Dear readers, apparently free speech is not free and aging copyrighted characters can cause problems at Literotica. So, to protect the innocent the names have changed. Please be sure that if you recognize some parts of this story as something you might have heard before at Halloween, say on a special hourly cartoon, this recognition is purely coincidental. These characters are in no way related or styled after any other fictional characters, cartoon or otherwise. This story was originally submitted in Celebrities but no one has heard of Carson Tan, Larry or The Grand Zucchini until now.
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Oddly, turning forty-five had been a depressing thing. Somehow turning forty was different, a banner year with successes at work and private life, but now twenty-seven days after his forty-fifth birthday Larry continued sinking into depression.
It suddenly seemed that the guy who knew all the answers, the one who silenced the party at Christmas with his stunning rendition of the Nativity Story, the one who preached Zen philosophy while his sister Linda ranted, and the one who brought clarity to his disaster of a friend, Carson Tan, was somehow standing at the middle of his life, lost and completely alone.
With Larry' sage advice, Carson Tan survived his tumultuous marriage and subsequent divorce from Spearmint Sue, as she finally came out of the closet and moved in with Marsha. Carson then married the true love of his life Linda, who had finally given up on cleaning up Pig-Pen's life and divorced him. To both Carson and Linda, Larry was a supportive friend, little brother and most importantly, a ruthless divorce lawyer.
Of course all this did not help Larry as Marsha left him for Spearmint Sue. Although he was a ruthless lawyer for others, he crumbled when faced with the heavy decisions and heartbreak and basically let Marsha take him for everything he owned. Zen or no Zen it killed him to have to drive around in a sixteen year old Toyota Celica while Marsha drove his Lexus.
He sat meditating on his failed marriage so much that he injured his knee and had to undergo surgery. There were glitches and now he limped around, his knee squeaking strangely with every step. Of course Marsha got the house, the pool and whirlpool so Larry had to join the YMCA for his therapy. It wasn't bad; he was just unaccustomed to the odd, greasy film covering the surface of the water.
Desperately wanting to overcome his depression he treated himself on his birthday and bought a cat. He found a beautiful orange one at the pound and immediately bought it. After spending several hundred dollars in shots and vet visits to clear up its mange, he happily welcomed "Zucchini" into his home.
Well, his happiness lasted less than a month, because one day, Schultzy ran the cat up a tree. Larry called the fire department but just as the fire truck was arriving to try to extricate the cat, it decided to leap to the ground, right in front of the truck. So now, instead of spending Halloween quietly at home, passing candy out to the neighborhood youngsters, Larry walked down the lane with a shovel and a plastic bag full of the remains of Zucchini.
"Well Zucchini, I sure enjoyed the time we had together. We didn't get to share much but I'll tell you the story I was saving until today to tell you. It's about a silly boy who every year skipped Halloween.
"He didn't really skip it, no while everyone else was running around trick or treating, this boy would walk down the lane, just like we are tonight. You see, down the hill a ways is a Zucchini patch. Yes, it's a perfect place for you now, returning my Zucchini to the Zucchini patch. Anyway, year after year this silly boy came here waiting for 'The Grand Zucchini' a magical and mysterious being whom, if someone believed enough, would come and reward his believers with wonderful gifts and happiness.
"So, every Halloween night, I... I mean this boy would come to the Zucchini patch, yeah... that place with the white fence there. The boy would come down the hill, climb through the fence and sit on a rock, watching the Zucchinis in the moonlight.
"Oh Zucchini, yes, the rock, it's still there, see it? Yes right over there."
Larry walked over to the rock and sat down. It must have been thirty years since he last sat on this rock while his friends taunted him before rushing out to trick or treat. Thirty years and somehow the rock felt the same, cool, smooth, so strangely inviting. Its white color seemed to glow in the moonlight, adding to the magic of it all.
"Of course, 'The Grand Zucchini' never appeared and I... sorry, I mean the boy, was left wondering if it was because he never believed enough or if perhaps he friends were right.
"I better do this Zucchini," Larry said, grabbing the shovel and searching for a small open spot amid the large Zucchinis and the tangle of vines. In the faint moonlight, the entire patch was eerily black and white, the Zucchinis were a light gray against the almost pitch black vines and leaves. The white rock glowed like a beacon, as if calling Larry back.
He jabbed the shovel into the soft earth and began to dig the grave for his cat. "Funny," he thought, "I always told Carson Tan it was okay to cry and now, at the saddest time in my life, I can't cry." Was it because the sadness had become so ingrained in his life that this was just inevitability or did the Zucchini patch, with all its disappointments over the years do something to Larry?
Larry finished his excavation and gently placed Zucchini into the hole. He looked up at the moon and then down across the vast Zucchini patch, noticing the fog seeming to rise up from the dark vines. He then pushed the pile of dirt back into the hole, tamping it some with the shovel.
He whispered, "Goodbye friend," and then walked back to his rock and sat down. The fog hung just above the Zucchini vines, so when he sat down it was like looking across a white capped sea. The wispy clouds seemed to undulate like the waves he remembered from the beach. The graceful movement of the fog was almost hypnotic as Larry recalled the time he spent each year on Halloween.
"Hello Larry," came a voice from somewhere behind him.
"Oh hello again," he said, recognizing the voice from so many years ago. He turned and looked at the nice lady who visited him each year he came to the Zucchini patch at Halloween.
"You've been gone a long time," she said, walking toward him, her long auburn hair bouncing a bit with each step. "You've changed some Larry."
"But you haven't" Larry whispered in amazement, "You look just the same. You haven't aged a bit from when I remember you."
"You don't think so?" she asked, smiling. She walked over to the rock and sat down next to him, just like she used to do so many years ago.
"Every year you came out to visit me. You were always so nice and you'd sit with me while I waited for..."
"'The Grand Zucchini,'" she whispered, "Yes, I remember."
"You seemed old to me then, but now, you look the same, so young, so beautiful."
The woman smiled and her face flushed a bit. Yes, she was beautiful, he face seemed to glow in the moonlight, her prominent cheekbones reflecting the light, casting a slight shadow down her face to her delicate chin.
Larry longed to touch her soft neck, let his fingers flow through the curls in her hair, the slip wistfully down to he beautiful breasts. His eyes lingered a moment there, drawing in the faint hit of cleavage showing about her blouse and then descending downward, rolling over the distinct curve of her hips. Realizing he was simply staring at her, he jolted his head up, and gazed into her eyes.
"You know Larry, I am not what you think."
"Not a nice lady?"
"Well, I am a lady and I am nice, but there's more to it than that. I didn't just come here to talk to you. I am here for a reason, a truly profound reason."
"I don't understand," Larry said, trying to figure out what she was talking about.
"You called me."
"I called you? When did I call you?"
"You called me whenever you came here."
