Long, long ago, in a world much like ours, humans were living in a world where they were all immortal.
More or less, all was peaceful, with nothing being able to bring a human to mortality. Nothing, except for a unique fruit that comes from a special tree, where a significant little girl would be born, and as such, the significant little girl was born under our special little tree, and, being the little, curious infant she was, ate of the unique fruit, born from the special tree.
The fruit, in particular, was of a bright red hue, shining brilliantly in the light of the sun, this is what gives it its unique glow that any person could recognize as the fruit of mortality. Everyone knew this, except for a child born just hours before.
It matters not, for the mother, father and every other towns person already knew of her fate, the moment she took that first bite.
She was cursed, the only person to ever be cursed by the fruit of red. And alas, everyone pitied her, even her parents. But even with this knowledge of what would eventually become of the child, the town did nothing to support her. Especially worse, her parents only agreed to merely keep her alive and well, and then leave her upon becoming able to take care of herself. And left her they did, for when the girl became old and strong enough to tend to their bakery and farm all on her own, they disappeared forever, never again acknowledging the existence of their daughter.
Yet she, the daughter, was smart, she knew of her fate the moment she could understand what everyone was saying. She didn't care, if she couldn't be here forever, like her parents and everyone else, then she will try her best to enjoy her entire short life, even if it's only transient. And enjoy her life she did, she was never seen sad or even frowning, ever. She was only ever seen smiling and beaming with joy, and even so, everyone in her town still pitied her loneliness, forever trapped in her own world, swallowed by the red fruit curse.
But it mattered not, for she continued to smile and enjoy her time keeping her missing parents' bakery up and running. Even eventually inventing her own recipes and dishes on her own, using only the oven and stove of course. Soon enough, she gained enough confidence to bake her pies and sweets for the townspeople to have and enjoy, especially the pies filled with that mysterious red fruit she had come to enjoy the most.
Walking past the big lake near her happy little home and bakery, and through the small woods between it and the town, she came into the town as happy and excited as ever, all so she could share her precious red fruit pies with the town.
The town was even busier than ever! Notably so in the center of the city, nearby the big clock-tower that just finished chiming for high-noon.
Finding a decently lit area where no else was walking, so as to not bother anyone's daily routine, she stood there with a big, bright smile on her face, politely asking people if they would like to try out her new pies and sweets.
Out of curiosity, everyone who wanted one asked her about what her desserts were made of, for the brilliant shine of the pies' filling seemed sweeter than life itself.
Her innocent reply; "They're made of the fruit that comes from the big old tree in the back of my bakery, nearby that other big lake. The only tree that makes those pretty red fruits." Suddenly, to the townspeople, her pies no longer seemed sweet, they were now seen as sour, rotten, and generally awful pies that no one should ever dare to eat.
No one wanted anything to do with pies that were described like that. So afterward, not a single person bothered to pay any sort of attention to her pies' existence. Only giving her a hateful grimace when passing by. But she didn't mind, no not at all. Only being the optimistic girl she grew up to become, she could only really be patient and see if anyone wants her sweet pies. Eventually, they would hold up to their promise of tomorrow.
Days, weeks, months pass. Not a single person wants her sweet pies. Not a single soul would even give her more than a sad frown when she asks if they want her pies.
Did they think that she couldn't understand what her pies meant to them? She had known about her curse for the longest of times. And she knew what the fruit does to the people constantly ignoring her. But she couldn't just take knowing that they couldn't be happy living for so long. She wanted them to join her in the everlasting optimism that the fruit grants. Something that everyone but her seems to lack.
"Don't you know that I'm human too? And that I know how you feel? I just want to make all of you happy."
But she was much too kind to ever force anyone to take a pie, so instead, she waits for someone to break the cycle of grimacing.
But to no avail. Her patience was awarded with nothing, but a downward, hate-fueled shove that knocked her over, and dropped all of her pies all over. But alas, no one cared about her fall, and continued onward, trampling her pies in the process. Finally, after several minutes of apathetic marching, she went out to collect her fallen and badly trampled pies and sweets.
Suddenly, and without any warning, a soft hand reached out to help her. A young boy, possibly just a few years older than her, with the shiniest of unkempt blonde hair, but his face was covered with this unsightly frown, and even though he was helping her pick up the pies, it seemed as if he was struggling to pick up even the lightest pies. Yet, he continued to help her. And afterward, after all of the crushed sweets were off the ground, the boy looked at the girl, he looked as if he was trying his hardest not to do something. His eyes were trying to remain locked on her as if trying to gaze into her soul.
His gaze wouldn't change, but his hands did. His hands put money into her basket, the exact price she was kindly asking for, then he quickly took a pie, unwrapped it from its lovely paper case, and after seeming to hesitate for just a second, took a slow, and relaxed bite from her sweet, red fruit pie.
Then a miracle occurred right then, the girl, finally being able to take her eyes away from the boy's gaze, looked at his face change from that unsightly frown to a bright, newly obtained grin. The first she has seen in her life.
"It's delicious."
His words pierced right through her heart with gentle kindness. It finally felt as if she did truly exist. He reached out to her, and no, he didn't mind it, that now he was cursed in the same way that she had always been.
But now everybody pitied them and all that they did, for they are the foolish children, cursed by the fruit of red, they would never live forever and would die off instead.
What a poor and unfortunate, tragic tale!
But the two were filled with joy, overflowing with optimism that no immortal could ever process to be anything but bad. Happiness came from them as they went on to treasure their newly gained shortness of life, now together with brimming love and joy.
"Finally! We're rid of our eternity.'"
Truly, it had seemed that the pair had finally lost their minds.
But even if they were to die tomorrow, they wouldn't waste any time with sadness or sorrow, they would only look forward to the future. They held each other close and promised that no matter what, they would smile, and look forward to the coming days of their life together. Because now they were finally freed from the pain of the "red fruit curse."
Now forever forgotten, in that once lonely, "dead" world. Now only these two would smile and treasure their precious time.
Years, decades, even centuries pass. The lives of these two fools are nearly lost to the ravages of time. Even the knowledge of what made them mortal, was too, lost in time. The only thing that wasn't lost, was the giant tree that stood near the big lake, near the ruins of an old, long-abandoned town. Continuously bearing the same bright red fruit, the giant tree was still standing alive and well, and as a hungry passerby will soon realize, had a heart carved into the side of the tree's hard bark, and although the centuries worth of growing tree has done the carving no good, the writing was still somehow legible.
"Never forget." It read.
It was then that the passerby found a fruit that fell from the ginormous tree. Curious if the unique fruit was what this heart-shaped carving was for, she picked up the gloriously shiny red fruit and took a bite.
Story Inspired by:
A lovely song of the same title. All credits and etc are in the video's description. So, yay.
(I love these kinds of songs, by the way)
https://youtu.be/wIAnalm-c6s <---- (Video Link)
Spam love to her channel if you get the chance. She would love it.