When winter arrives, my mother follows me around with oranges, sometimes peeled and sometimes unpeeled, saying, “My son, eat an orange; it has vitamin C.” She often corners me in my study.
“Come on, my son, there’s vitamin here. It’s essential to avoid getting sick in winter, open your mouth!”
Most of the time, even if I say, “Okay, Mom, leave it on the table, and I’ll eat it later,” she slices it into pieces and feeds me herself, just to be sure.
One day, she brought a plate of oranges to my room again. It was bedtime for me.
“My son, I’m leaving it here,” she said and left the room.
I was very sleepy, and I fell asleep without eating the oranges.
In my dream, I was chasing an orange with a fruit knife in my hand.
The orange was in front, and I was running behind it, sweating.
I finally cornered it.
“Don’t run; I’m going to eat you!”
“Okay, go ahead and eat, but you scared me a lot. You didn’t need to chase me because we were created for you. I’m ready; peel me and eat me to your heart’s content.”
“What do you mean? Won’t you feel pain when I cut you?”
“No, on the contrary, I’ll be happy when I enter the human body.”
“You have something called vitamin C, it’s very beneficial, my mom said so.”
“Your mom is right. But you know, valuable things are stored safely. They are stored in the most secure place. Come on, find it and eat it.”
I picked up the orange and examined it carefully. A pleasing orange color, small, perforated shapes the size of pinheads, a soft peel. Why hadn’t I noticed all this before? I regretted not noticing it until now.
Then I started peeling it, desperately searching for the vitamins. While cutting it, I suddenly smelled a pleasant aroma. Why hadn’t I noticed this smell before? I sniffed it again. The smell was nice, but where were these vitamins? I looked at the back of the peel. The inside of the peel was a different color. It looked like it was coated from the inside; it was white, thick, and soft in texture. Then I looked carefully between the two layers. Very interesting, under the outer peel, there were tiny buds arranged in round shapes. These were both as soft as pillows and had gaps between them. Even if the orange was plucked from the tree, it must be able to stay fresh for a long time with the air entering through these gaps.
The vitamins I was looking for were not in the peel. I turned to the inner side and looked everywhere. But everything looked the same. Maybe it was designed this way to confuse, I thought. Maybe the vitamins were in the pulp? I wondered which part was more secure. They were all covered with a solid membrane. The membranes were also covered with a white, soft fibrous substance. I started peeling the orange slices one by one, searching for them.
I got confused about which one to look at. I picked one of the buds and started cutting it carefully with the tip of the fruit knife. Suddenly, along with some juice, a lot of tiny particles with “C” written on them burst out.
“You found us, you found us!” they shouted.
I was very happy.
“How did I find you in the first slice I chose!” I said.
“We’re in all the slices,” they said.
In the meantime, lights started to flicker from inside the other slices, and applause sounds were heard.
“Why do you hide in such hidden places?” I asked.
“We lose our effectiveness after a while when we come into contact with air, and we become useless. That’s why our Lord prepares and keeps us here for you. Each slice of the orange is protected separately. We are preserved until the slices are cut. Even each little bud on a slice is protected separately; we wait for you to eat us until we burst.”
“Since you’re so beneficial, why do you only appear in the winter months? Why aren’t you always here?”
“Every season has its fruits. They are created according to human needs. For example, our job is to increase the body’s resistance in common winter illnesses.” They said.
In the meantime, cheers and claps filled the room. “Eat us too, Ömer, eat us too, Ömer!” they shouted.
I woke up, and my mother was covering me.
“My son, you fell asleep without covering yourself; look, you haven’t eaten your orange again.”
“I’m sorry, Mom, I’ll eat it right away.”
“Don’t interrupt your sleep; you can eat it tomorrow.”
“Okay, Mom.”
In the morning, I ate an orange at breakfast, enjoying its wonderful color, sweet scent, and delicious taste, and thanking our Lord. As for the vitamins? They must have reached where they needed to be by now.
