The Apple Heist

Lorna led the four children across the street and into Pottery Barn like ducklings to a pond.

"Right, Jonny, Amy, Cora, Corey; I just need a quick look around. I'll only be 10 minutes, 15 minutes tops. We will meet the others soon. Just hang around here and don't touch anything. I'll have my eyes on you the whole time." She gave each of the children an imperious glance and disappeared further into the shop and out of sight.

Today was Jonny's 7th birthday, and his mother was taking him to Soft City with his younger sister, Amy, and the 8 year old twins, Cora and Corey, from next door. They were running late, as Lorna had been to her spin class, but she could never resist the clutter of Pottery Barn.

"15 minutes isn't long, is it, Jonny?" Amy asked.

"Not long, I don't think, about one Button Moon," he replied. "We have been here before. It's the place with the giant stuffed zebra. We like this place."

Amy remembered a zebra once hanging over her from a basket high up. It had scared her, but the faint memory now rendered her curious. She shrugged at the twins, and they followed Jonny up the nearest aisle. They passed bowls, plates, pots, pans, and cutlery before wrapping around the end of the aisle to walk back up the neighboring one. Upon turning, Corey gasped before nudging his sister and pointing to the shelf at head height. Cora, the bolder of the twins, elbowed Amy and said, "Look at that!"

Amy followed her friend's finger to see a large bowl of wax fruit. It was reminiscent of one in a painted depiction of a Roman feast on the wall all home. She nudged her brother. "Wow, Jonny, it's like that picture in the hallway, only bigger."

Jonny looked at the bowl of fruit. In it were three shiny red apples, a bunch of five bananas, a pear, and a bunch of grapes, all made of wax. "Look how big they are," he said.

"I know," said Amy, "are they real?"

"Are they real?!" Jonny replied. "They're not toys, Amy." He then picked up an apple, and the four children marveled at the fruit in his hand.

"I dunno," Amy added. It looks weird. It looks so big and kinda shiny."

"That just means it's juicier," Jonny replied, "and it's smooth like an apple is."

Amy and Cora reached in to touch the apple, but as they did, a shy Corey spoke for the first time: "Your mum said don't touch anything. I just saw her looking at the candles over there. She didn't look this way, but she could next time. I think you should put it back."

"Yeah, Mum loves looking at the candles," Amy said. "I think she likes smelling them too. I bet that apple doesn't smell like an apple, Jonny."

"Don't be stupid, Amy. Apples don't smell of stuff on the outside," Jonny replied. He placed his nose over the wax apple and smelled it. There was a freshness to it, but he was still unsure. 

At this point, a member of staff walked by. She was a pretty lady and expressed some concern over the children. Jonny placed the wax apple back in the bowl and put his hands in his pockets with an air of urgency. 

"Hello," the lady said. "Are you all OK? Are you on your own?"

"Our mum is over there," Jonny replied. “She is just looking around, and we are waiting."

The lady scanned the shop to see Lorna pacing efficiently, up and down by the soaps and towels on the other side. "Ah, well, that's OK then," she said. "Are you looking at our lovely bowl of fruit? Don't they all look delicious." Jonny and Cora nodded while Corey and Amy remained silent.

"OK, well, you wait for your mum here, and I will be around. I can see her over there, so she shouldn't be long." The lady walked away and around a corner out of sight.

"You see," said Jonny to the other three, "She said they are delicious. I told you they were real."

"But your mum still said we can't touch anything," Corey said, growing anxious at the situation.

"Yeah, she did, Jonny," Amy concurred. "This is a shop of stuff. It isn't ours. Unless mum buys it."

The group looked back at the bowl of wax fruit for several seconds before Cora broke the silence:

"Yeah, but it's your birthday, Jonny. People give things to you on your birthday. You get lots of presents from people, and you don't have to pay for them."

The revelation excited Jonny. "She's right, Amy. Everyone gives you presents. This would be like a present from the shop." He picked up the apple again and held it in both hands.

