Fruit for thought

My withered palm cushioned a leathery, pleasantly-chilled, round rind that housed a bunch of spongy carpels, nestled snugly.

Straight from my refrigerator, this pulpy orange seemed to protrude its innocent, cartoony-bright eyes 👀 as if wanting me to squish it with my parched mouth.

The tough, bright, reddish-yellow layer was ripe enough for a gentle peeling. It took me a while to get over this stupendous sensation of my citrus orange. I gave it a good gazing. After my visual thirst was quenched, I swirled gently, attempting to dance my way to the room, with my pudgy partner–the sight of which looked absurd for such a couple; considering my slender structure, and his, a fat round one.

Cheerful, I slumped into my crimson couch still carrying the juicy bulge.

If you are guessing my next move, hold your thoughts! No! I wasn’t yet ready to embark on a snail-like journey of pulling the wedges apart, giving each one a turn to be squelched by my teeth. After all, in that baking heat around the scorched walls, it deserved to be an experience worth enjoying.

I sized up that orange, examining it from different angles; imagining the size of its jelly-like carpels affixed to each other. This engaging play with my orange surged my joy and filled those moments with exuberance; as if there was a silent communication between us.

I noticed specks of diverse shades on the rind that radiated the grace of a sun rise🌞.

Only if I could add meaning to each shade of the colour orange, I would nominate myself for a ‘class of genius.’ Ha! jokes aside, orange seemed to have multiple personalities, for it would flame-up like fire in a second, and bloom like a flower in another, gaze like a rising sun one moment, glare like a burning red pot in another.

Seriously, if you have a palate for oranges and a passion for tasting, you may want to spend some time discovering oranges’ diverse nature to relish the savoury taste of the one you get your hands on. Associated with summers, orange teamed with other fruits makes for a healthy treat.

Not only is orange known to be the colour of marmalade, Halloween, traffic lights, potato chips, vermillion, uniforms and life jackets, but it is also well symbolised as energy, trend, vitality, fun, cheer and excitement.

The health benefits of oranges are well experienced by millions of us and are finely documented. It deserves stronger recognition than just being known for cultivating great skin. For we must know, oranges provide relief in indigestion ailments, increase immunity and are known to be fortified with Vitamin C. Known as Mandarin oranges in Europe and Satsumas in Japan, oranges belong to the citrus family.

Coming back to my orange-savouring episode:

I gently peeled off the brittle rind, keeping the unevenly peeled layers aside on my mahogany table. As the peels rested on their backs, their white tummies up on my table, my eyes caught the attention of the soft white pericarp that had held the carpels closely to itself, as if it were a warm cushion to them.

In a flash, I got pulled into the reminiscence of my school days when we would squeeze the orange peel to produce the rind juice and spray it into friends’ eyes.

After recalling some joyful moments, I softly split apart each squashy segment from the other and glided it between my lips to feel its baby-like skin. Nudging it inside my mouth, I greatly rejoiced the first dig into the fluid-filled flesh of the carpel, needless to mention, mashing the lumpy remains while sucking juice down my throat.

I have never liked oranges up until this monumental experience with my cute and pudgy partner.

By the way, does orange rhyme with any word?

Image credit: Google (core source unknown)