(Notes: This is a little story I conjured up instead of reading Shakespeare. It was certainly more entertaining. I hope you don't tire of the same nouns that I had to re-use all the time. I apologise, but there aren't many synonms for "Seed". Enjoy!)

Prologue

For now, the parent knew, the children were safe. How long they would remain that way, she didn't know. Where they took her babies after they plucked the wombs from her loving branches, the poor mother had no idea, and she would be horrified into sterility if she only knew the truth.

Scattered at her feet were the ones that were eager, and held in her many arms were the ones that still required her loving nourishment. She gave them life, she gave them water and light, and they grew accordingly. When early in the warm season they had been nothing but frail buds on her weakened limbs, now they were firm and ripe, and hanging on by only their delicate steams.

Down the isle, the machines droned ever nearer, and she clutched her offspring close, hiding them in her protective greenery. The two-legged drones tore the children from the other mothers in her isle, and the screams and groans that reached her from inside the ground almost drove her into movement… her uncomfortable twitchings were camouflaged by the wind.

The mother almost screamed as the machines arrived and plucked her innocent seeds from her caring embrace. The creatures crawled all over her bark, pulling every last ripening baby off of it's branch.

They were tossed into the truck and driven away, and the apple tree wept.

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Chapter 1:

The little seed rested in it's protective, fleshy womb, aware that it was no longer with it's mother. It knew a bit more about the world than the stationary and conservative apple tree had, and yet it did not talk to the other seeds that surrounded it. It listened to the young ones gossip and wonder, and heard strange things that must have been passed down through families that were not as conservative as it's own.

One group of siblings held the floor:

"And then we are separated from our womb. They take the flesh away."

"What do they do with us then?"

"Some, they take and pluck from our anchorings. We get put back in the soil, like my mamma."

"Your Mamma? So… this is almost like normal, when we used to live wild?"

"What do they do with the others?"

The knowledgeable seeds paused for effect, and then all voices together:

"No one knows."

A meditative silence stretched for a few seconds, as the young seeds took this development in. They rustled inside their fleshy homes, but the young can't be held silent for long.

"Maybe it'll be an adventure, and we'll get put somewhere different than this boring old place."

That evoked a flurry of speculation, and the tiny seeds eagerly offered their opinions.

Secure inside a barrier of thought, the solitary seed sat still. It's other twins that shared the womb with it didn't comment on it's silence; they were to busy trying to be heard. Instead of talking, the brown droplet, so full of potential, decided to take action. It began to squirm away from the core of it's apple.

Curiosity is a curious thing. This seed, made of the same basic stuff as its fellows, chose not to wait for fate to find it, but instead made an opportunity for knowledge and exploration. As the truck lumbered toward the factory to which it was bound, the tiny seed wiggled its way almost to the perimeter of the fruit. There, within only a few skin-widths, lay the rosy outer layer of the fruit. The seed lay exhausted, and then drifted into slumber.

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Chapter 2:

When it awoke, it was already on the move. Around it, the excited shouts of the other children rang through the air, too natural to be heard by the two-legged machines. The apples tumbled over layers of belts, and the drones picked samples from the bunch and tossed them aside. The seeds didn't know why, but the drones seemed to pick only the small or bruised wombs, and didn't seem to care if the seeds themselves were sick or wounded.

They didn't understand the ways of the sorters. THEY knew that the apple was only a vessel, and that the most precious part was the cargo - themselves. The drones must be very stupid.

The seed awoke, trying to get it's bearings as it tumbled along. From what it could tell, they had entered the severing stage, and the shouts of anticipation confirmed this. It barely had time to digest this news, when the skin of it's own vessel had been sheared off. Light shone through the thin layer that still hid the seed from view. It wondered at the sight.

The second stage caught it by surprise. There was a lot of movement, a lot of jolting, and then it heard it's twins being taken away with the rest of the little seeds. The apple seed was now alone, imbedded safely in it's empty womb, surrounded by the abandoned flesh of countless others. It rode on, and fell asleep once more.

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Chapter 3:

The temperature increased dramatically, much faster than it ever did out in the field. The seed awoke to strange senses, and everything was warped by the heat. It heard the empty vessels bursting in the pressure, and wondered what was wrong. Then it was distracted by a loud crackling within it's own apple. In a rush of steam, the womb collapsed into mush, and then sat and sizzled in the ovens.

Terrified, the seed buried itself in the mush, screaming as it's edges burnt. This was terrible, this was torture. Was it because the seed did not obey the sorters? Was it because it had been too curious?

Finally, the agony ebbed, as the much and the seed were emptied into a large vat. Mixed in with the shattered fruit and the seed was white powder, and yellow syrup. It got all got churned into a smooth substance, and the seed almost screamed as it was flattened and crushed. Most of it's body stayed in the same place, so it remained alive. It was glad there was no more pain.

Movement again. This time slow, exaggerated. The seed could only see the yellowish pulp, even as it was dropped into a glass jar and sealed inside. The child wept, then yelled, and then fell silent.

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Chapter 4:

Time passed, and it travelled far. With time, it even found another seed that had adventured as it had, and the two of them compared experiences. The second seed informed the first that they were now a precious substance to be consumed, like water. Neither of them understood the extent of it, but the second seed assured the first that they were useful, and should be proud. The jar that held the second seed was taken away eventually, but the first seed remained proud of it's friend. It was serving a great purpose, wherever it had gone.

Inevitably, the first seed's jar was taken up and paid for. The seed virtually glowed with pride as finally being chosen, although the feeble light was concealed by the yellow mush of apples. The tiny seed, having waited for so long to be used, waited happily in the now colder, darker environment. When the seal on the jar was broken at last, the apple seed laughed in delight. A spoon grouped after the goop, and the seed manoeuvred most of it's bits into the path of the metal. It was scooped up and plopped into use.

A small boy stared at the applesauce that his mother had placed before him. He blinked doubtfully up at her. "No!" he screeched, banging his spoon against the bowl. Inside, the essence of the seed jumped for joy: it was about to be useful! It was so proud!

"Please, Johnny, just eat it. It'll make you nice and strong!"

"No!"

"Want to play aeroplane?"

"No!"

"Mmm… it's yummy!"

"No!"

"Oh, alright. You can have a cookie instead."

The seed and it's parts screamed as it was scraped into the garbage. The garbage was not alive; it had not been consumed. All of it's hard work and endurance had been for nothing. Instead, it had been ejected! Oh, what a terrible seed it was. It could not even fulfil the simplest of duties. The essence of the once curious seed finally broke down, and wept.

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Epilogue

Forlorn now, the seed had no sense of time passing, or scenery changing. It only sensed the change when a tomato seed spoke kindly to it.

"Don't cry, little one, you're very important!"

The essense of the apple seed sniffed.

"What can I do now? I can't even grow."

The tomato clucked at it, and whispered:

"Your being here will help all of us grow. You will keep us fed and happy. That is more important than just being applesauce to the humans."

"Applesauce? Humans?"

The seed was feeling that old spark of curiosity, and it calmed it's sobs in order to hear the tomato seed explain. The tomato began by telling it all about the compost heap where they lived, and the seed grew very, very interested.