Teal is the New Orange: A Short Story

Once upon a Halloween, there was a pumpkin named Teal.

Teal wasn’t like other pumpkins, the outside of him was a bright, vibrant teal color and he stood out when he stood next to all the other orange pumpkins. There was something else that was different about Teal: he couldn’t eat all the other foods that his friends could eat.

Things like peanuts and eggs made him dangerously sick. He couldn’t even be near his friends while they ate those things. That meant at lunchtime Teal had to sit at a very special table to make sure that he stayed safe and healthy while everyone was eating.

Sometimes this made Teal sad.

Some days, he was the only one at his table, which felt lonely. And sometimes, the other pumpkins would make fun of him for being so different.

But Teal couldn’t help that he was different, it was just the way he was made.

As the other pumpkins were getting ready for Halloween and talking about all the different candy they would get, Teal was sad that he wasn’t able to participate in Trick or Treating like everyone else. His mom wanted to let him go trick or treating but they didn’t know if the candy was safe for him to eat and they didn’t want to be wasteful by having to throw it all away.

Their Halloween tradition was to stand outside and hand out trinkets and small toys to the other pumpkins in place of candy. While Teal was sad he couldn’t trick or treat, handing out the toys always made him happy. 

This year his mom had an idea to get her whole neighborhood involved and to let Teal go Trick or Treating for the very first time. She asked everyone to offer an allergy-safe candy or an even better non-candy option and for those that agreed to put a teal painted decoration in their yard so that she knew which houses were safe for Teal to go to.

It was finally Halloween night and Teal couldn’t believe it when his mom handed him a bag and told him that they were going to go Trick or Treating for the very first time. He was worried, “What if I get sick,” he asked. His mom assured him that he would not get anything that could hurt him.

As they made their way around the neighborhood, he saw house after house with teal decorations that looked like him! By the time they returned to their house his bag was overflowing with cool glow sticks, bubbles, fun pencils, bookmarks, and games. Teal couldn’t believe how great of a night he had, and that so many people cared about him and making his Halloween as great as it was for everyone else.

 

This short story inspired by the Teal Pumpkin Project®. You can find so many ideas and information on their site here.

There are so many among us that live their lives with food allergies, they aren’t able to enjoy holidays and school parties like the rest. They live in fear that they might come into contact with something that could make them ill or worse. They can’t enjoy simple pleasures like store-bought cookies and cakes. The least we can do as a community is rally around them and let them know we see them and want them to be included.

So this year make Teal the new orange and don’t forget to grab some non-candy treats for all!

[pinterest count=”horizontal”]