Peing-or’s Oversized Pai Orange
Peing-or was out with her mother one day visiting the Secret Garden where there was the most wonderful Orange Grove. They were Pai oranges, sweet, tasty with plenty of juice for making drinks. There are many Pai orange groves in and around Pai. When ripe they are picked and sent to all parts of Thailand, so famous are Pai oranges. The Pai oranges that grow in the Secret Garden are tastier and even more juicy. Very few people know about the Secret Garden or some of those that do, do not know where it is, but Peing-or and her mother do.
On this special day when they visited the Secret Garden and the Pai Orange Grove, Peing-or suddenly noticed a larger than normal orange growing from one of the trees. Pai oranges are small normally however this orange was quite large, at least three times as big as all the other oranges growing on the trees.
“Look at that orange mummy” Peing-or said. “Look how big it is mummy.”
It was BiG, it was very orange in colour, as healthy a looking orange as you could ever see. “Yes” said her mummy “Yes it is so much larger than the others Peing-or, we will come again in a few days time to see if it grows any bigger, maybe next weekend Peing-or”. “Thank you mummy, I will really look forward to returning to see if the orange has grown bigger”
It was four days before Peing-or and her mother could visit the Secret Garden again as her mother was very busy working in Pai. On her first available day off they hurriedly set off to visit the Secret Garden and when they arrived went straight to the Pai Orange Grove. They were so excited to see if the larger than normal orange had grown even bigger. Peing-or ran ahead as she was so excited to see the orange again. When her mother arrived at the tree Peing-or looked sad and a teardrop rolled down both cheeks. In a very sad voice Peing-or said “Mummy, the orange has gone, someone must have taken it” and she started to cry a little more. Her mummy said “Never mind Peing-or, there are plenty more oranges on the lovely trees in the Orange Grove”.... “But mummy I really liked the big one so much, but it’s gone and I don’t know where”.
Then all of a sudden her mother called out to Peing-or in a very happy, excited voice, “There it is, there it is Peing-or, over there by that tree, over there, can you see it Peing-or ?”
Peing-or looked up in such amazement and delight, because it was, it really was the larger than normal orange, in fact it was even bigger, now four times the size of the other oranges. “It must have fallen from the tree because of its’ size and weight and rolled over to that other tree, hidden by the shadows of its’ branches” her mother explained. Peing-or ran over to where the orange lay on the ground. She just stood there smiling, looking at it and wondering whether to pick it up or not. Her mother came over and said “We can’t pick it up Peing-or, it doesn’t belong to us”. “Yes I know, I understand” replied Peing-or, “but doesn’t it look lovely lying there mummy, so big, so round and so juicy looking”. “Yes it does, it’s the nicest orange I have ever seen Peing-or”. “Me too mummy, it’s the biggest and nicest I’ve ever seen as well”.
At that very moment a man appeared from nowhere and he introduced himself to them ... “Hello, I am the keeper of the Orange Grove, I’m the gardener that looks after all the Secret Garden Pai Orange trees”. He went on to say that he remembered them being in the garden four days previously and that he knew they were admiring the large overgrown Pai Orange. He told them that it had fallen off just that morning and that he knew Peing-or and her mother would return to see it again and that he had placed it under the tree in the shade in case they did return.
Then looking at Peing-or who had been listening very intently to the Keeper of the Orange Trees he said.
“You have my permission to pick up the large orange and take it home with you but when you peel the orange save the peel, dry it in the sunshine and its’ beautiful perfumed fragrance will gently fill your house for as long as you keep the peel and it can last forever.”
He then looked at both of them and continued.
“When you eat the orange will you remember to save the pips and return them to me please, because this is a very special orange, one like this only grows once in every 100 years and the pips are magical pips. When you return them to me I will plant them with your help Peing-or and you will see why they are magic pips”. Peing-or said in a very polite voice “Thank you Mr Keeper of the Oranges for letting mummy and me take this beautiful orange home and I promise we will bring the pips back to you”.
Then as if by magic the Keeper of the Orange Grove disappeared in a sweet orange fragrant mist. “Pop” and he was gone!
“Mummy, mummy” said Peing-or very excitedly, very happily “the Keeper of The Orange Grove said I could pick the orange up and take it home, may I do so please?”
“Well yes I suppose you can, he is the Keeper of the Orange Grove” Her mother replied.
Peing-or knelt down and very purposefully but very gently picked the large Pai orange from the grassy ground and held it tightly against her body whilst looking up at her mother. ”I think we should go home now mummy and take this lovely orange with us and place it in the fruit bowl on our table.”
“Yes we will” agreed her mother “we will take it home at once”. And off they went with Peing-or taking great care not to drop or squeeze the orange too hard, with Mr Teddy Bear safely tucked under her arm.
