Veggiewood: The Golden Fork Affair

In Veggiewood, it takes more than a golden fork to prove you're a cut above the rest. 🏆

The annual superfood awards Veggiewood's IT crowd of Veggiewood--top nutritionists, Michelin chefs and other culinary elite. It gave the creme de la creme of the vegetable kingdom a chance to see and be seen.
Of course, kale, quinoa, avocado, and blueberry had their eyes on the coveted Golden Fork.
Kale, the first contestant, strutted her stuff across the stage. She was a mean contender with an enviable list of antioxidant credentials under her green belt. Quinoa demanded recognition for her whole-grain lineage and had the enthusiastic backing of her public relations team.
Carrot stood out among the common roots, and feared that she was nothing special. She gazed at the others, orange with envy. Avocado was fashionably late, flanked by a score of blueberry guards.

The competition was frighteningly intense. Worried that she was losing her uniquely orange edge, Carrot hired a marketing consultant. She underwent a complete rebranding, emerging fit and toned, a highly exclusive wellness product.
Media hype was a natural consequence. The orange root was now no longer a vegetable--she was an exclusive orange wellness experience. She had progressed socially and economically from humble soil to haute couture--and her price had risen faster than her nutritional value.
Friendships changed. "You're far too pedestrian for my new image," she told her old friend, Potato. Her tastes, too, had outclassed her earthy origins.

The vegetable community kitchen had always been a major contributor to the World Food Day Lunch--their produce status compelled them to contribute regularly. Potato and Onion were enthusiastic participants. Onion brought tears to everyone's eyes with his keen involvement.
"Joining us, carrot?" They bobbed up and down as they handed her a pamphlet.
"Well... I'd better not." With her new status, she HAD to be wary of what she was involved in.
That same day, she passed the kitchen. Everyone was up to their necks in preparations, eager to gaze into the eyes of hungry baby potatoes glowing in anticipation.
Everyone but herself.

She received the much-anticipated gold-embossed envelope in the mail --the coveted invitation to Veggiewood's Golden Fork ceremony. Just then, the community kitchen realised that it needed an ingredient for soup.

Carrot's publicist nearly wilted. "The ceremony must take priority!"

And then, a vision. The eyes of Baby Potatoes--staring straight at her. She found something she could put herself on the chopping block for--and made herself useful.

The Golden Fork Awards proceeded with the usual fanfare, edgy salad demonstrations, and Carrot- the recipient of the Golden Beetroot Award for Compassion.
For Mikeydred's October Challenge

Some mirrors show your face. Others reveal the thoughts, fears, choices and contradictions hidden beneath the surface.

Mirrors of the Mind explores those reflections through stories that look at people, relationships and the unexpected turns that make us question what we thought we knew.

Sometimes, the most revealing thing in a mirror isn't the person looking back.