A Prayer for a Pear

Henry thought the name of the town he was invited to a bit odd. “Pear Town…”, he says befuddled.

He looks at a picture that his new girlfriend sent him. It’s of her and her two young boys. Henry has never felt love like this before. He spent too much time focusing on his job that he didn’t have time to love but this was it. Harriet was the one for him. Today he was going to visit her for the first time. Henry was surprised how well online dating worked for him but the chemistry was there. She was perfect. Harriet was a lovely woman who admired Henry’s work ethic. He really admires her connection to her children and believed she was a lovely woman he can spend the rest of his life with.

Leaving his beloved home behind, he set off for Peartown where his new love resides. Pear town was a town in the middle of nowhere. In the center of a desert. Honestly, Henry’s never even heard of it. It seemed to sprout out of the abyss. Henry wondered if it’s known for their pears in pear town. Though that didn’t matter, all he cared for was seeing this beautiful woman that he is meeting for the first time and that he supposedly loves.

As Henry gets closer to Peartown he sees a stand on the side of the road. Hilariously enough it was a Pear stand. Feeling pretty hungry, Henry decides to purchase one but the attendee says, “No money is necessary. A prayer for a pear.”

So Henry takes a bushel of pears for free. He begins eating them and though they are pretty good, he wouldn’t eat the bitter sweet taste everyday.He was happy he brought a chocolate bar with him for the journey. About a mile away from the town, with the desert at his left and right he sees a man walking. Feeling concerned Henry slows down and asks the man if he needs a ride back to the town. The man flinches at the question. He then sees the bushel of pears in the car and begins to run away. Henry doesn’t really pay any mind to this and begins to drive again toward the town. Maybehe was just tired of the Pears in Peartown. Henry takes a bite out of his second pear and continues his journey.

He soon saw the town on the horizon. The look of the town was quaint like it’s captured within time. It seemed the desert gave way to the town and its lush green grass and perfect houses. Henry looked for any pear trees that gave the town it’s name. He thought he saw one but when looking back, it didn’t seem to be there in the first place. The townfolk looked happy. Everyone waved and said hello in an eerie manner. No one was frowning, no one was crying and no one was having a bad day. Henry felt the lack of sadness made it feel eerie but shoved the sentiment into the back of his mind. “Odd but OK,” he muttered, waving back. Henry soon pulled up to his beloved Harriet‘s house. Harriet and her children were standing picturesque in the foyer of her house. It was a sight to behold but still no pear trees on her property as well. Henry took a last bite of his bushel of pears that he finished. He nervously grabbed for another one but he finished them all. Henry said, “a prayer for pear,” as he exited his car.

Henry had a perfect time with Harriet’s family. Nothing was amiss. Though he did think it was kind of odd for dinner every thing he ate had pear in it: Pear glazed chicken, pear infused potatoes with pear butter and pear zested vegetables. The new couple put the children down to sleep and they had each other all to themselves. Henry thought himself this was amazing, like too amazing, almost scary. Harriet whispers to Henry, “and now time for dessert…” She leaves to bring him a pipin’ hot pear pie which they both enjoyed together. After licking their fingers from the meal Henry asked, “Where do you get The pears from?” I haven’t seen a single pear tree here since I arrived. She gingerly gathers the dishes and heads toward the kitchen and looks back and says, “They are everywhere, how could you miss them?” smilingforcefully. Henry thinks to himself odd but OK.

The lovely night ended with them both laying down to sleep. They both lie gazing into each other‘s eyes. Henry whispers, “I’ve never had a more fabulous time,” slowly succumbing to sleep. Harriet replies quietly, “You’ll soon realize it's too late to save yourself.” A lone tear falls from her face and she turns around and goes to sleep very suddenly. Henry thought he misheard her. After all, he did eat a full meal. Soon his eyes became heavy and he thought he saw pears all over the floor but when he refocused they all disappeared.

Waking up the next morning Harriet asked Henry to stay for a couple of days. Henry agreed after all everything was perfect there. This morning he had pancakes topped with pear substitute syrup. Henry admitted to himself that the taste of hair was getting a little monotonous. Thankfully he remembered he had the chocolate bar in the car, to wash the pear out of his mouth. He could not admit to his new love that he did not like her food so he went to his car in secret. It was good to taste something different. The bitter sweet pear taste in his mouth was finally replaced by chocolatey goodness.

