Our Market

By Glenn D. Glasgow

The book is about the fruits and vegetables in the different regions of the country and their interaction with each other and the market. It chronicles the journey from tree to harvest, then onto the market and in some cases consumption. Throughout this journey, the fruits, as well as the farmers, encounter some of the same obstacles everyone else faces in their everyday lives. these include but are not limited to, drugs, petty crime, and discrimination.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Dec 31, 2018
• ISBN: 9781543957433

Glenn D. Glasgow

I am the eldest of three boys born in the British West Indies. My foremost passion is writing; I have been doing so since I learned the alphabet. I have written three books, with a fourth and fifth on the way this year. My writings concentrate on positive situations and contain no foul language or adult situations. A sampling of this theme is available for free download as an audio postcard from my site, phzed.com.

Book preview

© Glenn D. Glasgow 2019

Print ISBN: 978-1-54395-742-6

eBook ISBN: 978-1-54395-743-3

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Contents

The Pears

The Apples

The Bananas

The Watermelons

THE PEANUTS

The Grapes

The Oranges

Chem

The Pears

Pick me, pick me!" Jacob shouted at the farmers, as they passed under his branch. He was oh, so eager to get off the tree, but the pear next to him was selected instead.

See you later, Jacob, said the other pear, waving goodbye on his way down into the basket.

Hey, what about meeeeeee… was the descending scream coming from Jacob, now picked from the tree and dropped into the basket on his head and landing alongside his friend.

Nice of you to drop in, said his friend.

You know me, I’m just one bad apple, a smiling Jacob replied.

You’re a pear, not an apple, get it right, said his friend with a stern voice and a wink from his left eye.

Bam, ouch, that hurt! said Jacob, as another pear was dropped into the basket directly on top of his shoulder.

Jacob’s friend placed his hands on his head for cover as he looked up to see just how far he had fallen from the tree.

Incoming! Look, straight up! yelled the pear that just fell in as yet another pear dropped into the basket next to them. Now several pears were quickly dropping into the basket one after the other. With each pear that fell, for the others, it became a game of who can get out of the way the fastest, while at the same time warning the other brothers and sisters of the oncoming rush. The basket quickly filled up. The full basket is left on the ground for one of the farmer’s helpers to collect. It is then picked up and taken by one of the helpers into the farmhouse. Inside the farmhouse, the filled baskets lined up next to, and on top of each other in stacks of three high. Since this was their first time off the tree, the pears picked so far were all mumbling to each other wondering what was going on. Each is asking the other for answers that no one could provide.

Jacob, while standing on the edge of one of the top baskets, looks over the side to get a good view of the area. He used to look down from on top of the tree; this was a very different view. From his usual vantage point on the branch, he was used to green and a cool breeze mixed with the occasional watering. This was dry and motionless. Looking over the edge of the basket, he saw someone he knew in the far distance, sitting on a table next to an empty plate. It was the old man from his tree, Mr. Nectar.

Mr. Nectar had been living on the tree longer than any other pear, and he had seen everyone that had come and gone in his long lifespan. He had departed the tree several months ago at night unassisted, and his departure left everyone speculating about what could have happened to him. The rumors revolved around two things: one, he had a golden opportunity he couldn’t pass up, or two, at worst, he had passed on, someone picked him for their next meal. These were the most compelling of the speculations and rumors around the tree.

Because he was the elder pear from the same tree as the others in the basket which contained Jacob, in the past they had all looked up to him for words of wisdom and reassurance. These events included hurricanes, earthquakes, and the rowdy teenagers that would on occasion pass through and randomly pick fruit. But now Jacob spots him on the table, wrinkled, decaying, and lying on one flat side. Mr. Nectar always talked to the kids about the importance of hard work knowing right from wrong, doing right, and most importantly avoiding lousy peer pressure influences. He would sometimes gather the kids around to tell them the stories of their ancestors that had set the trend in the vast outside world not just of the farmers market but also the supermarket. Now barely mobile, his words and vision blurred and his movements all but nonexistent, he heard Jacob calling him from a distance.

Hey Mr. Nectar, hey Mr. Nectar, how are you, what happened? Jacob fired off his questions, as he walks around the top of the basket as if he were getting ready to jump off. Barely having the strength to turn, move or talk, Mr. Nectar turns his eyes toward the direction of the sound and sees the young pear just as he jumps out of the basket and onto the ground. Jacob began to wave as he was running toward Mr. Nectar to get his attention. Mr. Nectar’s near motionless body had just enough energy to smile at the young pear as he was fast approaching.

Oh no, said Jacob, what happened to you, Mr. Nectar? Having just enough strength to talk, he slowly opened his eyes and faced the direction of the voice. With his eyes partly open, a welcome smile appeared on his face, and with his deep voice, he stated.

One day, I woke up, only to find the branch that I hung from was no longer there. Before Mr. Nectar could continue his conversation, another voice was heard coming near him.

