On the Blueberry

They are small and blue and excellent in pies, but here is the story of one in particular, whose name,

coincidentally, was Blueberry.

The sun shone down through the trees and reached the blueberry bush. No more than a human foot

high, the small shrubs were the homes of hundreds of the little things. In one such group, the one at the

far right beside the young oak tree, there lived a blueberry named Blueberry.

It was not surprising that his name was Blueberry, for blueberries cannot talk and thus call

themselves all by the name of Blueberry. This particular Blueberry was one of a group of five.

Blueberry was the second to emerge from the womb of the flower. He was green and hard. Now,

after several days, he had matured and was entirely blue and much larger than originally.

First to emerge had been Blueberry, but not the Blueberry of this story. This Blueberry was to

the immediate left of our Blueberry and just as round, plump and blue.

To Blueberry's left were the twins. They were the youngest and, therefore, the greenest,

named Blueberry and Blueberry.

Next had been Bluebey. Now I say his name was Bluebey because that is what he called

himself, for he was not a true blueberry.

Now, I say that Bluebey was a rather unfortunate chap because of his crease, but really he did

not suffer from it. The only disadvantage was that he would not be selected by the great god, Gravitar,

or by one of his holy animal messengers to become a father.

All the blueberries knew this story, how I cannot say because they could not tell it amongst

themselves in the way that you or I would, but many would suggest that it was just something they knew

by instinct, or through their genes. To become a father was one of our Blueberry's greatest goals, and

he was somehow certain that he would make it. He was nearly ready and was a perfect candidate

because of how plump and juicy he was. The great Gravitar was already beginning to pull him from his

branch. If he survived the fall, of what distance Blueberry did not know, Gravitar would guide him to a

place where he could father a new bush for young blueberry's to grow.

Blueberry snuggled in close to Bluebey, so that he fit into the dent made by the crease. He did

not care to be around Blueberry, the one to his left, but he enjoyed the company of Bluebey. A slight

breeze had just started up along the meadow and they all began to sway gently. The sun was still

shining but, for the moment, Blueberry and his group were in the shadow of an overhanging branch.

Comfortable, Blueberry began dreaming of the day when he would take the marvelous plunge.

The ground began to tremble ever so lightly, but then it grew much harder. It was not enough

to rattle the blueberries but they could certainly feel it. Blueberry wondered if perhaps it was Gravitar

coming for him.

The trembling stopped for a moment or two and then returned. It did this several times, starting

for just a second and then stopping, sometimes moving closer and sometimes moving away. Some time

later, the trembling grew as loud and close to Blueberry as it had been yet.

Blueberry was still snuggled into Bluebey. He felt a warmth and a firm grip surround him on

two sides. The grip was comforting; it was not so hard as to squish him and not so light as to drop him,

but just enough to deliver him safely to the ground. He praised Gravitar for selecting him.

He was going upwards, how he knew, I don't know, but they say when you lose a sense your

others become stronger and perhaps, the blueberry, having no sense at all but feel, had developed it to

such a finite ability that he could tell just exactly where he was.

Up? He shouldn't be going up, Gravitar would pull him down onto the hard earth and then

persuade him on his journey. Blueberry became nervous, but he did not have time to analyze the

situation, for he was quickly dropped and brought down to safety by the magnificent Gravitar.

He landed on top of something soft yet firm, rolled a little way and then came to a stop. The

great Gravitar had carried him a long way. Blueberry apologized profusely for ever doubting the great

god. Now, he felt around beneath him for a place to take root, but he did not find ground where it

should have been. Instead he found blueberries.

Blueberries? He should not be on blueberries. For the second time in a very short period, he

began to question his god. He began to tremble as he could feel the others doing beneath him.

Suddenly there was a greater movement than the trembling of a hundred blueberries.

Up they went, all of a sudden. The trembling which they had heard before began again but did

not go away and get quiet. They were being rocked back and forth for Blueberry was being rolled

around on top.

They were put down again and Blueberry found himself in complete darkness, not the darkness

of shade but the darkness of the sun gone missing. He felt blueberries on top and beneath him. He

wondered what had happened to Bluebey.

Bluebey was trembling, he had felt the warmth of the thing that came to take away Blueberry

and had heard it move away some time after. He was still on the branch, with the twins, but Blueberry

and Blueberry had both gone.

The air where they were was much different from outside. It was cool and dry whereas it had

been warm and humid outside. The large tremors seemed to have grown louder and there were more

of them now. A large, warm thing reached down and scooped up as many of the blueberries as it

could. Blueberry was aboard it as it moved them up and then across. There were several small

grooves and creases along the warm thing and he felt compelled to explore them but he was jostled

away.

He found himself on top of the pile again and light shining onto him. It was not natural light, it

did not have the same feel, and instead of comforting him, only made him more nervous. He shook

with fear - well as much as a blueberry can - and found himself in the hands of Gravitar once more.

He began to roll and then he fell.

Where he fell was hard and even. There was no character to the landscape he had landed on

as he had always imagined there would be, but he did not fret and chose to praise his god once more

for the honour given to him. The other blueberries landed with a thud a short distance away, but

Blueberry was too busy to make any notice of it.

He was feeling around for a place to take root but soon found that Gravitar was not yet finished

with him. The god reached down with the grip Blueberry had learned not to fear. He was wrapped on

both sides by a warmth similar, but not exact, to the one that had taken him from his bush. He was

lifted up again, higher than he had ever been before.

He was in some place very warm and wet. He was beginning to question Gravitar once more

when...

That was the end of Blueberry, he felt only too late that he was being squeezed between two

very hard and lumpy things. His sweet juice squirted inside before his blue skin was ripped apart by the

two hard things.

Blueberry never became a father. Even when a blueberry is eaten by an animal - or holy

animal messenger as the blueberries called them - it still stands a good chance of seeding once the

animal defecates the remains. The new bush will often be more prosperous because there are no

interspecies competition with other well-established bushes and so the blueberry, who sacrificed his life

for it to grow will be held in the highest regard.

However, Blueberry was devoured by Sylvia who was making a blueberry pie and dropped

him onto her kitchen counter and decided to have a taste. And since Sylvia lives in a modern

household, all that she defecated ended up in an underground container with hundreds of bacteria.

The pie was delicious.

As for Bluebey, he was never selected by Gravitar or one of his animal messengers. He

thought for a brief moment that perhaps he had been selected when he finally grew too heavy for his

branch and fell. He rotted at the spot where he fell. He never became a father but helped many by

providing the nutrients that are necessary for plant growth.

Blueberry, the one to the left of our blueberry, ended up in the pie and was digested by

Charlotte, Sylvia's daughter. He ended up in the bacteria swimming pool with Blueberry as well.

The twins grew blue and plump and were picked by Charlotte on her next blueberry picking

mission for pies.

The second pie was delicious.

The bacteria enjoyed eating Blueberry and Blueberry and, when they came along, Blueberry

and Blueberry.

Charlotte and Sylvia both enjoyed the pie very much with vanilla ice cream and a little bit of

syrup.

As for Gravitar, he did not really exist but was what the blueberries mistakenly called the effect

of gravity to pull them down to the lowest point possible.