Banana Grove: The Story of Poonani the Wicked

There once was a beautiful, fantastic grove born in the sunshine that was full of bananas. The leaves of the grove were bright, ivy green, and the trunks upon which they stood were strong, tall, and brown. Palm fronds towered over the grove, and just below their leaves were the brightest yellow bananas that ever grew. Long, full, and sweet, they grew in immense bunches and were found at the highest reaches of the grove trees.

Waking to a garden of wondrous colors that had been there for so long that there were some people who were just as dark as the trees themselves, the families of the grove decided to get together and celebrate their wonderful tree paradise. When they had gathered around the well walked roads, a grand old woman stood up and began to tell the story of Poonani the Wicked,

A long time ago, vegetables were the only food that people could eat. Vegetables, vegetables, vegetables! All there were, were vegetables. Some people ate them, and some people didn't. Eventually, though, those who had decided to eat the vegetables grew to be tall and strong. They would walk high in the sky to see the Sun shining bright, radiant, and beautiful all the day long. One day, one of those wonderful people who stood so tall looked at the wonderfully grown tree to see an interesting food hanging from its leaves. Because they were tall enough, they reached slightly to grab hold of one of the strange foods. Biting into it, the outside was bitter, but their teeth could tear the soft leather like exterior to reveal a sweet mush inside. The smell was sweet, and the flavor was, too. Learning of this, the 'tall walker' ran back to the vegetables that they had been eating for so long and shared the news of the 'fruit', as they had decided to call it. Those who had been eating vegetables were able to reach the immaculate, yellow fruits, but those who had not were still able because they knew how to ask politely and correctly.

One day, though, a terrible, terrible thing happened, and the people of the garden and grove awoke to no bananas in the trees. Upon inspection, they discovered that a lone tree hunter had eaten all of the bananas, and there were no more bananas to eat! However, after waiting for a long, long time, more bananas appeared, and the people of the garden and grove rejoiced. The wonderful fruits had returned.

The legend goes, though, that if you don't grab one when you see it, you'll have to wait for an eternity before you have the opportunity to find and eat another one!

You had better eat your vegetables! You had better eat your greens! Or Wicked Poonani will eat up everything!