Chapter 10
A burning yellow orb shone down into the inferior body below, providing life to all, nurturing the small fresh green shoots and preventing the planet from freezing over into everlasting winter, among other things. All those living thanked the massive star for its kindness.
But for one small child trying to cool off, the sun was a bit annoying. Sweat poured down the boy's neck as he trudged through the soaking forest, feeling that any moment now he would drown. He kept his blue eyes focused on the moist ground, brushing past the rough bark of the trees without acknowledging they were there.
So when he walked headfirst straight into a tree, he was pretty mad. He growled and looked up, only for his anger to be swept away in a mere second. It was an apple tree! All this time, he had been walking through an apple orchard!
"Ha!" He laughed and began to climb the tree. Once he had his prize, he sat in the tree, his balance perfect. His mouth began to water as he studied the shiny red fruit, and he could take it no longer. The apple soon felt the pain of small white teeth slowly biting into its fresh skin. The boy nearly fell off the tree as the juicy taste hit his taste buds with a shock. Each bite was refreshing and heavenly.
A small gasp escaped his mouth as he bit his hand and realized the apple was gone. Grumbling, he reached for another apple to satisfy his immense hunger. Just as he was about to lunge in to begin the feast, a high-pitched voice dripping with annoyance sharply interrupted him.
"Whaddya think you're doing?!" He turned to see a boy about his age with short black hair and deep brown eyes staring at him.
He leaped down from the tree and put on a huge smile. "Hi! I'm Kao, and I'm… new here, I guess you could say. Who are you?"
The boy snorted and took the apple from Kao rather rudely. "Listen, Kao, I don't play around. This is my uncle's apple orchard, and we can't be having silly thieves!" The apple boy sniffed and pushed Kao ahead. "Come with me. Uncle won't be very pleased!"
Fear suddenly flooded over Kao. "No! Don't take me to your uncle!" The apple boy glared at Kao and pushed him along. "You're going to pay for what you did."
"But I only ate one apple!" Kao protested, but to no avail. He was going to see Uncle apple, whether he liked it or not.
The boy shoved Kao roughly into his uncle's home. "Uncle! I'm home, and guess who I found? A little boy named Kao sneaking around, eating apple!"
The boy's uncle emerged out of the kitchen and growled at him. "Kokoro, you're supposed to be at home, harvesting mangoes with your parents. What are you doing here with him?" Kokoro shrunk under his uncle's harsh words. "Well, Uncle… I just sort of… wanted to visit you, you see, I hate mangoes!"
Kokoro's uncle grabbed him by the wrist and threw him outdoors. He then turned to Kao and proceeded to do the same, except he threw him into a dark room and locked it.
Kao pressed his ear to the thick wood door so he could hear Kokoro's uncle hiss. "I'll take Kokoro home… then I'll deal with you…"