Danny. Copy-write P. Audcent 2014
Beyond the seashore as far as one can see standing as tall as one can, there lay a small coconut like object bobbing up and down the waves. As it reached each peak of the wave the wind would drive it on until eventually, after many days, it reached the home of young Danny Tremble. He had been walking with his dog Mussels and he spotted the coconut looking object and pointed in delight, then he started to run to the water edge but Mussels beat him to it and pawed it back to the beach just as Danny arrived.
He gave Mussels a pat on his rump and picked the oblong fruit up. Now coconuts have a soft outer coat to protect the large nut inside but this one seemed different, it seemed lighter for a start and the green covering was definitely soft and spongy. So he gasped it to his chest and ran and skipped up the beach with Mussels in hot pursuit. They reached their beach shack and Danny placed his find on the outside table. Grandpa was inside the house and heard Mussels barking so he got out of his wicker chair and went outside to see what all the noise was about.
'Look Granddad what me and Mussels found in the surf, it looked like a coconut but I don't think it is!
'Well I'll be blowed Danny neither do I', Granddad prodded it with his finger,' Its definitely not a coconut but does look similar. I tell you what, just for test, we'll plant it over there in the corner by those coconut trees and see what happens!'
So they both went to the tool shed and bought out two spades, then they fetched the barrow and wheeled it over to the garden corner. Both dug the sandy soil until the proper depth had been reached and Danny bent down and lay the strange fruit into the soil. Granddad then tipped the soil from the barrow and Danny stomped on it to firm it up.
'Shall we water it?' asked Danny.
' Well I don't rightly know after all its been in the sea.'
'But that's not fresh water its salty.'
'So it is, alright Danny just a watering can of our pure water, under the outside tap just there.' Granddad pointed to the shack corner and Danny raced over, filled the can and dragged it back. Granddad picked it up in one easy movement and emptied it over the fruit they had just planted.
Three weeks later a small leaf pushed up from the soil, and unrolled. Danny had gone down every day just to check and was at last delighted to find some action has occurred so he called his Granddad to come and see. Granddad walked down and had a look.
'There are two more stalks coming up as well!' he called.
'Tell you what, lets take the next leaf that appears down to the library and see if we can identify what it might be!'
Well the second leaf appeared that same evening and by the next morning was out flat and Danny picked it and placed it in a paper bag. His mother called for him to wash his hands just in case it was harmful or toxic, so immediately Granddad was ready off they drove down to the Library.
Alas nothing in the botanical books had anything like the leaf, so they consulted Mary Johnson the Librarian and she suggested they visit Roger Handy who true to his name lived close by. Roger thought it might be from a nut tree and he had a wealth of botanical books he could search from until just before lunch he shouted that he had found it.
'Well,'said Granddad what have we got?
'First of all where did you plant it, I guess it was sandy soil.'
Granddad nodded.
'Well you'll have to dig it up again, very carefully, it needs plenty of humus and an acid soil. What you have here came from South America, probably via a river system deep in the interior then finally reaching the ocean and eventually picked up by young Danny here.
'Well thank you for the story Roger but what is it, you have not told us!'
'Wait and see and watch it grow, believe you me it will be well worth it.' and with that Roger showed them the door. As soon as they arrived back they carefully dug in moist compost and humus around the seed and watered it in.
Because it was his grandsons special tree Granddad continued watering it and feeding it with humus and compost until the various shoots grew rapidly.
Five years went by and Danny was once again staying with his Grandparents it was coming on to Christmas and he had yet to buy anything for them, he had scratched his head but Granddad seemed to have everything he needed so he got up early that next morning and sauntered into the garden to inspect his tree. There had been a storm overnight and he had heard the branches of the trees swaying against each other. Around his tree lay three large fruits just like the one he had planted but this time he went to Granddads shed and bought out a small axe and with a firm crack he opened up the outer case to reveal a host of Brazil nuts all neatly packed together. He picked up the second casing and hit that, then the third one got the same treatment. He gathered all the nuts together and put the axe away safely then collected all the nuts into Granny's wicker basket and ran in to place the it under the Christmas tree.
When Granny and Granddad rose they came into the lounge and spotted the basket with the nuts inside and a little note inside.
It read: From Danny and the mystery tree, to Granny and Granddad Happy Christmas.