| "Thank goodness we landed safely," Clara said. "We are sure to find something to eat here." "There's so much vegetation here," Salem said, looking around. "So many trees on such small islands. Surely one of them must bear fruit." "Let's scout around together," Kat suggested. "There is a little dirt path from the beach up to the trees; maybe something or someone is back there." Kat led Clara and Salem up the beach and into the trees, shielding them from the cold oceanic winds. The trees were all deciduous and very tall, towering high around the path, shrouding it in a mild darkness. "I see no trees that grow anything except leaves," Clara said. "Maybe we should fly a little more." "No," Kat said. "If we do that, we may not eat for a whole day. We will all be ill if we don't eat. But I promise that I will get us something to eat." As Kat, Clara, and Salem walked around a sharp turn in the path, Kat pointed out an unusual tree in front of her. Like other trees around it, it also bore lush green leaves and had a thick trunk and lots of branches, but it seemed to also bear strange fruits of some sort; from a distance, it appeared that the tree might have been inhabited by exotic birds. "What is that strange tree ahead?" Clara asked. "I know not," Kat said, leading her and Salem towards it. "What is so brightly colored that grows on it?" Kat, Clara, and Salem all approached the tree and stood before its trunk. On a few of its branches were small bunches of a large fruit that was colored red, yellow, and green. It was indeed so large and plentiful that the branches that bore it sagged from the weighed; such fruit was the size of an eggplant, at least. Upon a closer look, the trunk was old and wizened, twisted from age. "What a beautiful plant," Salem thought. "How unique it is in these woods. Now, if we just reach that fruit--" "Wait, Salem," Kat said, pointing at the base of the trunk. "Look at this down here." Kat, Clara, and Salem huddled around the bottom of the tree to look upon what Kat had seen. On the ground by the trunk was a carved stone, containing some sort of cryptic message. "What is this stone?" Clara asked. "I can't even read what is written." Kat quickly opened their sack, pulling from it Clara's history book. "I think I may know what this tree really is," she said, wildly flipping the old pages. Finally, she reached her desired leaf. "Listen closely to the words I read. 'When Methiosan was but a lad so many centuries ago, his mother and father sailed across the oceans to discover the wonders beyond. There they discovered a great landmark, a single tree whose fruit was as colorful as a rainbow and as old as our planet. Methiosan's family lived in the pleasant shade of this remarkable plant until they grew gray and died of old age, leaving the clergyman of then forty and two years to live and prosper. Each day, he studied his homeland, particularly the beautiful tree under which he lived for the previous thirty years of his intensely religious life. He came to taste of the fruit of the tree, which he came to feast upon for the remainder of his life. He would live on the island of the fabled tree for his remaining fifty and one years, when finally, at the ripe, old age of ninety and three years, he woke from his bed and died shortly after. His body, although sought for hundreds of years afterward, was never discovered. It was rumored that Methiosan was washed away by the tides.'" "What does this mean to us?" Clara asked. "Wait a moment, Clara," Kat replied. "There is more to be read. 'Methiosan never discovered the true flavor of the tree; it seemed to change every time he ate it. He then declared to himself that S'Allumer had blessed him with the tree, whose fruit, regardless of the way it looked, provided him with whatever he wished to dine upon. It has been estimated that at the age of fifty years, he carved his prophecy upon a great slab of stone and placed it at the base of the trunk of the tree. Its unusual inscription, written in old Trillanian, is translated thusly: LET IT BE KNOWN THAT THIS TREE, BROUGHT INTO THIS WORLD BY ALMIGHTY S'ALLUMER, BEARS THE FRUIT RESERVED FOR ONLY THE HOLIEST OF MAN, WOMAN, AND CHILD. UNDERSTAND DILIGENTLY MY WORDS; THEY TELL NOT A SINGLE FALSEHOOD -- IT IS SO THAT THIS FRUIT IS OF ANY FLAVOR ITS EATER DESIRES, AND ONLY THE MOST RIGHTEOUS OF BEINGS MAY PULL IT FREE FROM THE BRANCHES OF THE TREE ON WHICH IT FLOURISHES.'" "I must believe it," Kat said. "There is no question. Was it not Methiosan who correctly predicted that world be shaken by the killing winds of S'Allumer?" "That he was," Salem said. "And if we are among the few survivors of such horrible hurricanes, surely we are worthy to taste what grows on this tree." Clara looked up at the sagging branches. "Still," she said, "they are a little high up. How can we get up there?" Salem folded his hands and leaned forward. "Here, Clara," he said, holding his hands out. "Step up upon my hands and I will support you. That way, you can reach." Clara held Kat's hand for support as she stepped into Salem's cupped hands. He lifted her up above his shoulders, elevating her several more feet. Clara reached up to grasp the enormous fruit, held to the tree only by a single thin stem. With both hands, Clara held the soft fruit and pulled; it snapped free from the tree with ease. Kat and Salem lowered her safely down, then they all gathered together to look upon the squash-sized bounty. They all looked at in silence, unsure of who should take the first bite. "Well, Clara," Salem said. "You eat first. You were the one who picked it, after all." "No, I couldn't," she said, smiling. "I couldn't deprive both of you; we must all eat at once." Salem pulled his knife from his belt. "I will cut us all a small piece," he said. Salem slowly pierced the colorful skin of the fruit, letting the blade sink into its soft center. Yellow juice flowed from the slice, running onto Salem's bare hands. Kat and Clara removed their leather gloves as Salem cut three slices out of the side of the fruit. His hands wet and sticky from the juices, he gave a single slice each to Kat and Clara. Next page >> |