Going back inside of the house and shutting the door oddly prompted the electricity to go out. Harriet yelled to him, “Henry-honey can you please check the fuse box in the basement?”

“Sure Harriet-Lovely,” said Henry in response, blushing at the idea that they’re using nicknames. Henry walks downstairs to the fuse box. Though when prying it open a bunch of branches sprouted from it. Off the branches hung several pairs. Henry thinks to himself this is so odd. What are all these branches coming from? He pushes them to the side and begins to look around only to find pears all around his feet. There is no basement, only strands of what looks like branches made to look like a room. Henry begins to lose his composer and his heart begins to race as he descends into a nightmare. “What is going on?” Henry yells, “There is no fuse box!?” He turns around and a female figure from what seems to be made of branches stands before him. She is draped in branches and seems to be made of wood from head to toe. “It looks like it’s Harriet!”, Henry thinks within his breaking psyche. Henry steps back but the figure grabs him with an immensely powerful grip without letting go. It opens its mouth to reveal a pear concoction oozing down it’s wooden face. Henry struggles to escape but the wooden arms scrape and splinter his skin. The female figure presses her wooden lips to Henry’s gasping mouth and Henry is forced to ingest the pear regurgitate.

Henry wakes up in a daze. He is back in harriet’s room with her brushing sweat from his brow. “Oh honey, you seem to have shocked yourself with the fuse box,” she says gingerly. He looks at her suddenly remembering the wooden monster looked like her. “Did you have a bad dream?”, she utters nervously. Henry slowly pushes her hand away and raises himself up from the bed. The chocolate taste that he had in his mouth was replaced with pear again.

“Something off…”, Henry says nervously. He feels the splinters and scrapes from the nightmare and sees it on his arm. He quickly gets up from the bed and pushes past Harriet to get to the door.

Harriet screams, “but isn’t this place perfect?!” Henry pauses at the words and looks back. He sees the beautiful woman he fell in love but realizes this is all a lie. He continues, running out the door. Her children try to block him as he runs down the corridor but he jumps over them hoping to get to the car. “Henry, don't you want to be our new daddy?! Henry! Henry! Henry!”, bellow the children behind him. His name echos behind him as he burst out the front door of Harriet’s house. He gets to the car and shuts the door behind them. He tries to start the car but it sputters. He sees the unfinished chocolate bar in the passenger seat and quickly shovels it into his mouth, hoping to rid himself of the illusion. The taste of chocolate overbears the taste of pear. Soon he sees Peartown for what it really is: a pear nightmare. Miles above him is the canopy of a giant pear tree. The huge truck stands indignantly at the center of the hell of an oasis in the desert. Branch tendrils from the large tree outstretch into the surrounding forming more peach trees and forming house shaped trees. Pears fall like rain around him hitting the car and littering the ground. Henry’s eyes are open in horror as the tree realizes he is out of the dream of perfection it made for him. Focusing his attention, he now sees a reason why his car wouldn’t start. Tendrils of wood slowly invade the cars engine and invade the inside of the car trying to reach him. Candy bar in hand, Henry tries to bat the wooden branches away but he realizes that he must abandon his car. He kicks out the back window and crawls out with the tendrils still reaching for him. Pear trees are everywhere they make up the homes they make up the cars they make up everything, including the people. Henry tries to run but the pears littering the ground keep him from running quickly. The wooden tree people are fast. They came out of the woodwork wrapping their branch tendrils around him as he tries to pull away. Henry could not escape. Their gaping mouths revealed the cobbler of pear indoctrination ready to force-fed into him. Overtaking him, the wooden people utter, “A prayer for a pear. A prayer for a pear. A prayer for a pear.”

Henry stands alone in the desert with a huge smile on his face. The pear stand is all there is for miles. A car slows down and parks near him. A man walks up to him and asks, “How much for a bushel?” Henry with excitement says, “This one’s on the house.” He hands him a bushel of pears. As the man takes it Henry says, “A Prayer for a Pear.” The man didn’t see from his vantage point that Henry’s legs were fused into the soil by roots. The man looks at him awkwardly but takes the bushel nonetheless. As the man drives away, Henry, still smiling, has a lone tear fall from his face.