>>6069641>>6069653>>6069666>>6069837>>6069933You lingered only a short while longer. Cora had promised you an entire dollar in coins to shop with and had fulfilled that promise within minutes. The moment the currency struck your hand, you shook Cora's (as best you could while she was hesitating to reciprocate) and started towards the town without more than a glance back to the shack.
On the way to the Gulch a single thought grew louder and louder until you could hardly ignore it. Why <span class="mu-i">had</span> those nutberries calmed the strange ants? You found yourself glancing at your basket-- first occasionally, then repeatedly. By the time the town was within sight you found yourself taking an aside to sit down and attempt to crack one open.
It was an easier affair than you'd expected. As soon as you'd found the sharpest, biggest rock in the area, the shell of your chosen nutberry seemed to crack with only a modicum of effort. All it took was three strikes to an area near the top and you heard a quiet <span class="mu-i">pop</span>.
The small "cap" atop the nut fell to the ground, briefly spinning like a dropped coin, revealing a small and wrinkled piece of... something... inside of the nut.
Your prediction of a "fruity center" could maybe apply if you'd been thinking of a raisin, or especially an apricot. Otherwise, it was bupkus. The tiny crumpled thing in the middle of your brother's present was by no means edible-- to a human, anyways-- and looked more like a chewed-up wad of gum with small, circular seeds stuck in it. It didn't seem to smell like anything at all.
This "fruit" seemed to have fallen from somewhere, being otherwise detached from the interior of the nut, seeming unable to stick to any part of its surface. Upon further examination of the cap, it became evident that the fruit had been growing upon its bottom.
You cracked open another nut in the same manner. This one contained the strange fruit, as well, but this one's color was different. Your original nut had an orange fruit within-- this one seemed to look almost <span class="mu-i">pink</span> in its appearance.
Curiosity began to run rampant within you. Were these multiple varieties of the same nut? Different species deriving from the same tree? Maybe the change in color was due to shift in temperature or some kind of spoilage. Spoilage due to temperature?
It could be solved-- <span class="mu-i">had</span> to be solved-- later. Your stomach roared and drove you back to the Gulch.
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