Where the Durian Tree Grows: A Collection of Five Short Stories

By Leela Chakrabarty

The durian fruit should not be judged by its spiky outer appearance.

When you pry open the fruit, it reveals a soft, succulent, fleshy yellowish pulp that you wont find anywhere else. Locals in Southeast Asia revere the durian as the king of fruits.

This collection of short stories rooted in Malaysian culture also reveals hidden treasures that arent immediately apparent.

In The Mysterious Farm, Amir spends his days scooping molten palm sugar, pouring it into small bamboo moulds, and packaging the finished product into treats. But when he notices a truck dripping a red liquid that looks like blood, he sets out to solve the mystery.

In A Dream Comes True, an adolescent boy named Chee Keongs works tireless collecting all sorts of metal objectsmainly empty drink cans. Life is hard, but it gets even harder when hes accused of a theft he did not commit.

Youll also read about three boys that witness an attempted murder, a young girl who saves a cocoa plantation, and two friends who work in a dragon fruit farm in this thrilling collection that showcases the importance of fair dealing and hard work.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing Singapore
• Release date: Oct 15, 2015
• ISBN: 9781482853650

Leela Chakrabarty

Leela Chakrabarty began writing more after a story she wrote—“Montblanc Preserve the Moment”—won a first-prize award in 1997. She has been a teacher for more than thirty-five years and has written both fiction and nonfiction aimed to inspire children and young adults.

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Copyright © 2015 by Leela Chakrabarty.

ISBN:      Hardcover           978-1-4828-5364-3

                Softcover             978-1-4828-5363-6

                eBook                  978-1-4828-5365-0

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Toll Free 800 101 2657 (Singapore)

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www.partridgepublishing.com/singapore

Contents

Preface

The Mysterious Farm

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

A Dream Comes True

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

An Incident at Mengkabung River

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

The Young Tutor

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

At the Dragon Fruit Farm

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Preface

The durian tree is a large tree native to Malaysia that bears the durian fruit. The word durian is derived from the word duri, which means ‘thorn’ in the Malay language. This is due to the fact that the fruit has thorns on its outer layer. It is a spiky oval fruit that contains a creamy pulp that is highly valued for its flavour.

This collection of five stories is embedded in a Malaysian setting. The durian fruit is symbolically mentioned in this title, as it is regarded as a symbol of mystique. One should not judge it based on its spiky outer appearance and strange smell that some describe as rancid; the magic begins when you pry open the fruit to reveal a soft, succulent, fleshy yellowish pulp and discover the mystical qualities of what the locals revere as the King of Fruit.

To my late mother,

Gita Chakrabarty

The Mysterious Farm

Chapter 1

Amir who has just turned sixteen lives with his family in a small village. His family has been involved in a business they inherited from his forefathers. They sell gula melaka (palm sugar) that they make by themselves from the sap of the coconut tree. The tapping is done through an incision made on the young coconut shoot. Amir’s dad has a worker who climbs up the tall coconut trees to get this done. Then he ties a cylindrical container to the shoot to collect the colourless sap that flows out of the incision.

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During processing, heat from the fire is controlled to prevent the sap from getting burnt. The sap turns thick and dark brown in colour after five to six