John drank too much Maker's Mark one night and thought it would be a great idea to genetically engineer pumpkin plants with faces. Then he could sell them at farmers' markets around Halloween as ready made jack-o-lanterns and make a ton of money. Jeanette thought this was one of the goofiest ideas that John had ever come up with and tried to dissuade him by reminding him of the kabocha fiasco, the "Wonderbass" failure, and the "talking cookies" disaster, but to no avail.
This is a picture of Camilla Peltz tending the pumpkin crop. She hangs out at Café Noir and told John that she knows all about gene splicing techniques. He hired her as his assistant because he doesn't know anything about biotechnology and can't stand agricultural work.
Martha Beatty told him that Camilla actually has a degree from U. C. Davis, but earned it more by exploiting her personal biology than by studying biology. Naturally, John dismissed this as spiteful gossip. At this point the pumpkins were looking great and his expectations were high.
July 30, 1999, Jeanette told John that the cat was avoiding the pumpkin patch and so were the 'possums and 'coons that often came through the yard at night. John admitted that the pumpkins were remarkable looking - startling even - but scoffed at the notion that the cat, etc. would be affected by their appearance. Nevertheless, he decided that, with harvest time approaching, he'd better take a few pumpkins and thoroughly examine them, if only to aid in working up a sales pitch., That's when he discovered that they differed from ordinary pumpkins in more than superficial ways. When he informed Camilla of what he'd found she just shrugged.
Now he sits and broods, plagued by uncertainties. The farmers' market is not an option. Camilla has been dismissed. Will she rat on him to Greenpeace? He's stopped watering the pumpkin patch. Jeanette says pumpkin pie is out of the question.
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