French For The Chic Tourist
an excerpt

One of the oranges speeding toward the front door of Walter’s Wonderful World of Pets Depot And More Store was named George. He was enjoying being an orange, and really everything was going according to plan. He had blossomed and then grew from the best orange tree in the orchard. From the time his flower had bloomed, he made the decision that in the end, he wanted to become the best juice there was. He didn’t want to end up sliced and in a Tupperware container at some spoiled suburban kid’s soccer game. He most definitely did not want to become concentrate. No, George wanted to become the freshest juice anyone had ever drank. His dream was right about to come true when the Happy Happy Juice factory encountered a sudden explosion due to the result of the carton sealer completely going haywire and exploding. George became nostalgic as he flew through the air. He thought of all of the glorious days of sun and those refreshing days that were nothing but pouring rain. He thought about the other oranges he grew next to on the tree. He felt that all of the concentration and determination it took to be the best juice ever was just wasted away now. He looked to where he was headed, and was sad that he would not be enjoyed. No. Instead, he was about to meet his doom, and be splattered about on the shop window he was bound to hit within the next few seconds.

Victor looked up and thought he saw the end of the world. He did not expect it to be so orange. Just as he took his first running steps toward escaping, George and the first oranges burst through the window. At this point, George decided that maybe falling to his certain death from a juice factory explosion wasn’t so bad after all. He considered the fact that it wasn’t every day that an orange died this way. Maybe he would go down in the history books at some point. George also cam to the realization that falling at the speed of gravity was quite fun, and enjoyed the rest of the ride. Once he came spiraling through the glass window, and landed on the floor next to the display of birdseed for common domestic birds such as the parrot, parakeet, and cockatiel, he realized that he was not splattered to bits like he had anticipated, and, actually, he was only slightly bruised. He realized that his chances of becoming juice were still there. There was hope after all. He relaxed a bit, and wished he could see the rest of the oranges flying in.

***

George watched the reporter tell the story. He found himself feeling sorry for all of the other oranges in the explosion. Sure he was safe, he only had some minor bruising, but the same could not be said for the others. He tried to look around, but then realized that he was an orange and movement was impossible. From what he could tell, there was most definitely a lot of carnage. From that moment on, George was more bound and determined to become juice than ever.