Stinky, smelly fruit

Little Bancha stands on the shore of Fontamo Bay. Looking out toward the east, his eyes notice a cluster of islands. But if he were to narrow those eyes of his and stick his head forward real far, he thought he saw a larger one farther out away from the mainland. His curiosity perhaps got the better of him in that moment because now he really wanted to know what was out on the island.

Glancing from left to right, he notices that now would be as good a time as any to make the swim out to the islands. The stretch of the beach is wider than it is at other times of the day meaning that the tide was out and would soon be coming back in. Moving forward toward the water, Bancha splashes happily into the calm waves that ebb back and forth against the sand. Laughing and having a good time, he doesn’t hesitate to start swimming. With the pack’s territory being intertwined with multiple rivers and pools, swimming wasn’t new to the youth.

Thankfully the current and warmer weather of the afternoon makes the journey to the first outskirting island easy. It doesn’t take long for his paws to sand once more, dragging himself sopping wet and dripping from the water. Giving his fur a quick shake so that he didn’t feel as if he were carrying so much weight, he is disappointed upon first look. This smaller island is practically bare minus a few bushes and bird’s nests. But now as he looked farther out, he doesn’t have to squint as much to see that there really was a larger island that might be far more promising.

With a goal set to get to before night fell, Bancha stopped wasting time with leisurely swims and splashing through the shallows. While he isn’t a rather determined and hard-working wolf dog, preferring the lazier life, he also doesn’t want to be stuck in the water swimming back in the dark. Who knew what creatures lurked below waiting for a yummy and delicious meal.

Pushing forward to make it across the rest of the smaller, barren islands, taking a few breaks to eat a fish and rest for energy recuperation, Bancha finally makes it out to the largest island. Glee splits across his face in a wide smile and a few quick, sharp barks that send bird scattering into the sky. He’d made it! And this island was cool! Palm trees sprouted up, tall and waving in the breeze, keeping their coconuts and bananas just out of reach.

As he looks around, stepping further into the island, his nose catches a whiff of something very strong as the wind shifts from west to south. His face scrunches for a moment until a light goes off in his head. Someone had had something very similar smelling one time, explaining to him that it was called ‘Noni.’ A medicinal fruit used for a variety of things such as depression, arthritis, intentional issues, and even topically to relieve sore muscles! But dang, it sure smelled stinky!

How could he leave without some though? Passing up on such a strong fruit that could help his papa and even others! Swimming out to the island wasn’t an every day excursion either. Hmm, lets see if I can gather some of this fruit. Bancha thinks to himself as he tilts his nose up, using it to follow the strong and overwhelming scent of the fruit. He doesn’t know why anyone would have wanted to eat the fruit in the first place and figure out how helpful it would be, but he supposed that if there was nothing else to eat, it would be a last resort.

Stumbling through the undergrowth of thick and tangled roots, it doesn’t take him long to find the first shrub-tree looking thing with the light green and dotted fruit. At first, he had to take a step back, ducking his nose under his armpit because the smell was truly overwhelming. Yuck. Bancha groans internally, but perseveres.

Finishing his approach up to the base of the tree, he first looks around to see if there are any ripe ones on the ground. It would be far easier for his small stature to grab a couple from the ground rather than the branches, but he is in no such luck today. Letting out a sigh, he hops up to place his front paws on the tree. Reaching up with opened muzzle, Bancha grasps one in his mouth. At first, he gags, the smell and taste of the skin on the outside is atrocious. Holding back from throwing up, he gently grabs the fruit and tosses it onto the ground.

He grabs a few more before he can’t reach anymore. The rest of the fruit is either not ripe enough or too high up for him. With his paws back on the rocky soil and sure he won’t be able to rid his mouth of the nasty taste, he quickly finds a large and sturdy banana leaf to use as a makeshift sling. The leaf is pliable and with the use of some youthful vines, he’s able to work on tying the pieces together so he can safely transport his goods back home.

Word count: 882
Solo navigating a land & herb gathering under 1 year