The pear room

 The apricots and plums
had almost finished
and the pears were just beginning
to ripen

 Plum season didn’t last long,
said Kalimbaba

 Yeah, it was way too short

 Those plums were good

So were the apricots

Yeah

 I think some of the plum trees further up the hill
still have plums on them

 Maybe we should take a walk up the hill

 Yesterday as I was walking home
I saw an old woman with a basket full of plums
She must have seen my face light up
because she stopped and gave me a handful of plums
And she wouldn’t accept any money

 Dude, you lucked out

 Yeah, man
Did you follow her home?

 No, man
I was in a state of bliss
Those plums kept me immobile for at least ten minutes

 A plum goddess she was

 Man, those pears look good

 Yeah, I love fresh pears

 Me too

 They should be ready soon

 I’ll ask the owner of my guest house
if he has any pear trees

 
And so Kalimbaba and his friends
waited
for some pears to appear

 ♫ ♫ ♫

 A couple of pear farmers walked by,
each with a basket full of pears on his back
Some children nearby saw them
and rushed over to take a pear each
out of a basket

 Go away!
Don’t take our pears!
said one of the farmers,
but the children paid him no heed
and ran away with pears
and with smiles on their faces

 Kalimbaba decided to follow the farmers
to see where they stored their pears

 It didn’t take long to find out
because just a few houses further down the path
the men disappeared
They had entered a large building
and Kalimababa got the entrance just in time to them
reach the end of a long corrider
and enter the last room on the right

 Kalimbaba went inside the house,
peered inside the room
and discovered that it was full of pears!
The entire floor was covered in pears
and in some places the pears piled waist high

 The men had begun to unload the pears in their baskets
and Kalimbaba asked them
if he could buy a few

 Sure
As many as you like,
said one of the farmers

 Forty rupees a kilo,
said the other

 Kalimbaba offered one of the men a hundred rupees
and the man then began to fill Kalimbaba’s bag
with freshly-picked pears

 Thank you

 Anytime

 And then Kalimbaba went to find his friends
and share his good fortune

 ♫ ♫ ♫

 These pears are delicious

 They’re great

 Where is the pear room?

 It’s just over there,
in that purple house

 Excellent
Now we know
where to get pears

 The friends then continued to eat
pear after pear

♫ ♫ ♫

 The next day Kalimbaba returned
to the pear room
to buy a few more,
and then he went to his afternoon haunt
and shared them with his friends,
first peeling away the poison
that the farmers had applied

 Pear prasad,
said Viswa

 Pears are great,
said Dom Baba

 Long live pear season,
said Ajay

 ♫ ♫ ♫

 The following day Kalimbaba went back to the pear room,
but all the pears had disappeared

 They’re gone,
he told his friends
The pear room is empty

 The farmers must have taken them to the market

 We need to find a new supplier

 
I’ve seen pears in that room over there,
the one with the metal door that rolls down,
but the door is almost always closed

 Let’s take turns keeping watch
When the farmer returns,
we’ll ask if he has any pears to sell

 I’ll take the first watch

 And I’ll take the second

 And so the four friends arranged
to keep a lookout
for the elusive owner
of the second pear storeroom

 ♫ ♫ ♫

 Has the pear farmer turned up?

 Not yet
No one has even glanced at that door in passing

 It’s been a few days
Maybe he took them away
and sold them during the night

 Maybe

 We need to find another source

 Just then Dom Baba came along
smiling happily
and holding a half-eaten pear in his hand

 I just came across some more pear farmers,
he said
And I bought three kilos

 Excellent!

 Cool!

 Right on!

 Dom Baba handed out pears to his friends,
and then they all ate in silence
for a while 

♫ ♫ ♫

 I wonder when the apples will be ready

 The ones on that tree over there look pretty good

 Yeah,
I can’t wait for apple season

 See that room over there?
The one with the green shutters
That’s where they store apples

 Cool

 We’ll have to keep an eye out
for apples

 They should be ready soon

 Freshly-picked apples are great

 They’re the best

 Almost as good as pears

 Maybe just as good

 Maybe

 And so the four friends sat
on the balcony of their afternoon hangout
eating pears
and waiting for apples

 ♫ ♫ ♫