Once upon a time, in a far away land, there lived a gallant
young prince. He journeyed deep into the heart of the mountain and disturbed
the forbidden pool of Hara Enadris Bazaari. The water-witch, guardian of the
forbidden pool, cursed the prince’s lands never to bear fruit again unless he
entered our world and brought her back three pears.
In a voice as loud as thunder she declared,
"For the land to bear fruit, you must bring unto me
Three pears from the Earthling’s trees.
First, travel deep into the lands of the east
And
fetch me a pear more golden than yeast.
It’s round like an apple, with speckled
skin;
It’s called an Asian Pear by most of my kin.
It bears many names,
including Nashi and Sand,
And is grown in both China and Japan.
In the 19th century it first
crossed the sea,
Taking rest in New York in the Land of the Free.
It moved to
California during the rush for gold
And is produced there now, so I am told.
Next, journey to the land that
became Middle Earth,
For a pear that is new and small in girth.
Its skin is
olive green with splotches of brown,
Created by New Zealanders in Riwaka the
town.
The cross between two breeds of pear has been seen,
And it has been
dubbed Velvetine.
Last, find the pear whose origin is
unknown,
Then you will take back the seeds that you’ve sown.
The Bosc Pear may
have come from either Belgium or France
And appears deceased at first glance.
The skin is like parchment, weathered and tan,
Deceiving the eyes of any man.
In
the United States, it took its rest,
Grown now in the states of the Pacific
Northwest.
Bring to me these pears three,
And
the fertility of the land will be restored to thee.”
The prince exclaimed, “Send me to
Earth, to the Land of the Free, and I will bring these pears back to thee.”
The witch granted his request. Thus,
his adventure in produce commenced. He traveled far across the land until he
laid his eyes on a building bearing the crimson letters HEB.
“Hara Enadris Bazaari!” said the
prince. “The stars have aligned, for this must be a sign!”
He entered the building and spoke to
a man clad in a crimson tunic. “Sir,” quoth he, “You bear the initials of the
forbidden pool on your breast, are you some spirit sent to aid me in my quest?”
“Um. Sir, this is the produce section.
If you’re looking for spirits, they’re on aisle five. Have a nice day.”
“Sir, prithee, tell me, are there
any dragons guarding your fruit, dragons that I must crush under my boot?”
“Dragon fruit? No, we don’t have any
dragon fruit.”
“Marvelous fortune! Lucky you are!
The fruit of this land is blessed by the stars!”
“No star fruit either, sorry.”
“Thank you kind sir, I’ll be on my
way, for I must be gone by the end of the day.”
The prince took the three pears and
was transported back to the forbidden pool.
“Put the pears in a line, dicing them, so
I can dine,” said the witch.
The prince tasted some of the fruit,
for he had saved some for himself. The Asian pear was easy to cut, with a
crunchy texture like a water chestnut. It lacked the sour tang of other pears,
but it also didn’t have much flavor. It had a hint of sweetness, but that is
all.
The Velvetine Pear smelled like cut
grass and had a tougher skin than that of the Asian pear. Its texture was firm,
but not crunchy. This pear lacked flavor as well.
The witch said, “I fear I must gripe, for these two pears
may not yet be ripe.”
The Bosc pear was very sweet and tasted more like an apple
than a pear. It was the juiciest of the three and had a firm texture that
lacked the crunch of the Asian pear.
“As I promised, so shall it be. The fertility of the land is
restored to thee,” said the witch, and the prince and his subjects lived
happily ever after.
The End
This was a fun read and very creative! How long did it take you to write this?! I love your intro picture. It has a great contrast of colors and it is very inviting! I was actually curious how you were going to incorporate the background of information about each pear without it distracting from the whimsical feel of the story but including links to such information instead was brilliant! It was also cool that used three pears for comparison. Is that your blade in the last picture? Pretty awesome and of course appropriate given the nature of your story. So you like the Bosc pear the most? Overall, very nice job!
ReplyDeleteDid you get your idea for the story-line from Into the Woods? I really liked it and that is what it reminded me of. :) I do like how you added to dialogue and the creativity behind describing the trip to H.E.B. It was extremely creative! Out of all the pears Bosc seemed to be the one that had the most flavor, Do you know if it is the closest to an apple out of all of them? You did a really great Job!!
ReplyDeleteLet me just say WOW! this was an extremely well thought out blog. I don't know if this is a story you created or found somewhere else, but it was really interesting. I liked how you also chose the pear because i also chose the same fruit. which of the three would you consider buying again?
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing and such a creative way to get all of your information about each fruit across. Very interesting. I assume you like the Bosc pear the best. I wonder if you could include some links to a recipe including it or just some other ways to prepare it besides raw?
ReplyDeleteThis is super creative, Audra! I liked how the witch's initials were HEB, and I thought the part where the prince talks to the produce man was funny. Personally though, I thought there was a slight disconnect from the story when you started describing the pears. I don't know if you could add some sort of transition there. Maybe giving a reason in your story that the prince has to try the pears? You could make the witch ask him to choose the best pear out of the three for her to eat once he has them. That way there could be more importance attached to the description of the pears within the story. Just an idea to consider :) I applaud your bold creativity!
ReplyDeleteThat's some solid poetry- totally digging the meter. As much as I hate to say this (because this is well-thought out and executed), it's a LOT to follow for someone who's just trying to figure out some stuff about fruit. Perhaps after the dude in the store says the line about spirits (which is my favorite), you could do a sort of, "oh, um, right, I'm looking for pears," type of thing, and transition into a normal style. I can't in any good conscience say scrap or shorten the poem, but I don't think the story works all the way to the end, and I think that would be a perfect place to jump out of the story: it makes sense and wouldn't sacrifice much, but would allow for more clarity and make it easier to stick with.
ReplyDelete