A story I wrote on 28.8.2012
There was a mango, among many other mangoes in a market... One day, it caught your attention- maybe it's how it is just ripe the way you like it, or how it's just the size you wanted it to be. So you walked to it, and every step you took added to your mounting hope. You thought to yourself "could this be it, could this be the mango... perfect for me?" And when you were finally close enough, you reached your hand out, touched it, and picked it up. And so it rose, leaving the rest of the mangoes behind. Among the many, it was chosen. By you.
Just as you were about to put it in your basket, you noticed the rotten spot on it you didn't at first. You felt angry... cheated, deceived, disappointed! All your hopes, collapsed in mere seconds. You threw it back down, and picked another up. It was not as ripe as you would like. It was not the size you wanted. But it was not rotten.
You went home and told your friend about your encounter with the rotten mango. He sympathised and said "oh well, it was rotten...." When you took out the mango you bought, your friend exclaimed "why, that's a very nice mango you have there!" It comforted you. You thought to yourself again "well, this was not the mango I wanted, but my friend is right. It's not rotten, and I should be grateful."
And you were happy with your mango. Your friends were happy that you're happy.
But no one thought of the rotten mango, still sitting in the market. How it was picked up, and later, thrown aside. How the rotten mango was given false hope it didn't ask for.
The fruit-seller realised this. How the mango always attracted customers to his shop. The fruit-seller also noticed how each buyer will eventually throw that mango away at the sight of the rotten spot, but will eventually buy another. Few walked away empty handed.
Time passed, and one day the fruit seller noticed how the mango was more rotten than it used to be. Maybe it's the many throws, maybe it's the natural process of rippenning. The fruit seller noticed how the rotten mango was emitting a foul smell, chasing all his customers away. So he took the mango, and threw it away.
And the mango was never seen and heard of, since.