Corey looked around him. He couldn't see the nice lady or Lorna. The other three children only looked at the fruit in Jonny’s hands.

"I dunno," Amy said, “it still looks kinda weird. It's massive!"

"The lady said it is delicious," Cora snapped.

Amy continued: "I saw this thing on TV the other day with this guy, Johnny Ball. Like you, Jonny, but without the H. He said when you chop real apples in half, they go all brown. It's because of all the bad germs on them."

"Yeah, we did that in class," said Cora. "It takes forever, though. I think we should just eat it."

Corey continued to look around. He feared they would be seen by either the lady or his friend's mother. He caught a glimpse of Lorna, as she passed by a basket of flowery cushions three aisles over, but she didn't see him. "Why do you even want to eat it, Cora? We are having cheeseburgers at Soft City. Apples aren't even that good anyway..."

"No, my mum said apples are really good," Jonny interrupted. She is always giving them to us…"

"She says that, but they never are," Amy argued.

"But that one looks better than any apple I have ever seen," Cora said to persuade Jonny. The attempt only added to Corey's anxiety.

Jonny, again, put the apple back in the bowl. "The thing is, I think it looks delicious; the lady said it is delicious; mum always tells us to eat apples, and, most of all, it is my birthday.

The nice lady then approached the children again. Five minutes had passed. "How is everything, kids?" I spoke to your mum, and she is just browsing over there. Which of you is Jonny?"

"Him," Cora said, pointing. Corey and Amy said nothing.

"Wonderful," the lady said, turning to Jonny. "Well, I hear your mum is taking you for a lovely day in Soft City. I bet you're all going to have the best time. Happy birthday from all of us at Pottery Barn.

"Thank you, Miss," Jonny replied.

The lady walked away for the second time, leaving the children to ponder the fruit.

"You see, Amy," said Jonny. She even said Happy Birthday. Now they have to let us eat the apple."

"Us?" Corey exclaimed. "It's only your birthday."

"Don't worry, Corey," Cora reassured, "if they give him the apple for his birthday, Jonny is free to share it with whoever he wants." Corey was unconvinced.

Jonny picked up the apple for the final time. "I'm gonna do it," he said.

The three others watched as he rotated the wax apple in his hand. He looked around and, after several seconds, brought the fruit to his mouth and took a bite.

Jonny swilled the wax in his mouth. He felt the flavorless goo slide between his teeth and around his tongue. Much of it stuck to the top of his mouth and his cheeks. The others waited in anticipation. Corey began to fidget and look from side to side.

"Is it good?" Cora asked.

"Err, mmm, yeah," Jonny replied. He used his tongue to roll as much of the wax as he could into a ball and swallowed it. His upper palate was still partially coated, but he left it for now. "It's a little sour, like those green apples mum buys. But it's definitely delicious." Throughout the ordeal, he was able to withhold a grimace.

"Well, that doesn't sound good, Jonny, it's red!" Amy interjected with concern.

"Err, it must be a special apple. It is bigger than normal apples, isn't it?" Jonny argued.

Unconvinced, Amy watched her brother as he poked and prodded with his tongue at the residue wax behind his front teeth. He mmm'd and ah'd in feigned enjoyment.

"Pass it here," Cora blurted out. "I want to try the apple." She snatched the apple from Jonny's hand and violently sank her teeth into it. Corey backed away two steps and began to sway back and forth.

"Their mum will be back soon, Cora," Corey stressed, as he stood on tip toes as if to keep guard. "Hurry up."

"I'm sharing his birthday present, Corey," Cora mumbled through a ball of wax and saliva as she tried to calm her brother. "Erm, Jonny's right, it's a little sour but definitely delicious. You should try."

Corey felt uncomfortable. He hadn't bought into the birthday present theory like his sister, and their own mother had told them repeatedly that she would be furious if either of them were ever caught stealing. However, twin peer pressure was a very difficult thing to overcome. "You don't even look like you're enjoying it," he exclaimed.

