By Bree McCool
8^th grade, San Luis Obispo county
Illustrated by Natomas High School

It was a deadly hot afternoon at Los Osos Middle School and the lunch bell had just rung. Samantha and Freddy sluggishly made their way to their lockers and got their lunches. As soon as they hit the lunch table they hurriedly grabbed their drink.

"YUM!!" Freddy practically shouted. Samantha was thinking the same exact thing. They poured out their lunch and Samantha saw a round, hairy thing fall out of the bag onto the floor.

"What is that?" Freddy curiously said.

"My mom calls it a kiwi," she replied.

"Is there fruit or seeds in it?" Samantha wondered. She got a fork out of her bag and tried to cut it with her fork, bracing herself, waiting for what was inside. She had barely cut into it when she heard a noise.

"HEY!!" the noise said.

"Did you just talk?" she asked as she turned it over.

"Yes, I did talk. The name's Skip, and you're Samantha right??" he asked.

"Yeah. I thought that fruits couldn't talk," she said trying to reassure herself.

"I'm here to talk to you about kiwis because you obviously don't know one thing about my people," he explained. "All you have to do is say 'abra-cadabra' and we'll go!" he exclaimed.

"Take me to kiwi land," she said out loud. Poof!! Bing!! Bang!! Caboom!!

"Welcome to kiwi land. Kiwi plants grow in areas that are sunny and don't have any strong winds. The soil is acidy, well drained, and is rich in organic matter," Skip said to Samantha and Freddy.

"I didn't know that kiwis are so picky about how and where they are grown," Freddy said, as he looked surprised at the idea.

"We are also very picky about our watering. The crop needs massive amounts of water everyday. Our planters get problems in which they can only control to an extent. Our trunks smell like catnip so cats rub up against us and rub off our new stems. Gophers cut up the roots with their teeth and deer eat our leaves."

"What about the nutritional value?" Samantha asked.

"Well there are a lot of nutritional vitamins you get. The kiwi is higher in vitamin C than an orange and has more dietary fiber than a bowl of bran flakes. This particular fruit also has more potassium than a banana, contains vitamin E and protein," Skip clarified.

"When do you harvest the kiwi?" Samantha asked.

"The plants are planted in late spring to early summer and are harvested around mid-November."

"So now try a kiwi," he offered.

"Are you sure?" they asked.

"Yea, first peel off the skin" he said with a wink.

"Ok," Samantha replied She carefully pealed off the skin and took a bite. Whoosh!! They were back at the school cafeteria.

"Mmmmm," she said, "try it Freddy." He took a bite and liked it too. The day went on to be not quite as hot and soon Samantha and Freddy went home.