Friday, July 30, 2010

Ode of the Date Palm



From the desert they came, loaded not on camel backs but in refrigerated trucks. An exotic fruit, unseen in urban markets, till recently.
The buyer was hesitant- “I’ve never had this before”. The seller insistent- “Try one, I am sure you will like it.” She bit into the proffered piece, but remained unsure. “I’ll give it to you cheap”, the seller said.
On the long commute home, she reached for her banana, then changing her mind, took out the dates instead. The fruit was delicious, she spat the seeds out.

Two months later, there were date palms lining the train-tracks.

_____
A drabble is a story told in exactly 100 words.


For the full story, and how it relates to writing, visit Burrowers, Books & Balderdash, and while you are there, catch up with some great posts from the rest of the Burrowers.

19 comments:

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

To write a story on that subject is wonderful but to put it in a drabble of 100 words is a miracle.
Well done.

Yvonne.

dipali said...

What a wonderfully fruitful story:)

Ella said...

Wonderful and fun to read! I love dates~

Deb and Barbara said...

Ha -- I love how your tamarind experience inspired this beautiful drabble (at least, that's what I'm assuming!)
B

Sueann said...

What a wonderful story! I loved the vision of it. And the dates too...they are a favorite of mine.
Hugs
SueAnn

Cruella Collett said...

I meant to post this on your Burrow blog post, but now it goes here instead. It sounds so exotic to me that trees can grow from randomly thrown seeds! Of course that happens here as well, but not a lot of plants are strong enough to survive on their own. There are only a few types - sunflowers, for instance, that actually grows from that meagre start. Otherwise if you want something to survive in this climate, you'll need to take care of it.

So the idea of a date palm grown from a thrown seed is indeed very foreign to me!

LTM said...

ooo! I love dates and I love the way you ended your drabble! I can imagine the trees lining the RR tracks... :o)

Unknown said...

I love how you make a beautiful story with something you saw on a train. Lovely!

CD

Jules said...

Such beauty and in 100 words, WOW. You have an amazing talent for this drabble thing. :)

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

That is so clever, Rayna!

Anonymous said...

aaah - such a perfect ending and so unexpected. I adore your drabbles - you are getting better each time! As Cruella says, sunflower seed (from bird table) self-seeds in our northern climes and last year I had niger seed germminate (goldfinches spurned them) and actually flower! I know that's from your neck of the woods....
... somehow the thought of British Rail sidings filled with date palms makes me think of heaven-on-earth... thank you for your inspiration x Marian

RA said...

Lovely, lovely ending. And in truth, the dates are worth it. :)

The Yard Bard said...

Now I want to try some dates! Anything that causes trees can't be bad. :)

Mary@GigglesandGuns said...

Great story! Made me think of the watermelon seeds we spit out as kids and hoped they would grow melons.
Thanks for the memory.

Tabitha Bird said...

What we spit out takes seed, hey :)

Great drabble.

And btw- the story on my blog 'The missing Feet' was a true story. Just thought you might like to know.

Southpaw said...

Great drabble. And dates are tasty!

Tina said...

I've never had a date...but I saw tamarind in the grocery store yesterday (although as tamarindo, we have a huge hispanic population in this town) and thought of you "-)

Unknown said...

I thought my comment posted. I am having a real problem with the pop up comment window.

Anyway, I loved this story. You make really wonderful and intricate connections.

Natasha said...

@ Yvonne - can I let you into a secret- I am too lazy to write more.

@ Dipali- have you tried growing date seeds? They should grow in Calcutta too.

@ Ellie- one of my favourite fruits too.

@ Barbara- yes, and no. I have both plants grown from seed.

@ SueAnn - thank you.

@ Cruella- we are a more humid place, and there is a lot more sunshine all year through- maybe that is the reason. I would love to have sunflowers springing up.

@ Leigh - that would be quite a sight, wouldn't it?

@ Clarissa- thank you

@ Jules- thank you so much.


@ Alex- thanks

@ Marian - it is lovely to get unexpected flowers, isn't it?

@ RA- they are. Very much so.

@ The Yard Bard- they are really good, trust me on that.

@ Mary- I have a pot full of watermelon seedlings- unfortunately, they rarely make it beyond that stage

@ Tabitha- it did sound like a real story, but I wanted to be sure.

@ Holly- very tasty!

@ Tina- dates are lovely too.

@ Chary- thank you. And maybe you have pop up windows disabled or something.

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