Cora continued to swill and chew the wax, also resisting a grimace. The texture was like a sour plastic, reminiscent of playdough, but smoother. "No, no, it's good," she said, following Jonny's lead. She looked to the ceiling, nodding her head, before initiating a strenuous gulp to pass the slimy wax ball down to her stomach. "I've done it now, Corey, so you have to."

He looked into his sister's stern eyes and, with an anxious shake of his shoulders, took the apple from her and gave it a nibble. As he swilled the small clump of wax around the front of his mouth with the tip of his tongue, he thought not of the sourness and the strange texture but of his parent's warnings about stealing. He thought of their disappointment and of what would happen if children were caught taking and nibbling fruit that didn't belong to them. He wondered what the nice lady would say if she saw them and insisted that having a birthday didn't mean you could take whatever you wished.

"Well?" Cora asked.

"Yeah, what do you think?" Jonny added.

Corey was able to send the small lump of wax down his throat, leaving little residue behind. He found the lingering taste on the end of his tongue unpleasant but was relieved to be through with his duty. "Yeah, whatever, it was fine. Now, can we toss it?" He handed the apple back to Jonny.

Jonny looked at the wax apple in his hand. It was strange looking. It wasn't moist like a regular apple, and the red coloring of the edge seemed to seep into the cream-colored center. Shrugging to himself, he turned to Amy. Both Cora and Corey followed suit.

"What?" Amy said.

"You haven't had a bite," Jonny replied.

"Yeah, we all did it," Cora added.

 "Who cares?!" Corey exclaimed. "Just toss it. Hide it somewhere."

Amy stood her ground. "I'm not eating that!" she said, looking Cora in the eye and then Jonny. "You know what mum says about stealing. I don't think it is a rule that you can take things from a shop, even on your birthday. If that were the rule, the lady would have said it was. It doesn't even look like an apple, anyway. It looks all smooth and weird. It's not even going brown like they said on TV."

The other three looked at the strange waxy apple in Jonny's hand. It was still a shiny cream color on the inside and patterned with jagged spikes. Jonny crouched down and rolled it under the bottom shelf out of sight.

"Well, it was good, and you missed out Amy," Jonny said. "It was delicious, wasn't it?" he added, directing the question at the twins. They both nodded with little enthusiasm.

At this moment, Lorna returned to see the children silently staring at each other. "Ready?" she said. They remained reticent.

Sensing some tension, Lorna looked at the children with curiosity. The four formed a square, each emanating a strange intensity she couldn't identify. The whole setting was suspicious.

"Is everything OK, kids? You look like you have been up to something. You haven't broken anything, have you, or taken anything? That would make me very upset. Even on Jonny's birthday."

The return of the nice lady broke the awkwardness. "Ah, I bet everyone is excited about the birthday party. You all look full of energy."

"Yes, we are going to Soft City to play and for cheeseburgers, aren't we kids?" Lorna said. "I was just browsing a little, and now we will meet the others."

"Well, happy birthday, young man," the lady said. "I hope you have enjoyed our lovely shop."

As the lady smiled and walked away, Lorna gave the children one last look of suspicion before directing them to the exit. Amy led the four of them and they walked on ahead. Lorna watched proudly from behind, unable to see Jonny, Cora, and Corey swilling their mouths with saliva, but before she followed, she noticed the bowl of wax fruit. There were two shiny red apples, a bunch of five bananas, a pear, and a bunch of grapes. She thought about Soft City and what her friends at spin class would think if they knew she was eating a cheeseburger only one hour later.

Looking around, she saw the lady was gone. She snatched the bananas and stuffed them in her handbag. Looking up again, she pushed them further into the bottom of the bag, where a flowery cushion, a candle, a towel, and a bar of soap accompanied them. After a final look up the aisle, she hurried after the children and followed them out of the shop.