Bruised Apples

        Katie woke from her stasis pod and felt the familiar pang of hunger in her belly. She showered and dressed as quickly as she could to start her new planet tradition, the marketplace. Katie, always, no matter what, would go to the marketplace on a new planet first. It was the best way to see what the planet was really like. A marketplace was the heart and soul of the planet. Where every culture could come and celebrate together, the food was just an added perk.

              As she packed her day pack she watched the required video about the planet her cruise ship had landed on. Altterra, a planet that closely resembled Earth and was therefore the first planet that humans had colonized once they left Earth. English was the primary language, and the planet was going through some displays of civil disobedience as the Native Altterrain’s were fighting to earn back some of their rights that they had before humans came to the planet.

              In the back of her mind Katie hoped to see a protest, she was from Earth. A planet who had finally mastered the art of universal love after thousands of years. She would never see another protest again on her home planet, so her best bet was so see one while she was on her space cruise. Her adventures so far had been lacking anything particularly… electric.

              She walked off the ship and made her way downtown to the marketplace. She could squelch her hungers, both physical and emotional. As she got closer to the marketplace she could hear the bustling commotion of people talking to one another, and she smiled big as she walked past the first little shop selling clothing items often worn on the planet.

              She was taken back by the smells both familiar and foreign to her. She placed the first one as chicken on the grill by the smoke just a few booths ahead. As she approached, she was hit with a wave of sweetness. It guided her past her intended booth so another, dragging her there by her nose. When she finally got to the booth she felt completely out of sorts. Unsure if the dizzy spell was from her need for food or the intoxicating scent that carried her to her current position she decided she needed something right away. “What deliciousness are you selling today sir?” Katie asked as the man behind the booth sized her up.

              “Fruit cake, made from the best fruit on this planet.” The man spoke in a soft, yet husky tone. It reminded Katie of the smokers she saw in the old timey movies growing up.

              “I’d love a slice, please.” Katie spoke softly. The dizzy spell getting worse as the seconds ticked by.

              “No, you don’t.” A deep voice came from behind her.

              “Oh, and why not?” She retorted quickly and turning to see who had tested her.

              “No, fruit cake is only made from the fruit that’s about to go bad, or that was bruised during transport. You want a fresh apple.”

              “An apple? What’s that?” Katie asked the man who was very obviously not human. It wasn’t just his light blue skin, humanity seemed to have ever changing skin tones depending on what planet they lived on growing up as children. It wasn’t strange to see blue or purple or pink. No, it wasn’t his skin that made Katie aware of his less than human DNA, it was his eyes. They were gold, and he had four of them.

              “This.” The man said, pulling an apple out of a bag. Katie was so shocked and mesmerized by his eyes for a moment she didn’t know where to look. She had never met his species before. They typically stayed on the colder planets, where most cruise ships didn’t travel to.

              Realizing that she was staring she moved her eyes to the apple. “It looks familiar. Was this something that grew on Earth before?”

              “Before every green morsel of land was thrown away? Yes. Here. Taste it.” The man spoke, his voice was strong, but gentle and reassuring. “It isn’t poisoned. I swear it.” He spoke, but when Katie didn’t speak or move, he simply raised an eyebrow and bit into the apple.

              As this stranger bit into the apple Katie notices a liquid dripping out of the bright red apple. As the man tore out the piece of the apple the liquid moved down his chin. A smile spread across his lips, causing another drop of liquid to slip out of his mouth. Almost as if expecting it to happen, he licked his lips almost causing Katie to faint. “Here, now you.” He held out the apple, holding it in the palm of his hand.

              Katie reached out slowly, grabbing the apple. The outside, bright red like blood felt waxy. Almost skin like. The liquid, now on her hands, she could tell was sticky. Just from looking at the inside she assumed it would taste sandy, she didn’t understand how something could be both sandy and wet. Intrigued, knowing she was probably safe since this stranger had just taken a bite, she decided to go for it. She pressed the apple to her teeth, and when she bit into it she was first taken back by how much pressure she needed to piece the skin.

              Before she could feel repulsed by the waxy texture the liquid started to poor into her mouth, an explosion of sweetness. The flavor pulled her into the experience, and soon Katie was staring at her own bite in the apple as she chewed. It wasn’t sandy at all. It was indescribable. There were no words in any of the languages that she knew that could describe what she was experiencing right then. “Wow.” She wanted to bonk herself over the head, this man had just given her the most delicious food she had ever tasted and all she could say was wow?

              He chuckled as she blushed. “Don’t be embarrassed by your inability to describe what you just experienced. I have been eating this fruit every day for the last 5 years and I still cannot find the right words.”

              Slightly less embarrassed and ashamed by her reaction Katie smiled again. “I can’t believe we ever let this fruit go extinct on our planet.”

              “I can. Humans destroy everything they touch. Look at what has become of Altterra. We lose more farmland every single year. Soon the Apple Tree will need to find a new home once again.” The stranger shook his head as he continued down the marketplace street.

              Katie stood there, taken aback. She looked back at the man who was behind the booth, a filter of anger had washed over his features. He must have been offended as well by what the stranger said, or maybe he was still just angry about the fruit cake.

              Katie was about turn and walk to the next booth when she heard the man behind the booth scream, “Humanity First!” and pull a gun out from under his table. Unlike when she was eating her apple everything was happening so much faster now. Katie saw other humans pulling guns out from their booths and shouting the same thing. She dropped as quickly as she could to the ground. As she lay there, gun fire filling her ears she realized that the stranger was right. Humans destroy everything they touch. They bruised every apple, rendering only useful for fruit cake.