The Glowing Pear

THE GLOWING PEAR

“I can’t wait for tomorrow”, a young boy named Robert said. “Shhhhh. Go to bed or you won’t have much energy left to move in the morning.”, His sister Jane replied. “Ok. Ok.”, he replied and closed his eyes. Robert was so excited because he was going to go on his first camping trip with his family. He had read many books about nature and had never seen the outdoors. Last year, he was signed up to play baseball by his parents and he didn’t like it. Robert wasn’t really much into athletics and didn’t make any effort trying to learn how to play the sport. His mother wanted him to be just like his older sister. She was the perfect child: a straight A student, volleyball champion, graduate with honors and now college bound. This was going to be her last year with them before she would go off to dorm at the university, so their father decided to take them on a family vacation for a few weeks. Robert drifted off to sleep with a big smile on his face.

The next day, he had been the first one to wake up in the morning. He brushed his teeth, double checked his equipment, and said a prayer before leaving his bedroom for breakfast. The smell of bacon roamed the air as he went down the flight of stairs and everybody was there gobbling their meal. “Hurry up and eat your breakfast, Bob or It’ll get cold.” Robert walked to the table with his head up high and felt like he was ready to conquer the world. Jane had already finished and was washing the dishes. His dad was ready with the newspaper and spoke to him without putting it down. “Was that you making all that noise early today, Robert?”, he asked. “Yeah. Sorry dad. I was too excited to go back to bed.” Said Robert. “You remind me of me, son. I remember my first-time going camping. Your grandmother had signed me up to go when I was in elementary school. I can remember it like it was yesterday. The sound of birds chirping in the morning, swimming in the clean rivers and listening to old folk tales.” Robert had emptied his plate by the time his father had finished the sentence. “Can we hear some tonight?” he asked. His father folded the paper and placed it down on the table after absorbing every word on it. “Sure, son. We better get going everybody before the traffic gets started.”

The roads were clear when they had left the city and they had nearly reached their destination in record time. As Robert saw the buildings and the people slowly disappear from them, it gave him a sense of freedom. He did not have to do any chores or talk to anyone even though he had plenty of friends. The colors of the trees were marvelous, and the weather complimented it with some precious sunbeams. Robert rolled down his window and felt the fresh breeze tussle his hair. The scent felt different up there, cleaner and fresher. His lungs felt like they were stronger every time he inhaled it. “We’re here!” his father announced. They were close to the mountains and began setting up camp once they had parked.

Robert decided to unpack later and made his way inside the wilderness. The sight of no cracked concrete or streetlights felt extraordinary to his feet. He heard the sound of a flowing river in the distance and decided to locate the source. “Don’t wander off too far Robert! Lunch will be ready in a few minutes.” His mother said. He didn’t even respond and kept moving like a possessed victim. Along the way he saw various actions from mother nature like ants carrying food into their colonies, a rabbit hopping through shaded areas and a hawk which he had never seen before.

All these things gave him a new perspective of life and what it meant. He found the water and went to touch it. The coldness was felt in his fingertips as it drew near the streaming liquid. Robert scanned his surroundings and saw something in the distance shimmering like a diamond. It was so bright that it had outshined the daylight and created its own territory. He wanted to cross the river so badly but was afraid because the tide was strong for him to pass.

Robert walked a bit further down the creek and located a small bridge that could guide him to the other side safely…hopefully. It was a safe success, and the passage was secure for him to pass. Walking through the muddy surface and maneuvering his way around the uneven pathway. As he drew nearer to the object, a snake appeared in front of him and caused him to jump in fright. “Whoa!” he shouted. Robert's encounter with this creature was terrifying, it seemed that the serpent was being territorial and rattled his tail to alert him. He did not move a muscle while maintaining eye contact with the snake. Those eyes felt like they were stabbing him mentally but to his surprise, he had won the stare down and the creature slithered away. A sense of relief ran through him as Robert approached as he continued towards the hidden corner containing the mysterious object. It was a small tree with roots rising from the ground that looked like fingers.

It was the greenest tree he had ever seen containing one object he did not expect: a glowing pear. Why a pear? Why out of all the things in the world did it have to be this? He expected at least some treasure like gold or at least a diamond. Staring at it did however make him lick his lips in hunger. The detail on the fruit was marvelous to look at and it was difficult to comprehend how it was glowing. Robert walked towards it with fear in his bones, but curiosity flowed inside his blood which made him fearless. Without no hesitation, Robert went to reach the pear but felt some bad vibes once he had pulled it off the tree. The entire forest began to decimate before his very eyes. The grass rotted so bad that it executed a horrendous odor that nearly caused Robert to gag. Trees were falling everywhere as he ran back towards his folks. The river was completely dry and scattered with fish skeletons.

He nearly sank into the ground as one area he ran through had converted into quicksand. Rocks were falling down the mountain at full speed and demolishing everything in its path. It was basically the apocalypse happening right before his very eyes. Although Robert was able to escape various near-death experiences, his family was no longer there where he had last seen them. Did they perish like his surroundings? “MOM?! DAD?! JANE?! WHERE ARE YOU?!’ Robert shouted using all the air from his lungs. No response was heard except the thunderous mountains beginning to rumble like an empty stomach.

His eyes watched the horror continue to unfold. This all occurred over a pear which was difficult for him to comprehend but he did not have the time to think about it now if he was ever going to get out of there alive. Suddenly, the ground under his feet started to crack and split open like a coconut. He leaped at what he thought was solid ground which nearly caused him to lose his balance, with quick thinking Robert managed to move on ahead. As he ran for his life, Robert did not know where he was going or how he could escape this situation. Terrible circumstances were arriving and there was no way out. His energy was beginning to wear off and he was becoming exhausted, both ankles began to rattle like a snake’s tail, Robert felt like the end was near for him. Looking at the bottom of the earth was the most terrifying thing he had ever seen; it was a bottomless pit to who knows where.

There were multiple vehicles up ahead that were patiently getting swallowed by the ground. Inside the vehicles were people and the look on their face gave him the chills. This would be the last image he would see as the whole surface below him crumbled and he began to free fall into the unknown. As he descended lower and lower, butterflies ran like crazy inside his stomach, he would soon be dead, and his fate would be sealed. Robert closed his eyes and hoped deeply that it was only a dream. It grew darker and darker around him but down below a red pool of fire was seen slowly growing larger before him. The temperature was scorching, and it felt almost unbearable to withstand it. Robert felt his body roasting his flesh and crazy butterflies danced at the pit of his stomach. Is this hell? That was the last thought on his mind before he realized that it had only been a dream, but the worst part was that he couldn’t wake up. He was experiencing sleep paralysis and his body continued to descend. Consciously he tried moving his body to snap himself up but couldn’t. He was about to die and screamed in total fear.

That yell was heard as he awoke back to reality covered in sweat and his sister looking at him. ‘Are you alright?’ Jane asked. Robert looked around him and was glad that he had to finally escape the horrendous nightmare he had experienced. ‘I dreamt that I was falling to my death.’ Robert said with a sound of relief. ‘That’s terrible. You've only been asleep for 10 minutes.’ Jane said. ‘What? It felt like a whole day just passed me by.’ Robert laid back and hesitated to go back to sleep. He stood awake wondering if there was actually a glowing pear hanging from a tree somewhere in the world. If there was, he would not go anywhere or even attempt to grab it. The dream taught him a valuable lesson that has been passed through the beginning of time and that is not to touch the forbidden fruit.