The Great Pumpkin Showdown! Part 3- And the Winner Is...

 

"Man, Ivy has been in that room for so long! I feel like it's been a week!" Jess complained.

"I know! But if she doesn't come out soon with a decision, then we'll just have to make her come out," Samantha said.

"I agree. She's taking way too long!" Emily replied.

 

Jessica wasn't complaining at all. She was too busy trying to find two identical kernels of popcorn.

 

 

Finally, Ivy stepped out of her bedroom with the blue ribbon in her hand.

"GOOD! You're out!! We've been waiting for forever!!" Samantha exclaimed.

"Did you come to a decision, then?" Emily asked.

 

"Yes, I came to a decision," Ivy answered.

 

The three girls stared at her, waiting for her to announce the winner. The fourth girl (if you can guess which one) stared at the shiny blue ribbon in Ivy's outstretched hand, thinking about how good it would look in her bedroom with her karate trophies. (Yes, it was Jessica)

 

"I have decided that the winner is..." Ivy paused for dramatic effect.

 

"ME!!! I win!" Ivy burst out.

 

"WHAT?!?!?!?!?!"

Jess turned around, completely exasperated, while Emily and Samantha protested. Jessica stared at some more popcorn, waiting for the chaos to die down.

 

"Calm down, everyone. I didn't actually decide that I won! I didn't even design a pumpkin! But what took me so long in there was that I'm not the one who decided the winner here. All of your pumpkins were so great, I couldn't decide! So I posted your pumpkins onto the Internet and asked other people to vote. And the people have spoken!" Ivy explained.

 

"What have they decided?" Emily asked.

"Did I win, Ivy?" Jess took a step forward.

 

"Oh, Jess. Jess, Jess, Jess. No, you didn't win," Ivy said matter-of-factly.

 

Jess frowned. "But my pumpkin was so good! Oh well..." She walked over and stood next to her friends.

 

"Then that can only mean one thing... I WIN!!!" Jessica shouted and jumped up, dumping her popcorn all over the floor. But she was so excited that she didn't even care. She wouldn't have cared even if she hadn't been excited, really.

 

"Uh, no, Jessica. You didn't win either," Ivy said.

"Well, of course I didn't win- Edna won!" Jessica clarified.

"OK, no, Edna didn't win either," Ivy explained.

 

Ivy stepped over the popcorn and left Jessica to pout amongst the pile of popcorn.

 

"So, that just leaves us!" Samantha declared.

"Oh goody! I'm still in the running!" Emily was delighted.

 

"Yes, that just leaves you two. Well, congratulations! It was a tie! You both won!" Ivy announced.

 

Emily and Samantha looked at each other.

"How is that possible?" Samantha asked.

 

"Well, you both got the same number of votes. Here's your ribbon!" Ivy gave them the ribbon.

 

"Thanks," Emily said as they both accepted the ribbon.

"Yeah, thanks," Samantha was still a bit disappointed about the tie.

"Well, how are we going to do this? We can't exactly share the ribbon, can we?" Emily asked.

Samantha shrugged.

 

"You know what? I have an idea. Can I have the ribbon for now?" Jess said.

 

Once Jess had received the ribbon, she pulled Jessica aside for a moment.

"Can you do something for me?" Jess asked.

"Sure, whatcha need?" Jessica replied.

 

 

A few moments later, Jess called all of the girls into the living room, and they gathered around the mantel.

"Alright, so! I have called you in here for a very special reason," Jess started.

Then Jessica ran into the room, bringing a white card with her. "I got it, Jess!"

 

"Thanks, Jessica," Jess said as she grabbed the card.

 

Then she and Jessica turned around and started to fiddle around with the mantel, while Samantha, Ivy, and Emily stood there, waiting.

 

Then Jess and Jessica turned around and showed everyone what they had done.

"Check it out, girls!" Jess said.

 

Emily and Samantha leaned into the mantle and inspected it.

 

There hung a little plaque with the words "Samantha & Emily, The Great Pumpkin Showdown, 2014" on it, with the blue ribbon hanging beside it.

 

Samantha turned around to look at Jess.

"Oh, thank you, Jess!" Samantha hugged Jess. "This is the perfect way for us to share the award!"

 

Emily wasn't far behind in her gratitude. All of the girls were happy to have the new piece up in their house.

"Oh! Let's take a picture of you two with your award!" Ivy suggested.

"Yes, let's!" Emily, the shutterbug, said. She ran to get her camera and handed it to Ivy.

 

"Say PUMPKIN!" Ivy said.

"What a perfect way to end the competition!" Emily smiled.

Samantha grinned along.

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Congratulations to the winners! For a while there, Samantha was in the lead, but then Emily snuck in at the last minute for the tie, thanks to one final vote today. To me, if there had only been one winner, I feel like the ending wouldn't have been as sweet as this one is. So in the end, I'm glad that both Emily and Samantha won. I hope that you enjoyed this photo story!

 

XOXO Ginger Spice