Weak and sluggish and past their summer peak - vegetation flooded the voting podium. Mangoes, Jackfruit, kiwi, mulberries, figs, pears, pomegranates, papaya, and hundreds more...all vying for the coveted cheesecake topping position.
Utter chaos ensued. "Accidental" rubbing and bumping followed by defaming rants rumbled through the room, "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE SWEET!" was a crowd favorite. Tomatoes were thrown.
The most memorable, and I use that term loosely, speeches of the night follow. Note: these are arguments from fruits - they need not be true.
Peaches led with their fleshy colors and sweet perfume, parading pastel promises - flimsy but pretty. Dewberries - frozen of course, presented with a glossy sheen and nice deep purple, but lacked ingenuity as they deftly resembled blackberries. Strawberries - the incumbent and most heavily marketed cash-cow fruit, showed up entitled with green tops and unabashed complacency. Raspberries, arriving bruised and moldy (who's to say this was not the result of the raucous crowd rather than sheer travel fatigue?) led to malicious whispers and defaming gossip - the likes of which were downright scandalous. Blueberries, bringing up the rear, covered in glaucous powder, plump and juicy, simply stated, "We taste good."
Hours passed and all the arguments were presented - a quiet din filled the air. After several minutes, Banana, the self-appointed judge, tall, yellow, unassuming, and at peace with the ancestral longstanding Cheesecake Conflict of 1326, calmed the crowd and asked for silence. Hush ensued while anticipation escalated. At long last would this be the year of the overlooked Kumquat or never-heard-of Durian? All were hopeful, but only one would win.
Quietly and with the grace only beholden to a banana, the verdict was delivered: "We, by which I mean "me", vote in favor of the blueberry."
Sighs of dreams lost wafted through the air, the building emptied in minutes. Banana having long lost interest, left immediately after the verdict. By late morning, it seemed only the blueberries stood among the debris stunned still at their victory. But a lone Starfruit ambled from the corner up to the blueberry bunch extending its arm in congratulations - the only one to do so, "Well deserved. Enjoy it." It said, then turned and walked away. The blueberries watched as the Starfish moseyed to the farmhouse entrance, stopping on the porch, it gazed back at the bunch , "This too shall pass."
