I am sorry to say
that I must return to my saucer if I am going to survive this night.
Somehow the seal where my helmet connects to my suit was
damaged as well, and I am still losing the air that I breathe.”
Kayla steps forward, saddened by the news. “But Mr. Plotz, I
don’t want you to leave. You are my new friend.”
“Please don’t go,” the other kids chime in.
Touched by their emotional disappointment, Plotz is saddened as
well that he must be on his way. “I promise that I will return for
this event called Halloween next year,” he says, hoping to lift their
spirits.
Accepting the role as leader of this emergency situation, Billy
steps up and asks, “Okay Plotz, where is your ship at, so we can
get you there safe and sound?”
“It is located on a field behind a fence that had a sign reading,
keep out military property,” The little alien answers, unsure what
the sign meant.
Unfortunately, Billy and Bobby know what Plotz is talking about,
and they aren’t very happy about it. “I know where he’s talking
about,” Billy explains, to the other kids. “He went and landed on
my grandpa’s army base!”
The other kids gasp in horror at the news. They all know how
dangerous the return trip to Plotz’s ship can be, sneaking back onto
the Army base. Bobby steps up and offers a salute to Billy, saying,
“I’m ready to volunteer for this mission, sir.”
“What are you talking about?” Natalee Jo asks, surprised by
Bobby’s actions.
“We’re gonna help Plotz get back to his ship,” Billy answers.
“We’re gonna help too,” Cami exclaims, pointing at Natalee Jo
and Kayla. Little Kayla nods her head violently, shaking her
witch’s hat from her head.
“Alright then,” Billy says, accepting their offer. “Let’s move out.
Plotz, are you able to make it on your own?”
“I think so,” the little alien answers, wishing he didn’t have to go.
With a wave of his hand, Billy takes the lead as the group of trick
or treaters head back up the street, where they first met their new
friend. A few minutes later, and they are looking into the field
from the corner of the fence.
It’s what they see inside the fencing that is most disturbing. A
late night security patrol had discovered the hole in the fence
where Plotz had made his exit. This gave the soldiers reason to
look around, and that’s when they discovered Plotz’s Saucer.
Now, more soldiers were arriving on the scene.
One such soldier is a Captain, and he was readying the troops to
go out and search for the saucer’s pilot, while other soldiers loaded
the little space craft onto a truck. “Oh this isn’t good,” Bobby
admits.
“There’s no turning back now, soldier,” Billy says, playing the
role of his grandfather. “We are going to infiltrate this enemy
compound, lay siege to the building that houses Plotz’s saucer, and
get him home safely.”
“What does infiltrate mean?” Kayla asks.
“I think it means that we’re gonna sneak inside,” Billy explains.
“I heard my grandpa say it about one of their missions.”
“Oh, well why didn’t you just say so,” Kayla replies. Now with
another question, she asks, “How are we going to do that?”
“Well, we walked right out through the front gate to go trick or
treating. I think we can walk back in just as easily. Corporal
Dummshmitz won’t be paying attention to how many of us are
walking back in.”
Plotz checks the air levels in his suit, knowing that his time is
running out. Motioning for Billy to lead the way, Plotz can only
hope that the kids can succeed in time, and he can get back to the
safety of his saucer.
“Corporal Dummshmitz,” Billy calls out, as they reach the
entrance. “It’s time for us to go home. Can you open the gate for
us?”
At a good part in his comic book, the Corporal doesn’t even
bother looking at who was talking to him. He recognizes Billy’s
voice, and knows that there is no way that the General’s grandson
would try to sneak anyone else on base. As the gate swings open,
the kids see the truck driving by with Plotz’s saucer sitting in the
truck bed. With a strong need to hurry, they rush in passed the
guard shack, with the intention of following the truck.
Just as they clear the guard shack, the kids freeze in their tracks,
when they hear the Corporal call out, “Hold it right there, you
guys!” The kids all swallow hard thinking that their attempt had
been discovered. Then, they are relieved when Corporal
Dummshmitz says, “I thought you guys were gonna give me a
Milky Way bar when you came back.”
