SURVIVING WHEN ALL THE WORLD IS ORANGES
Adam is an Apple born among a grove of orange trees. Very unusual because his family were from a tree that grew slightly out of line with the other trees, all in very straight lines.
Adam’s mother Ruby, said the reason their family tree was slightly out of alignment with the other trees was because the farmer, one day out weeding the orange grove, accidentally dropped an apple core with the seeds inside. The seeds sprouted to become their family tree that grew them.
When he was very little, Adam noticed that he was different from the fruit growing on all the other trees. The young oranges at first were nice and friendly to him, he was just was just like them, shiny and green and they especially wished they had his shiny smooth skin. They didn’t like all the little dimples on their own skin and Adam’s peel was a paler but brighter shade of green.
Then as the sun shone on the trees Adam noticed the children on the other trees changing from green to orange. He was going the WRONG colours!
Some of him was still green, the part that did not see the sun. Part of him lovely and warm when the sun was shining started to go pink. Just like the humans who worked in the orange grove. When they stayed in the sun too long they would go PINK too!
Slowly, day by day, the oranges became less green and more orange. Adam went even pinker, until he became Red on one side and Green on the other. Adam worried the other fruit would notice how red he had become. Then, one day one of the biggest and juiciest Oranges yelled across the grove at him.
“HEY ADAM! WHATS WRONG WITH YOU! You are TOTALLY THE WRONG COLOUR! You are bright RED, bright GREEN and a little bit YELLOW!
WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU! You should be ORANGE like me!!”
Poor Adam turned even brighter Red from embarrassment. He didn’t know what he could do to be ORANGE instead of Red and Green and a little bit Yellow. After all, he had just been hanging on his family’s tree. Growing like his friend the juicy orange on the tree next door.
Adam was so upset and so sad. He started to think, “perhaps he should hide himself behind the green leaves of his tree.” Maybe he could get his mother Ruby, to paint him Orange. Adam didn’t want her to think he was ashamed to look like her or come from her family. So he kept quiet, he loved her and did not want her to be hurt.
Adam worried and worried and planned and planned. No matter how hard he thought he could not come up with a solution. Sometimes he worried so much his head ached.
The farmer and his workers would come along in a big group with a tractor pulling a big trailer. The farm hands would go along to each orange tree and collect all the juicy oranges then put them into the big trailer behind the tractor. Working from early morning trying to collect as many of the oranges they could gather.
Adam wondered if the farmer and his workers would come to his tree and gather up all of his family. But, the farmer and his workers his workers did not seem to be interested in the Apple family. It was always Oranges, Oranges, ORANGES!
Adam was very worried and he thought and thought and worried and worried. What would become of the Apple family? Would they all rot on their family’s tree. Adam decided one day that if no one was interested in him or his family, he didn’t care. He would go with the Oranges and find his own place in the world of fruit, just like his neighbours.
As the tractor and the trailer trundled below him Adam just let go of the tree. “Plop” he landed in the trailer right next to that nasty juicy Orange who said been so cruel to him.
“What are you doing here Adam?! asked the Orange. WHERE do the you think you are GOING?!!”
Adam decided that he could go where the oranges went even if he was from the Apple family.
“I am going exactly where you are going. That is unless you want to roll off somewhere and MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!” replied Adam.
“Oh well,” said the nasty juicy Orange “it won’t take long for anyone to notice that you are really different. Not even an Orange at all.”
The other Oranges nearby heard how cruel the nasty juicy Orange was being to Adam. They wanted to help him. So, they jiggled and jostled a little, soon Adam found himself slipping under the Oranges. Soon covered with a layer of lovely juicy Oranges.
It was not too long before all of the Oranges and one Apple (Adam) were transferred to a big truck to take them to the fresh produce market.
When they got there it was enormous with lots of humans moving boxes here and there. Little trucks with big forks called fork lifts were scurrying about.
Soon it was time for the box that Adam and his Oranges friends were in to be put in its place. Once that happened the humans started to arrange the Oranges into nice displays and as they were moving the Oranges they found Adam.
Stall holder Sam said to himself quietly “and what do we have here? Oh my goodness, what a marvellous looking Apple (Adam’s chest swelled with pride when he heard these words). Well, we shall have to find you a place of honour so customers will see you.”
Adam found himself on the very to of a pile of bright crisp and juicy Apples. All just as bright Red, bright Green and little bit Yellow like he was himself. The very best thing was that he could see all the other people and fruit in the market.
The variety and the colours were amazing. He could see bright green Apples called Granny Smiths and he wondered if this was his Granny too, but as they were both Apples he was sure they were related in some ways. There were Pears some brown, some green but partly yellow and they smelled lovely. Then, mandarins and they smelled beautiful and sweet. Long crescent shaped bananas glowing all bright yellow with little black parts.
There were also fruits that he had never ever heard of or even dreamed of before. Bright red tamarinds, fruits called Mangosteens, Mangoes all pale Orange and looking so tasty. A really odd fruit called a Durian, a really strange one and, boy did it have a smell! Some people really loved the smell of the Durian. Others, it made them almost sick and their faces were kind of sickly when they were near it.
In that moment, Adam made a big discovery making him feel so good that he almost leapt into the air.
Adam realised that it didn’t matter what shape or size you were, an Apple from an Orange Grove in Tasmania, a Mandarin from Mildura, or a Mango from Queensland. Even, a strange prickly and smelly Durian fruit from Malaysia, each and every fruit has different tastes and smells and shapes and sizes. Each offers something special and different, making it unique and different.
Some people love Oranges and he was an Apple!
It is wonderful to be an Apple, why worry if someone passes you by, because they love Oranges. It’s only because you are an Apple and they love Oranges best.
As Adam watched he noticed different people getting excited by all kinds of fruit in the market.
Adam was part of the entire fruit family he was unique and juicy and tasty and all the people who loved Apples walked straight past the Oranges to get to their favourite Apples.
Human people are just the same all different, shapes sizes, colours and speak different languages. Every single one is someone’s favourite flavour, cherished and loved.
END