By way of explanation: I am easily bored. This usually leads to me getting into trouble in real life. In my writing, however, I can explore avenues of storytelling and the only fallout from that is the eye-rolling exhaustion experienced by my readership (there’s so few of you that I’m not overly bothered by that). This current experiment is based on a simple story: a man on a breadline makes a daily habit of handing one particular woman his orange. The goal is to see how weird I can make the retelling of the story each week. Simple, right?
🎵 [Theme Song begins: cheerful, glitchy MIDI tune with background children’s choir slightly out of sync]
🎶 “When the world gets strange and starts to peel,
Find a fruit that doesn’t feel real!
Line up, stand still, it’s time to receive,
From Mr. Orange and what he believes!” 🎶
Scene opens on a colorless set that looks like a daycare designed by someone who doesn’t understand children. The breadline is made of oversized plush figures stitched together by red thread. They moan softly when the camera pans over them.
🎙️ NARRATOR (male, cheerful, British, disintegrating):
“Today on Fruit Friends and the Line of Time, we’re going to learn about Sharing! And about how Mr. Orange Man always gives his special fruit to Miss Hollow—even though she never, ever asks!”
[CUE LAUGH TRACK: metallic, warbled]
Cut to Mr. Orange Man.
His costume is a full-body foam suit. His smile is painted on. The paint drips slightly with every cut. His eyes are realistic, human, and blinking. His arms are tubes. He wiggles one, delighted.
MR. ORANGE MAN (voice dubbed, childish):
“Helloooooo fruitlings! I’ve got a warm little orb for Miss Hollow today! Can you say recurring transference?”
[The word appears on screen. It’s misspelled. It rearranges itself backwards. Then vanishes.]
MISS HOLLOW sits at the end of the line. She is a mannequin with eyes drawn on her palms. Her mouth does not move, but sometimes her hair twitches in anticipation. The plush figures whisper.
MR. ORANGE MAN (to camera):
“It’s very important to always give, even if you don’t know why! Sometimes the fruit inside you isn’t just for you—it’s for the Orchard That Watches!”
[Studio audience cheers: “The Orchard! The Orchard!”]
Suddenly, static. The footage skips. The screen warps. We see a frame—only for a second—of a child with their mouth stitched shut, holding an orange the size of their head.
🎵 [Musical Interlude: “Let’s Peel Together!”]
🎶 “Peel it from your shoulder blade,
Grow a gift you never made,
Give it to the one in need,
Then forget what grew the seed!” 🎶
The cartoon portion begins.
In crude, flickering animation, Mr. Orange Man peels himself open like a nesting doll. Each layer is more human. More trembling. Until there’s nothing left but an eye, rolling down the breadline.
It lands in Miss Hollow’s palm.
She places it in her mouth.
She becomes the line.
🎙️ NARRATOR:
“And that’s how we learn that everyone gets a turn to be the bearer, the bearer, the bearer! Sharing isn’t just caring—it’s propagation!“
[The screen bleeds white. A voice in reverse whispers:]
“To accept the orange is to renounce the self.”
FINAL SCENE: The screen fades to black except for a tiny pulsing orange dot.
It blinks in Morse code:
“Next time… YOU give.“
To. Be. Transmogrified.
Bonus: The “Fruit Friends and the Line of Time” Theme Song + Lyrics
(Verse 1)
When the world gets strange and starts to peel,
Find a fruit that doesn’t feel real!
Line up, stand still, it’s time to receive,
From someone who gives what they can’t believe!(Chorus)
Peel it, feel it, don’t you squeal it!
Warm and weird—go on, conceal it!
Fruit from skin, skin from fruit,
Hold it tight and never refute!(Bridge – whispered under chorus)
[They’re always watching. The orchard knows.]
🎶 Interlude – “Let’s Peel Together!”
[Cheerful music with undertones of reversed laughter, children giggle]
(Verse)
Peel it from your shoulder blade,
Grow a gift you never made,
Give it to the one in need,
Then forget what grew the seed!(Chorus)
Let’s peel together, one by one,
Under the glitching plastic sun!
Juice like light, and light like lies,
Share your orange before time dies.[End with ascending chime arpeggio and a child whispering: “It’s your turn now.”]
MADD FICTIONAL 