Well, well, well, this looks like fun, said the little voice as it seemed to get louder with every word. Jacob looked and Mr. Nectar turned toward the direction of the sound. They could see it was that of an ant that was walking by with his friend, a fruit fly. Life is ironic you know, we just thought that there was nothing to eat in this joint, and what do you know, both breakfast and lunch together come in a … er pear, said the ant to his friend the fruit fly, while licking his fingers and rubbing his stomach. As the fly laughs, he bursts out a hiccup every two seconds or so.

It is a condition he has had since birth, and it has earned him the nickname, or real name, Hiccup. No one knew for sure, so everyone called him, Hiccup. For as long as he could remember, the ant never got a name or got to be called anything unique, but had always just been known as Ant.

Ant, still laughing, with one hand on his stomach and the other holding Hiccup’s arm said, Look, this is what I call ‘meals on the run.’ You pass through and grab a bite, then go on along your way. Again, the two of them laugh out loud while holding their stomachs.

Jacob turned to Mr. Nectar, as the ant and his fly friend, Hiccup, came closer to have some of the pears for lunch. Jacob looked at the two of them and began to frantically wave them away so the old pear would not have to worry about them having any of him for a meal. Hey, hey, can’t you see we’re trying to eat here? asked Ant of Jacob.

Yeah, you know it’s not every day (hiccup) we get to enjoy a… er, the fruit of wisdom said Hiccup.

This pear will be your last supper if you two don’t leave him right this second, said Jacob, with a stern voice as he points to Hiccup and Ant.

You are just wasting your time, Jacob continued as he got closer to get in their face.

You know buddy, there is no such thing as ‘wasting time.’ Time spent on doing something other than what is obligated is simply time spent elsewhere. said Mr. Nector.

Oh yeah, what are you going to do? asked the ant, as he inflated his chest and folded his arm as if to flex a muscular body.

Yeah, what are you (hiccup) going to do? asked Hiccup.

Jacob paused for a moment, looked around and saw a newspaper lying on the ground over in a corner. He quickly ran over to the paper and picked it up. The document opened in the obituaries section. Jacob rolled it up, so it appeared to look like a baseball bat. With a frown on his face, he held the paper in the air, and with the word obituaries facing out he said to Ant and Hiccup, You see this? With one stroke you two will become yesterday’s news. He slammed the paper down hard on the table.

The force of the slam caused the wind to knock Ant and Hiccup off their feet and blew them back a few inches from Mr. Nectar. Both Ant and Hiccup fell to the ground. They looked at each other, now covered with dust. Ant turned to Hiccup and said, You know, Hiccup, come to think of it, this isn’t that great of a meal to be worthy of being called our last supper.

I’ll (he hiccup again) say, said Hiccup, as he wiped the dust off of his face.

This food might be good (hiccup), but it is nothing compared to some of the picnics I’ve been to, he continued. He clears some more dust off his face.

Jacob turned to Mr. Nectar while holding the newspaper in his hand as a warning to the two insects that he meant business. Please continue, Sir, said Jacob to Mr. Nectar. I asked about you some time ago, I heard you went on to bigger and better things in life, said Jacob. My parents once told me I should remember your words of wisdom and learn to live by them, Jacob continued. They also said I should use you as my inspiration in life and think of you as my guide whenever I get into a situation that is challenging; but here you are, still on the farm with the rest of us, Jacob went on.

Listen to me, said Mr. Nectar, his voice thunder deep. "We all have dreams and a mission in this world. Mine was to one day become the best juice in the world. I tried, oh I tried so very hard to not only get noticed but also to be picked from the tree, so I could go on and pursue my lifelong goal. I even dreamed up the perfect plan for when the day would come. I would not only get ahead of the pack but also would land in a great position in the basket. Then, like my worst nightmare, time and time again I noticed I was not being selected to go on with the others. I almost stopped feeling special.

He paused for a moment and covered his face as if he were crying, One day, not so long ago with the help of a strong northeasterly wind, I managed to twist and free myself from the stem and left the tree once and for all. I ended up here, and for some strange reason, things did not work out according to my plans. Here I was, simply cast aside. Now look at me, I have a broken leg, and what some might say broken dreams. Before Mr. Nectar could continue, he was interrupted.

Speaking of broken, said yet another voice coming from near the basket of pears. Jacob raised the paper up again, in the direction of Ant and Hiccup, while Ant and Hiccup both raised their hands in the air as if to surrender. Jacob knew it was not ant or Hiccup because the sound was coming from a different direction. I too have a dream. I have a dream, that one day I’ll find a fruit that will be not only edible on the inside but also edible on the outside. I have a dream today, said the voice.

This voice was not as thick as Mr. Nector, but sturdy and stern with a slight British accent.

Hiccup and Ant started laughing and applauding at the intro speech and also at the worried look on Jacob’s face. Who said that? asked Jacob as he looked around to see who was talking to him.

Ant, along with Hiccup, looking on from the side, just sat there laughing and applauding at Jacob’s confusion. Then the voice continued, "And speaking of things broken, I gotta break this cycle of bad meals every