It was a week later when Peing-or and her mummy returned to the Pai Orange Grove hidden in the Secret Garden, taking with them the twelve pips they had found and saved from within the orange. They went straight to the tree from which the large orange had fallen and sat down comfortably on the grassy ground, hoping for the Keeper of The Orange Grove to appear. Within a few moments and as though from nowhere he appeared. He was a jolly, kindly looking man wearing a large brimmed straw sun shade hat. Both Peing-or and her mother stood up looking at him in a very curious yet pleasant manner.
“Hello” he said to them “Have you come to return the pips to me Peing-or and was the orange tasty, I think it was”?
Quite shyly but excitedly Peing-or replied “Yes it was such a very tasty orange, the sweetest juiciest orange I have ever tasted and we found twelve pips which I have here in this bowl for you, Mr Keeper of the Pai Oranges”.
“And we saved the peel as you said we should, dried it in the sunshine and then placed it in a very nice wooden box. The fragrance is so lovely, we will keep the peel forever Mr Keeper of the Orange Grove”.
“Oh thank you very much” he said in a quiet voice, whilst taking the bowl from Peing-or and the pips from the bowl. “Come with me please, we are going to plant the pips right away and I would like you to help me put the pips in the ground”. As they walked to a piece of ground the Keeper had already prepared he said to Peing-or “Although you have eaten the orange it will still remain alive because we are going to plant the pips, which hopefully will become orange trees, and in that way your large oversized orange will live on forever Peing-or”.
When they were at the prepared ground the Keeper of the Pai Orange trees showed Peing-or and her mother twelve little holes he had dug, which were all ‘a trees’ distance’ from each other. He knew these special ‘once in a 100 year only’ oranges have twelve pips within them.
“Come on then Peing-or, please place one pip in each of the holes, then I will cover them with this very special Secret Garden soil”. Whilst watched by her mother, Peing-or very carefully placed a pip in each of the twelve prepared holes. Her mother was so proud of the way she had gently and correctly planted the pips whilst smiling beautifully all the while.
When all twelve pips were planted and covered with the special soil the Keeper of the Pai Oranges said. ”There, that’s it Peing-or, we have finished our work and you have done a very good job, very good indeed, thank you for helping me.”
Then looking at Peing-or and her mother he said. “Please will you both return in exactly twelve days time, not a day before or a day later.” Then, with a smile, he suddenly disappeared again into the same sweet orange fragrant mist, just like he had done before.
“Well” said her mother “Isn’t that magical, the way the Keeper of the Orange trees can come and go like that Peing-or”?
“Yes it is mummy” she said quietly “Very magical, aren’t we lucky he is so friendly with us.
“Can we come back in twelve days time mummy, like he asked us to, please mummy?”
“Yes of course we will Peing-or, in exactly twelve days, not a day before or a day after, in twelve days exactly Peing-or.”
It was now early morning on the twelfth day and Peing-or woke up at 5am. It was still dark but she was so excited she could hardly sleep. She woke again at 6am, then 7am and could not hold her excitement any longer. Jumping out of bed she ran into her mothers’ room only to find that her mother was already up, dressed and ready to go to the Secret Garden too.
Peing-or was quickly dressed in her favourite pink dress, pink hat and her pink boots. As soon as they had finished breakfast off they both went, hurriedly to the Secret Garden. No sooner had they entered the Secret Garden when the Keeper of the Pai Orange tree grove suddenly appeared out of nowhere. “Hello” he whispered to them both, “It is the twelfth day since we planted the special pips isn’t it”. Peing-or nodded her head in reply whilst politely saying in a very gentle voice “Yes it is Mr Keeper of the Orange trees, my mummy and I have returned, just as you requested us to, on the twelfth day”. Her mother stood in silence, smiling yet curious as to what the Keeper of the Orange trees was going to tell them next.
“Follow me please” he said with a kindly look on his face, “Please follow me” he repeated.
They walked over the green grass to where the Orange Grove was and then directly towards where the pips had been planted twelve days earlier.
“Now close your eyes both of you” the Keeper asked them.
Peing-or and her mother did as requested and the Keeper of the Orange trees led them to where the pips had been planted. “Now open your eyes” he said.
On opening their eyes the Keeper had gone, disappeared and both Peing-or and her mother gave out a gasp of delighted amazement. What they saw was truly wonderful for the pips had already grown into fully mature Pai Orange trees and each of the twelve trees was laden with the most beautiful oranges you have ever seen.
“Mummy, mummy look, look at the lovely Pai Orange trees that have grown within just twelve days, the big orange we took home home lives on, those pips really were magical weren’t they mummy?”
The End
(Well not really the end because Peing-or has many more adventures and stories to tell)
