Arkansas drops turkeys. Oregon sees leprechauns. Kansas holds a sex toy auction. And 2020 ruins everything... All in all, it's just a normal day for the 50 States of America.
"America: 50☆Stars" is a Hetalia fanfiction series made up of volumes, ful...
"Look, Ham. I made a cat." Vermont raised a cat-faced pumpkin in front of his face.
New Hampshire smiled. "That's great. You improved from last year."
"Thanks." He took a picture of his handiwork with a camera. "Excuse me. I'm going to post this on Facebook."
"Can't that wait? We still have more pumpkins to carve."
"It'll only take a few minutes." He went over to the computer to upload the picture. When he logged into his Facebook account, however, he saw one of his friends made a recent post. "Oh no..." He frowned.
"Are you done uploading the photo?" New Hampshire went over to check how he was doing.
"U-Uh!" He frantically covered the computer screen with his back. He could've closed the window or do anything else, but he wasn't exactly computer savvy; he didn't know how to Control-Alt-Delete.
He stared at him weirdly. "Um, what are you hiding?"
"U-Uh..." Sweating nervously, he struggled to come up with an excuse and ended up blurting, "P-P-Porn!" He awkwardly smiled.
He scowled. "You're a terrible liar." He gently shoved him away.
"W-Wait!" He tried to stop him, but it was too late.
New Hampshire saw the Facebook post and gasped, "No way... That didn't just happen..."
Massachusetts
Boston just set the world record with 30,128 jack-o'-lanterns! Who's the Pumpkin King now? 🎃👑 Boston > Keene
اوووه! هذه الصورة لا تتبع إرشادات المحتوى الخاصة بنا. لمتابعة النشر، يرجى إزالتها أو تحميل صورة أخرى.
"Uh... Are you alright?" Vermont whispered, wary of the dead cold aura surrounding his neighbor.
"This means war," he muttered with clenched teeth, walking back to the table to care more pumpkins, this time with more vigor and a purpose.
~ P-P-Pumpkins! ~
"Are you seriously going to brag to his face?" Maine scowled, watching Massachusetts polish the certificate that certified the Boston record of 30,128 jack-o'lanterns as they made their way to New Hampshire's house.
"He broke the world record several times. Surely he can handle a small loss to his pride," he hooted. "Besides, you should be proud of your big brother. I worked so hard carving thousands of pumpkins."
"You only did it to mess with New Hampshire."
"Even if that was true, I still had to carve a lot of pumpkins. Thankfully, New Jersey was delighted to help me clean up the mess."
"That explains why New York's apartment got covered in pumpkin guts..."
"Come on, Maine. Let's not keep Vermont and New Hampshire waiting."
Arriving in town, the brother and sister were amazed to witness thousands of jack-o'-lanterns on display, glowing bright orange in the dark black night. At every turn of their eye, there was always a jack-o'-lantern in view. Maine took the time to take pictures of the glowing pumpkins she thought were the most impressive. Massachusetts, he didn't care for the festival, but he was happy to see his sister enjoy herself. Truthfully, the modest number of pumpkins in town could never compare to the number of jack-o'-lanterns he made. What would really make his night was the sight of New Hampshire's anguished face when he sees the plaque in his hands. That would be most splendid!
"Hey, Vermont! How are you?" Maine hopped up to her friend who was carrying a cat-faced jack-o'-lantern in his hands.
"I'm doing good." He looked at her brother and smiled pleasingly. "How have you been? Enjoying the festival so far?"
"It's okay." Massachusetts looked around town. "Do you know where New Hampshire is?"
"Oh, yeah. I'll guide you to him." They went to the town square.
The looks on Maine and Massachusetts' faces when they saw New Hampshire sitting loftily on a massive throne made of pumpkins positioned in front of a towering wall of jack-o'-lanterns was priceless.
New Hampshire smirked. "30,581 jack-o'-lanterns. Who's the Pumpkin King now?"
~ Hetalia! ~
Hey, hey, daddy, give me some beer! Hey, hey, mommy, hey, hey, mommy! I cannot forget the taste of that Boiled dinner I ate long ago!
Draw a circle, that's the Earth! Draw a circle, that's the Earth! Draw a circle, that's the Earth! I'm New Hampshire!
Draw a circle, that's the Earth! Looking closely, that's the Earth! Or maybe, that's the Earth? I'm the Granite State!
Ah, with just a brushstroke, A wonderful world can be seen! The finches are lilac purple! I'm New Hampshire!
☆☆☆☆☆
+ In 2003, Starbucks had recent success developing and introducing winter seasonal drinks such as the Peppermint Mocha and the Eggnog Latte. They figured they should develop and introduce a seasonal drink for the fall. And so they did. Despite popularity among chocolate and caramel flavors, the company settled on refining a "pumpkin pie" latte before testing it with customers in Vancouver and Washington D.C. The Pumpkin Spice Latte became an instant hit, starting the popular trend of pumpkin spice products being released every autumn.
- Fun fact: Pumpkin wasn't an ingredient in Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte until 2015 when Starbucks changed the recipe to include actual pumpkin, so they could "appease those who wanted to see real pumpkin on the list of ingredients."
+ The New Hampshire Pumpkin Festival is a yearly celebration originally held in Keene before Halloween. Since 1991, residents of Keene as well as visitors from surrounding regions attempt to amass a lot of jack-o'-lanterns in one place, often breaking world records. But in 2006, their previous world record of 28,952 jack-o'-lanterns in 2003 was broken when Boston, Massachusetts set a new world record of 30,128 jack-o'-lanterns. Of course, Keene wouldn't let that record settle, and they eventually broke that record in 2013 with 30,581 jack-o'-lanterns. As of 2020, the world record still stands at 30,581.
- Fun fact: The New Hampshire Pumpkin Festival inspired the state government to designate pumpkin as the state fruit in 2006.
