I tried daydreaming at the supermarket. ~Goodbye when you become delicious~ [Essay]

I was looking at peaches in the fruit section of the supermarket.
It's the season, isn't it.

And it's already summer.
It's hot, anyway.

In front of me, a woman in her twenties, wearing cool clothes with wide-open shoulders, is choosing peaches.

She picks up a peach, gently checks its weight, then turns it around to check its scent.
Then, she tilts her head slightly with a "Hmm," and puts it back.

Watching her, I thought.

Ah, this peach must feel like it's undergoing an interview right now.

"Please choose me!"
"I'm not ripe yet, but in the long run, I won't make you regret it!"
"That scratch is just part of my character!"

Even though I'm in the fruit section, a recruitment exam has started in my head.
Once this kind of daydreaming starts, it never stops.

It's a habit.
…It can't be helped.


Could it be that fruits also want to be thought of as the most delicious?
Humans want to be beautiful, so they take supplements, use face masks, and rely on cosmetic medicine...

Then, what about fruits?

The moment I thought that, the supermarket's fruit section started looking like a hospital to me.

Its name is...

"Fruit Hospital"

There, even today, a teenage melon is worried about the bumps on its face, a peach is troubled by the shape of its bottom, and Dr. Banana is examining patients with a smile, saying, "It's okay, it's okay."

But, there was one thing in that hospital that even a great doctor couldn't cure.

That is...

And so, today, the daydream story begins.


Here we go, here we go~♪

"Goodbye when you become delicious"

Under the blue sky, there is a very unusual hospital.


Its name is the Fruit Hospital.

A large sign is hung at the entrance.

"Sugar Content Enhancement Department"

"Aroma Outpatient Clinic"

"Ripening Rehabilitation Room"

"Astringency Outpatient Clinic this way →"

When morning comes, the waiting room is full again today.


The fruits holding numbered tickets are fidgeting, saying,
"I wonder when it's my turn~"

"Number 12, Mr. Melon!"

Dr. Banana, wearing a white coat, smiled broadly.

"What's the matter today?"

"Doctor... I'm embarrassed because I'm all bumpy."

"Hmm. These aren't pimples, they're a magnificent pattern!"

"But I hate it. I want to be smooth like Ms. Watermelon!"
The doctor writes on the medical chart.

Diagnosis: "Lack of Confidence"

"Then, let's do a cream beauty treatment."

Rub, rub.

Smooth!

"Wow! I'm more handsome than before!"

"Next person~"

"Doctor..."

Old Man Persimmon, all wrinkled, enters slowly.

"I'm too astringent, no one comes near me."

The doctor smiles.

"It's time for dried fruit rehabilitation."

Warm, warm.

Warm, warm.

"Huh?"

"What's this, I've become sweet!"

A big round of applause came from the waiting room.

Clap, clap, clap!

"Next person~"

"Doctor!"

Little Lemon has teary eyes.

"Every time I'm told I'm sour, my chest feels tight..."

The doctor took out an IV drip with a tube.

Its name is the honey drip.

Drip, drip.

"How is it?"

"Hehe... I've come to like myself a little."
"Next person~"

The one who came was Mr. Avocado, who was rock hard.

"Not yet."

"Not yet?"

"I'm still hard."

The doctor laughed.

"You don't need treatment. Time will solve it."

Mr. Avocado said,

"I, I, I'm in a hurry! Please make me a real avocado man by today!"
The doctor backed away.

Nurse Apple said,
"Doctor, then I will perform my ethylene procedure. Mr. Avocado, this way..."

Mr. Avocado was taken to another room just like that.

The doctor was truly a great physician.
Nurse Apple's coordination was also wonderful.

The fruits that were examined all became happy.
"Doctor, thank you!"

"I'm okay now!"

"I'm ready to eat!"

Saying that, everyone left the hospital.

But, not a single fruit that left the hospital ever returned.

Mr. Melon became melon soda.
Little Lemon was swaying in tea.

Old Man Persimmon became a tea snack.
Little Peach had become a smoothie.

But the doctor doesn't know.
Every day, while looking at the charts, he says,

"I wonder if everyone is doing well. I hope they are living happily."
One morning.

On the doctor's body,
Pop.

Pop.

Pop.

Black spots appeared.
"Hmm?"

"Sugar spots?"

The doctor looks in the mirror.

The waiting room suddenly became quiet.

Nurse Apple wore a smile, and the grapes at the reception desk bowed their heads one by one.

"Doctor!! Congratulations."

"Today is your graduation day."

"...Eh?"

At that moment.

The automatic door of the examination room,

Whirrr.
Opened slowly.

A large human hand reached out toward the doctor.
"Eh!? Wait a minute! I still have afternoon consultations...!"

In that instant, the doctor understood everything.

This hospital wasn't a hospital to prolong life. It was a hospital to make them as delicious as possible and send them off...

A while later.

In the examination room, only a white coat and one yellow peel remained.

......

The next morning.

A young green Dr. Banana wearing a new white coat arrived.
While polishing the sign at the entrance, he says cheerfully,

"Everyone~! Let's become delicious today too~!"
Outside, a large human is smiling in the fruit section.

Here, that is the day of discharge.
Goodbye when you become delicious.

The End

.........

Finally, here, I returned to the reality of the supermarket.


The woman from earlier chose the most beautiful peach, put it in her basket with a satisfied look, and moved to the meat section.

As I watched that peach go, I thought a little.

For fruit, "ready to eat" might be the goal.

But I feel like humans are different.
Recently, I've finally come to understand that a little.

I picked up a peach with a few scratches.

Full of affinity.
It's a discounted peach.

I'll eat it today.

I feel like I won't be able to walk past the fruit section this summer anymore.