Treasure

Treasure

“NO! Not the hard bottom part, that’s some kind of shell or something. Not edible anyway. Just the light brown parts,” Joe said.

“Is this a trick?” Barney said, suspiciously, “Am I going to turn blue or something?”

“No, it’s just my favorite thing here, really. It’s easier to find in the warm places, we were lucky to find one at all. If we had more time… but we’re due at Elgon at three. I can’t wait till they pass authorization for this place, I’m already signed up, this is going to be top on my list.”

“This little thing? Really?”

“You say that now, just wait till you taste it. I’m hoping we can cultivate them at home, you know, with greenhouses or something. I’ve never seen them growing so I don’t know what’s required. I know, there are more important things to research here, but everyone has a favorite, right? Just try it.”

Barney lifted the gooey brown mass to his mouth taking a cautious bite. He closed his eyes, a smile spreading over his entire face. “Oh my gosh! Can we get more?? Please tell me we can get more!!!”

“Wrong season, not enough time… Joe said, “maybe on the way back? If we take a different route we can go by an area that’s still warm… I’ve literally seen them right out in the open in warmer places!”

They split the rest of their treasure and settled back to savor it as they continued on to the conference on Elgon.
…
Meanwhile, back on Earth:

“So where is it?”

“I don’t know, probably down in the back yard buried in the snow? All I know is I put an apple pie on the window sill to cool. When I looked again, it was gone."