It glowed in the early morning beam of sunlight that streamed through the glass wall of the kitchen. The perfect shade of yellow, like pure gold, it sat in the bowl begging to be eaten. It was at the perfect stage of ripeness, all green gone but not a single brown spot to spoil its perfection.
Gordon gazed lovingly at it from across the room. His stomach rumbled. After his morning swim, he was ready for breakfast. He took a step towards it but paused. It was the last one. There wouldn't be another bunch until the next delivery and that was 3 days away. And it was Kayo's favorite. She loved them, ate them several times a day. She was the reason there was only one left. She'd eaten, in his opinion, more than her share and he'd only gotten a few. That last one belonged to him.
Mind made up, Gordon headed for the forbidden fruit but he'd barely taken another step when he was knocked aside by a blur of blue. He blinked at the sting of the ponytail whipping across his face.
"Hey!" He staggered and then recovered and in three steps had caught up with Kayo.
"It's mine, fish boy."
"No way, Kay. You ate most of them. I get the last one." He shouldered her aside and made a grab for the banana.
She barely lost a step as she twisted away and knocked his hand aside. "First come, first serve."
"I was here first."
"And you stood gawking at it. You snooze, you lose."
Gordon snorted and reached with his other hand. "You're greedy. Nobody else ever gets bananas."
"I need them for my smoothies. You just want to… to… eat it."
The disgust was obvious in her voice as she made her grab and they both laid a hand on the poor fruit at the same time. Golden brown eyes met hazel in an unblinking stand off.
"It's mine," Gordon declared, breaking the silence.
"Nope. Mine." Kayo growled and tugged.
Gordon squeezed his hand and pulled back.
The banana protested its rough treatment in the only way it could. It squished. Its peel burst and its soft mellow white insides oozed out over Kayo's hand.
Kayo blinked, surprised. Gordon groaned and let go of the peel. It fell to the floor with a sad plop.
Kayo shook her hand and the soft fruit flew from her fingertips hitting Gordon in the chest. Gordon looked down at the mess dripping off his favorite shirt. He wiped it off and smeared it on Kayo's cheek. Her eyes widened and then with a ferocious grin she attacked him, wiping her hands all over his precious shirt. He grabbed her hands. She slipped a foot between his legs and took him down with her body landing on top. He rolled over and pinned her but that only lasted a second as she hit a pressure point on elbow and ended up on top again.
They wrestled for a few more minutes, spreading mashed banana everywhere. Finally, they stopped, breathing hard and giggling uncontrollably. As they laughed, a pair of boots stopped next to them. Their eyes tracked up the purple legs. They grinned at Grandma Tracy who was watching them, arms folded over her chest.
"Hi, Grandma," Gordon said.
"Mrs. Tracy, hello. How're you?"
Grandma Tracy sighed. "I'm fine but you two won't be if you don't clean this up."
"Yes, ma'am," Kayo replied, trying to sound chastened but failing.
Gordon snickered.
Grandma shook her head and headed across the room to the cupboards. Pulling one open, she reached up and removed a perfectly ripened banana. She peeled it slowly and took a bite, savoring the sweet flavor. She winked at them as she walked past carefully stepping over the mess on the floor.