Amidst the hustle and bustle of a grocery store far away, deep within the produce section, was a basket full of apples, sitting on a shelf. And in that basket was an apple indistinguishable from the rest. His name was George. George's favorite thing to do was watch the people that walked through the grocery store.
On that particular day, George saw lots of people that would make his bizarre list. There was an abnormally chubby lady who looked like she wouldn't fit down George's aisle. Luckily, she steered clear of the fruit and waddled off to knock chip bags off shelves in the snack section. Then George saw a teenage girl walk in like the grocery store was the last place she wanted to be. This wasn’t a surprise, that’s how they all seemed to look. But this one had bright purple hair. George just assumed she was related to the eggplants. Finally, there was a man dressed in an argyle sweater vest and brown corduroy pants. There was next to no hair on his head, probably from all the stress. George thought he looked like a peach about to be eaten. Plus, his name was Carl. Look out, ladies! It seemed as though anything could scare that guy. So it wasn't a surprise when Carl hid behind an apricot display after a guy dressed all in black walked in. He moved toward the check out area and pointed a gun at the cashier. "Gimme the money!" he cried.
“What?” she asked feebly.
“You heard me. I want all the money. NOW!” he yelled back. The woman at the counter's eyes flashed with fear and she fumbled with the buttons as she attempted to open the cash register. However, she was interrupted as a sole voice called out, piercing the stunned silence like a knife.
"NO!" Carl yelled with more force than George ever thought possible. Carl popped up from his hiding place, sending some apricots flying in the process. He then grabbed the nearest object, which happened to be George.
"Hey! What are you doing, Vesty?" George thought indignantly, "AHHHHHH!" If apples could talk, George would have screamed like a banshee as Carl threw him at the robber, who soon got a nose full of Red Delicious. The criminal fell, and the police quickly arrived to collect him, bloody nose and all. When all the chaos settled and the police had gone, someone noticed Carl still standing in the produce section and began to clap. Others joined in, and soon the entire grocery store was applauding Carl for his bravery. Carl blushed, but he took a bow like he saved the day all the time. Looking at him right then, you would never know that hiding behind fruit was once a hobby of his. He then left the store with a smile on his face.
Later on, when the last employee was sweeping up after closing, he noticed George on the floor by the checkout. The worker picked him up and wiped him on his apron. "Looks clean enough to me," he said to himself. The man put George back in the apple basket before leaving for the day. So no one was around to hear when the entire produce section rumbled in applause for George. In that moment, George knew he was a hero. Who would have thought that a trivial apple like him could have added crime stopper to his repertoire? Every fiber in his being tingled with delight, and that apple was on top of the world. George was pretty sure that Vesty had experienced a similar feeling, and it felt great. No, amazing!
So the following day, the store's hustle and bustle and the produce section's depths weren't quite the same. For in a familiar basket of apples, upon a well known shelf, was an apple who knew he was different from the rest. And his name was George.