An Apple

Today I want to give you my tale before saying anything about why I am sharing this particular tale with you. There is a clue in the above pastel. 

The one thing Jessica liked more than anything was going to the market with her grandmother. She loved walking around all the stalls and dreaming about what she would purchase if she wa old enough and had the money. 

The one thing she could be sure of was that her grandmother would certainly buy her some fruit, knowing that Jessica loved fruit, and especially apples.

Sure enough her grandmother bought a large basket off fruit of all kinds.

When they got back to her grandmothers house the fruit was placed in the fruit basket which sat in the middle of the kitchen table. Gran always took time to put them there and make them look so wonderful.

There were pomegranates and oranges, pears, bananas , plums and of course apples. 

Before leaving her grandmothers she was always given a parcel of fruit to take home with her.

On this particular day when she got home she excitedly showed her mother the parcel of fruit. She told her mother that there were two apples in the parcel her grandmother must have known that she loved apples more than anything. 

"Can I have an apple now?" she asked her mother.

"Of course you can," said her mother, "I will go and wash them and you can have one. 

The apples were washed and her mother handed both of them to Jessica. The apples were big and Jessica knew she could not manage to eat two of them.

Her mother smiled knowing what was going through the mind of Jessica. "Jessica, can I have one of your apples they look lovely and I am hungry too.

Jessica looked at her, " But mum I am hungry too and I love apples. Why do you not have some of the other fruit?"

Her mother looked at her again. "Jessica you know that I love apples too. You have two and they are both large apples. You will never eat two apples that size. You will waste some. Why do you not give me one of your apples?"

Jessica thinks for a minute. She then bites one of the apples and also bites the other one very quickly.

The smile on her mothers face froze. She could not tolerate what had just happened. Usually Jessica was very well behaved and was kind. Her mother was shocked at the attitude she had just witnessed. 

Then Jessica turned back to her mother with a beautiful smile and gave one of the apples to her mother. "Mum, please you take this apple. It is the sweeter one!"

The mother was shocked and felt ashamed of what she had thought of her daughter just a few moments ago.

We should never jump to conclusions without pausing and giving thought to the conclusions we make. 

The other day I saw a child be scolded for biting a bit of chocolate before giving it to her younger brother. Without thought her mother gave here a very loud ticking off. The child in tears said she was just making sure it was the kind Bobby liked, and it was just a tiny bit. 

Now who is to say that she was not genuinely telling the truth.

A little thought before any action is never a wasted moment. 

Have a wonderful day.