Spiky Pink Fruit

"It looks like a dragon's egg," said Mia, holding the fruit in both hands.

Gran had left it on the garden wall. It was bright pink, with green spikes all over it. Gran had said it tasted like summer, and Mia wanted to know what summer tasted like. But the fruit was very strange to look at.

"Pokey outside, what's inside?" she whispered.

She shut her eyes and took a big bite. "Ow!" The spikes poked her lip. The fruit rolled off the wall and fell in a puddle. Plop.

Mia wiped it on her sleeve. She tried again, this time with a spoon. The spoon bounced off the skin. Clink. The fruit rolled into the puddle again.

"Hmm," said Mia.

The scarecrow stood nearby in the vegetable patch, wearing a teapot for a hat. A sparrow sat on the teapot spout. She was not there to help Mia. She was there because she was building a nest in the teapot, and she kept carrying in bits of straw.

Mia took a shortcut across the beans to ask the scarecrow what to do. The shortcut was muddy, and it took much longer than the path. The scarecrow said nothing at all.

Then Mia saw something. On the ground lay another fruit that had split open. The sparrow hopped down and tugged at the skin. It peeled off in one long curl, like a sock coming off a foot.

"It comes off!" said Mia. "You don't bite it. You peel it!"

She dug in with her thumbnail and pulled. The skin slid away. Inside, the fruit was white with tiny black dots, like a pillow covered in freckles.

"Pokey outside," said Mia. "Freckles inside."

She took a small bite. It was sweet and cool. Juice ran down her chin and dripped off her nose. Plop.

Above her, the teapot hat gave a little rattle. The sparrow tucked in one more piece of straw, and the garden was quiet except for Mia, chewing.