Mr. Roundface’s Vegetable Garden
Mr. Roundface lived with his wife and seven daughters in a pink house surrounded by gardens on all sides. He earned his name because his cheeks were as round as two big apples. Mrs. Roundface and the girls also had beautiful, round, rosy cheeks.
Mr. Roundface was a firefighter. Every morning, he happily went to work, wearing a shiny helmet and carrying a fire hose. Mrs. Roundface stayed in the kitchen, baking heart-shaped cream fruit pies. The seven girls, after school, would eat their mother’s pies and then argue loudly, each wanting to wear their dad’s shiny helmet and play firefighter.
One day, Mrs. Roundface suddenly cried out from the kitchen, as if the place had caught fire: “Come quick, come see!” She held up a tomato she had just cut in half. “Look at how beautiful it is inside, like a blazing fire.”
The youngest daughter, Little Lili Roundface, burst into tears, sobbing, “It doesn’t look like fire. It looks like a deep, crimson forest, with translucent trees and little golden fruits glistening. I wish I could walk through that forest, but I’m too big!”
As she spoke, her sister, Xiuxiu Roundface, gazed at the cucumber in her hand and started to cry too. “I want to go to this small, white church to pray!”
Everyone looked closely. Indeed, the inside of the cucumber resembled the interior of a serene little chapel, with tiny seeds looking like the pointed arches of windows. Soft, milky light streamed gently through those small windows.
“I want to spin around inside the onion,” Meimei Roundface sighed, “like a top, and catch the beautiful moonlight through its shiny, silver gown.”
“I want to rock climb!” exclaimed the lively Qianqian Roundface. “I’ll strap on my harness and climb to the top of a giant potato!”
“I want to walk inside the lettuce,” the shy Tingting Roundface said, “and fall asleep in the embrace of its green leaves.”
“As for me,” shouted the adventurous Qiaoqiao Roundface, “I want to explore the deep cave inside the green pepper. Who knows, there might be a fire-breathing dragon in that dark cavern!”
But the eldest daughter, Mary Roundface, was different from her sisters. She picked up a piece of asparagus and, with a serious expression, said, “I just want to walk in the direction this asparagus is pointing.”
Everyone looked down. Indeed, the asparagus looked like a finger with a pink nail, pointing straight ahead.
“In that case, we need to take action,” declared Mrs. Roundface, rolling up her sleeves. “We’re going to create a big vegetable garden around our house! And to make sure the vegetables grow enormous, Mr. Roundface will water them with his fire hose!”
“That’s brilliant!” The whole family cheered excitedly, waking up the garden spirits.
When the tiny green spirits, with their wide-brimmed hats adorned with jingling bells, understood that the noise was for a magical, giant vegetable garden, they decided to help water the vegetables for the unsuspecting Roundface family. And so, day after day went by.
One morning, Mrs. Roundface looked out of the kitchen window and suddenly cried out again, “Come quick, come see!”
Her husband and daughters rushed into the kitchen and looked out. Wow! What a surprise!
The vegetable garden had turned into a real playground made of giant plants. Enormous vegetables grew like roller coasters.
Little Lili Roundface was the first to walk toward her gigantic tomato. The ripe fruit split open on its own, allowing the little girl to enter the crimson forest and wander inside. Xiuxiu Roundface prayed in the white cucumber chapel. Meimei Roundface spun around in the onion, chasing after silver moonbeams. Qianqian Roundface successfully climbed to the top of a huge potato. Tingting Roundface sat leisurely inside a lettuce. And Qiaoqiao Roundface ventured into the depths of the green pepper cave—did she meet the fire-breathing dragon? Qiaoqiao never told me.
But the eldest daughter, Mary Roundface, was different from her sisters. She looked solemnly at the direction the asparagus was pointing and said, “It’s time for me to go.”
Mr. Roundface wiped his tears and handed his shiny helmet to his daughter. “Wear this, and people will love you as if you were a firefighter.”
Mrs. Roundface wiped her tears as well and packed a bag full of heart-shaped chocolate cakes for her. The sisters kissed Mary goodbye with tearful eyes.
Mary Roundface rode off on the asparagus.
Days went by, and the Roundface family missed their adventurous daughter dearly.
One day, Mrs. Roundface looked out of the kitchen window and cried out once more, “Come quick, come see!”
Her husband and daughters rushed in, and there they saw their beloved Mary Roundface, riding the asparagus back toward the pink house. Behind her was a prince.
This prince wore a red cloak, a round hat adorned with feathers, and a little mustache that looked like a bird spreading its wings.
“I’m back!” the wanderer exclaimed as she dismounted the asparagus. “And this is my fiancé, Prince Ferdinand Pumpkin.”
The prince blushed shyly. While eating a heart-shaped cream fruit pie, he bravely told their story. “You probably know that a prince is traditionally supposed to marry a young lady, but I didn’t know who that would be. I was lonely and anxious in my castle until one day, I saw a little firefighter passing by. I called out to ask him to put out the fire in my heart. But guess what I saw? It wasn’t a firefighter at all, but the most beautiful lady in the world!”
“And according to tradition, a prince must marry a young lady who travels by vegetable,” he continued. “My great-grandfather’s great-grandfather married Cinderella!”
“Ah!” said Mr. Roundface. “Your name is Pumpkin Prince because Cinderella traveled in a pumpkin carriage to the ball…”
“Exactly! So, your wonderful daughter is the perfect match for me,” concluded the prince with delight. “I, Ferdinand Pumpkin Prince, humbly request her hand in marriage.”
Seven days later, the couple was married in the village chapel. After the wedding, the neighbors were invited to a ball in the vegetable garden playground. The tiny green garden spirits, wearing their wide-brimmed hats, danced with them, hidden in the ladies’ hats and the men’s pockets, unnoticed by anyone.
From that day on, Ferdinand Pumpkin Prince and the Roundface family lived happily ever after, beneath cauliflower-shaped clouds that floated by overhead.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
