"A Lemon Story…"
by: Allen Paul Weaver III
3.27.09

Once, there were two boys… from a place called ‘Little Town.’ They both had dreams and aspirations, but neither knew how they were going to reach their goals. They would often sit on the gravel path by the roadside, just on the median where the grass gave way to stone, and look up at the blue sky and talk about their dreams… Days would pass and they would talk… and talk… and talk… Sometimes they would make fun of each other when neither had a clue about how to make their dreams come true.

One day, a man came with a large bag of lemons and offered to give them some so they could start a lemonade stand. The boys were estatic as they watched the man bring from his bag 12 lemons for them. He gave one boy 11 lemons… and only gave the other boy 1. Then he went on his way.

The boy with 11 lemons laughed at his friend who only had 1 while he ran off to start his enterprise - never once thinking they should unite. The boy with 1 lemon cried for a bit and then exclaimed at the top of his lungs, ‘This is not fair! Why should he get 11 and I only get 1?"

Days passed as the boy with 1 lemon watched his so-called friend with 11. His friend had a table by the road with a clear pitcher filled with ice; with cups, sugar and a sign to draw people by design… "Cool, Freshly Squeezed Lemonade!" And there were those lemons - sitting there - mocking the boy who only had 1 - or so he thought.

One by one, a car would stop and the 11 lemon boy would quickly make a cup of freshly squeezed lemonade. He charged 50 cents for each cup and proudly looked at his friend after each sale while casting away each used lemon skin to the graveled surface beneath his feet.

The boy with 1 lemon became angry and in a fit of rage was about to throw his lemon away… off into the distance… but as he readied his stance, the image of the discarded lemon skins gave him an idea… and he ran away with a single goal in mind. The next day he came back to his friend with a huge smile on his face. His friend wondered why he was smiling considering that he only had one lemon. "You’ll see…" the 1 lemon boy said.
The other boy laughed as he continued his sales. "With only 1 lemon, what could you possibly do?"

The day quickly came when the boy with 11 lemons, ran out of lemons. He took the money he had made and went to buy bubble gum and candy. When he came back to boast he found that the 1 lemon boy was not there…

Days passed as the 11 lemon boy sat on the side of the road and wondered where the 1 lemon boy could be. Months continued on until finally the boy who only had 1 lemon returned to his usual spot.

"Where have you been?" asked the boy who once had 11 lemons.
"Working," replied the 1 lemon boy.
"Working? On what?" his so-called friend exclaimed in disbelief.
The boy who was only given 1 lemon smiled widely as he looked at his friend and said…
"I’ve been working to take care of my lemon tree."

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Filed under: • Creativity

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