Plotz reaches into his pumpkin full of candy and pulls out just the
candy bar that the Corporal wanted. With his sweet tooth satisfied,
or soon to be, the Corporal waves the kids on with a cheerful thank
you, and settles back into his chair and book.
Down the street the kids run, with Plotz checking his suit’s
gauges from time to time to monitor his air levels. Once they leave
the residential section of the base, they slow their pace a little
knowing that they aren’t supposed to be on this part of the base.
From a distance, they watch the truck pull into a warehouse
building where two more soldiers stand guard at the entrance.
“That’s my grandpa,” Billy admits, as the General exits the
building. After explaining to the guards that no one is to enter the
building, the General jumps into a jeep and drives off across the
military base.
“Okay, here’s what we’re gonna do,” Billy explains. “Natalee Jo,
Cami, you distract the guards while me and Bobby sneak Plotz
inside.”
“What about me?” Kayla asks, wanting to be in on this.
“You’re gonna be our look out, and give us a warning if my
grandfather is coming back,” Billy suggests, happy to give the little
girl a task to do.
“Billy, what are they gonna think, when they do come back and
see the space ship gone?” Bobby’s question is a good one, and it
makes Billy think for just a little bit.
Staring at the saucer being covered up with a sheet inside the
warehouse, Billy has an idea that he thinks will work. “Come here
you guys, and listen real good.” He lays out his plan to his friends,
and then he and Bobby take off running towards the General’s
house. A few minutes later, they return with a wagon, and
something very big in that wagon covered with a sheet.
Flashing his flashlight from the bushes beside the road, Billy
gives the girls the signal; to put phase two of his plan into action.
Cami and Natalee Jo pop out in front of the guards from nowhere
and ask in unison, “Hey misters, what’cha doin?” Then just as
fast, the two girls take off running towards the road where Kayla
was waiting.
Immediately, the guards take chase, knowing that the kids
weren’t supposed to be on this part of the base. As soon as the
soldiers leave their assigned posts, Billy, Bobby, and Plotz, take
the wagon inside. Time is running out, and Plotz has to be on his
way.
When the girls reach the spot where Kayla was waiting, the
littlest one of the group pulls on the end of a rope as Cami and
Natalee Jo rush by. The guards, unaware of the rope, trip right
over it and fall to the ground as the girls run off.
No sooner do the soldiers stand up, Plotz comes flying at them in
his saucer, with the white sheet still draped over it. The soldiers
are shocked and surprised to see the ghostly apparition flying right
at them, causing the two men to fall to the ground again.
Embarrassed by what has happened, they rush back to the building
they were guarding and take a look inside. Seeing everything as it
appeared before they took chase, the soldiers resume their duties as
if nothing had happened.
At the edge of the base, Plotz lands his saucer where his friends
bid him farewell. “I will return next year,” he proclaims, putting a
smile on little Kayla’s face. The children then wave goodbye,
when the saucer rises up into the night sky. From there, Plotz sees
a long black car pulling into the front gate of the base. when it
heads towards the warehouse where they took his saucer, Plotz
figures that it is time for him to leave, and takes to the stars.
Back in the warehouse, the President is greeted by the General,
who was most excited about the report he is about to give. “Mr.
President, I reveal to you proof that there is a higher form of
intelligence out there, and my men are out there scouring the town
to find the owner of this.” Pulling the sheet away, the General
gestures at what he has to offer.
“Well, General, I have to admit that it is quite impressive, but I
don’t think the person who carved that jack-o-lantern is anyone
special. I’ve seen better carvings.”
Confused by the President’s statement, the General turns around
and then, slaps his hand against his forehead. Someone had taken
the space ship and replaced it with the General’s pumpkin carving.
“Happy Halloween,” the kids say quietly to one another, proud of
their accomplishment.