Jay Deshpande
This Still Life Will Self-Destruct in Thirty Seconds
You assemble a crack-team of experts, chosen from a bowl of fruit. The pomegranate will
be the muscle. A banana the master of disguise. The kiwi will be your point-man. Grapes
are the munitions experts. A veteran peach is flying into town to lead the operation.Just before going into combat, the kiwi trembles imperceptibly. A single grape inches
towards him, brushes against his hoary skin.Together, they find the secret lair that holds the plans for unspeakable destruction. Just as
the peach had expected, there is a nut behind all of this. He has plans for tremendous
growth.Before demolishing the base, the banana opens a single unmarked door, behind which he
finds legions of dried fruit. The damage is horrible. He closes the door and returns to the
group in silence. He will not tell them what he saw.Later, the pomegranate, feeling he has been handled very poorly, will walk off the job.
You watch him go towards a pomegranate-colored sunset, before he explodes in
effulgence, covering the desert with his secrets.
