Chop Fruit Novels & Stories

He looks invested. "Not sure. A year perhaps." She follows his stare. "What are you looking at?" "What kind of fruit is this?" Pinching two fingers around the tiny fruit, Jin picks it up like it's some kind of contaminated object and brings it up to his eye level. His gorgeous face twists in concentration as he tries to figure out the identity of the weird fruit. It looks like a cherry if you take away the protruding strings. Yet it's also too big. The size of a kiwi. So it still can't pass as a cherry. Maybe a new crossbreed?

“In fact, they’re quite tasty—and very nutritious. They’re called kookiya.” He reaches over my shoulder and grabs the handle of my machete, then leaps up into the trees, pulling my machete free from its sheath as he does so. He lands nimbly upon one of the lower branches, perhaps fifteen feet above us. With one swift slash of my blade, he cuts loose a half-dozen of the fruit, which tumble to the ground in front of us. A second slash to his other side provides a similar harvest. Kai jumps down. His bare feet scarcely make a sound as he alights beside me.

The words came out a little too fast and I realised I was smiling, my chin lifting a bit as pride sneaked in before I could stop it. Elena paused and looked at me over her shoulder, one brow lifting. “Are you bragging right now?” I made a small laugh. “Maybe a little.” She chuckled too, shaking her head as she opened the fridge, the light spilling out and revealing the neatly arranged shelves. Everything inside was organised and carefully stocked. There were bowls of cut fruits, small containers with labels, bottles of juice and milk lined up like soldiers, and what looked like prepared meals sealed and untouched. She reached in and took out a small bowl of fruit, setting it on the counter.

They perked up immediately, their expressions a mix of curiosity and determination. I picked up a sharp knife, holding it carefully in my hand, and began explaining the basics. "First, you need to hold the knife like this," I demonstrated, guiding their hands to ensure they gripped it safely. "Always curl your fingers under, like a claw, so you don’t accidentally cut yourself." They watched closely, their eyes fixed on my every movement. I chopped a piece of bell pepper with deliberate precision, pausing to show them how to remove the unwanted seeds and stems. "See? Take out anything that’s not edible. Now you try."

Pulling out a small bowl, he placed some in it and pushed it in front of me. “Can I have some ranch?” Maddox nodded and pulled out another tiny bowl, filled it with ranch and handed it to me. Once the ranch was back in the fridge, he moved on. With each thing he diced, he placed in containers and put back in the fridge. For the next few hours, Maddox just chopped every single fruit or vegetable in the pantry. His movements were precise with trained fingers. Even as he cleaned up his workstation, his eyes never faltered from the laser focus he had been demonstrating.

"What else is there to say?" Chloe’s voice was serene, but her hand reached for a head of lettuce. She began to chop, her blade hitting the board with a rhythmic, violent precision. She sliced and diced until the vegetable was reduced to unidentifiable shreds, only then realizing she hadn't even washed it. She brushed the remains into the bin with a sigh. Just as she set the knife down, her phone buzzed again. A stranger’s number. She frowned, pressing the icon. "Hello?"

"And then he explained to me how to hold the knife,” I explained, "Although it is still difficult for me to chop as fast as you." “How nice, little one...” I looked at him smiling as he rinsed the shampoo out of his hair. I had missed him so much these days he was gone. “Today we learned the different cuts of vegetables and greens, do you know the chiffonade? It is to finely cut strips of leaves such as mint, basil or lettuce... The French and their words, but it's great, isn't it?”