Title: The Papaya Prince

Characters: Libby and Luhan

Rating: r-12

I stopped rolling along the pavement as Pineapple's resonating voice came back in my head, saying: 'Nobody likes you, Papaya.' over and over again like an annoying song on repeat. I can still remember how painful it was to be treated by Pineapple like I'm more useless than having only a bubble gum as a weapon in saving the entire humankind. I know it's silly, being a guy (or a fruit, for that matter) and all, though it makes me seem like a , I can't help but feel all messed up about it. I then continued my rolling through the empty road, thinking how easier everything would have been if I am real, living boy. That's a wishful thinking, of course. That would never happen. Just impossible. Because people these days are unmerciful as they come. I mean, I've been a papaya for my whole life. When I was younger, I really hoped that I will grow into one handsome young boy and grow hair everywhere, but I am still waiting. I kept on rolling and rolling and rolling like a fruit on a mission. That is, until a wall stopped me from going any further. Oh, then I realized it's not a wall, but a leg owned by a human. A real, live human. I've seen them before, yes, but not this close. Never this close. Why? It's simple. I'm a fruit. The human looked down at me, and she frowned through the wetness of her eyes. She's... What do they call it? Oh, yes, crying. She's crying. And for them people, it means something must have hurt them badly. Why would people hurt each other to the point of having one of them cry? I was about to speak when I saw her hand dart out from nowhere and towards me. Oh, my God! She's gonna kill me and eat my flesh and eat my natural juices! The human's soft hand enveloped my body and lifted me up. I closed my papaya eyes and prepared to be crushed by her evil little hand, but instead I felt myself being placed on a flat surface on an upright position. I opened my eyes and found myself placed on the empty space on the human's left on the bench where the human sat. I heard the human – a girl, I think – let out a sigh of relief and said something to herself. It was something like, “Just a Papaya, Libby, not an overgrown rat. Just a Papaya.” I've never talked to a human before, but now I feel really bad for her. Though I am feeling bad myself, I think her pain is greater than mine's, judging by the tears that stream down her plump cheeks like two opened faucets. So I decided to cheer her up. “Hey,” I spoke. She looked at her right and found no one. She resumed her crying. Oh, no. No. I need her to stop that. And fast. I don't want her to pour out all her natural juices. She'll die once she drained all of it. And I don't want to bury her if she dies. Correction: I can't bury her. I don't have the proper equipment to do that. I don't even have arms and legs. I'm just a worthless papaya, after all. All I can do now is console her. “Hey,” I spoke once more. She looked at my direction, not not exactly at me. “Hey, human! Here! Look down!” Now, she did look down. And when she saw me, eyes, ears and mouth, she let out a scream that could be heard in a 2-mile radius. She stood up, staring at me with wide,  scared eyes. Her jaw is hanging open, and it was so wide that a dozen bees could have easily fit inside. “D-did y-you just t-talked?” she stuttered. I gave her a small smile, “Well, if you're referring to me, a papaya, then yes, I can talk.” She screamed once again, and it hurt my papaya ears. Well, at least I stopped her crying. But now she's really scared. “Do humans typically do that when meeting each other?” She shook her head. She blinked her human eyes thrice and shook her head again. “I must be dreaming,” she muttered. “I hope you are, you know. So that pain you're feeling will be long gone and forgotten once you wake up, but no. I'm sorry, but this is as real as you can get.” She laughed nervously, “I hate to break this to you, but Papayas don't talk. Like, at all.” And I was surprised at what she did next: she slapped her forehead and said, “A talking Papaya? Really? I am going insane.” Papayas don't talk? Where the hell did that came from? We are fully equipped with ears, mouths and eyes, thank you very much. Well, some of us. Maybe this girl never encountered our kind before. No wonder she's scared out of her wits. “You see, only a small group of fruits can communicate with people. We are the Cursed Ones. Gentle souls trapped in fruits. People aren't much merciful on us edible beings, that's why we're made. To restore people's compassion towards us. So, don't be afraid, okay? I don't have the capacity to kill you. If there's someone between the two of us who should be scared, it's me. You can just simply bite me with your strong teeth, or squish me between your hands or stomp on me with your foot.” Somehow, that statement calmed her enough to sit again beside me. She shook her head again and looked at me, “I just can't believe all of this. I mean, I still think that all of this is just in my head.” “Believe it, because I am here. Existing. Not just a fragment of your imagination.” She shrugged, “Okay, I'll try.” “So, what are you crying about? It looked like you were in so much pain,” I told her. She smiled sadly, “I still can't believe that I am talking to a papaya, but it was indeed painful. Do you really wanna know? It won't matter to you anyway, Papaya.” I smiled, “It does to me. So, please do tell.” She cleared , “Well, okay then. I was dating a guy. His name's Phil. He was so wonderful to me, you know. We spent a lot of time together, did enjoyable things together,,went to beautiful places together. I thought he was the one for me, the one who'll be there beside me for the rest of my life. And then just last week, Phil called me Monday night and told me that he's tired of me and broke up with me. I was so broken, but I'm more confused as to why he left me without a valid proof. And then earlier today, I saw him kissing my wost enemy, Shelly. Turns out that she's the reason Phil broke up with me. And now they're together.” That...was the most confusing thing I've ever heard my entire life. “Why would she do that to you? What would she get out of hurting you and stealing your guy?” I asked her as I really can't help but ask. “Well, Shelly has been jealous of me since we were kids. I am Libby, the girl more liked than her, Libby, the girl more talented than her, and Libby, the girl more accomplished by her. Her jealousy turned into rage, I guess. So she decided to destroy my life.” “That guy Phil will never be deserving of you, Libby. Because he failed to realize just how bad Shelly is,” I told her with a soft smile. Well, it's truth. That Shelly is so mean. How could she even do that to someone so pretty? And don't let me get started on that guy Phil. If I see him, I will beat him to a pulp so much that his natural juices will bleed all over the ground. “I know. But the pain is still there, you know. But I feel better know. Thank you,” she replied with a grin. Now my thoughts of her changed. I noticed how pretty she is while she's crying. But with that smile on her face? Breathtaking. Phil is an idiot for letting Libby get out of his sight, I tell you. To my surprise, she leaned forward, towards me and placed a chaste kiss on top of my papaya head. Does she know what will happen to our kind once a human showed pure, honest compassion to us? It will give us our human selves. That's why we are called Cursed Ones. I then feel something pinch me. Light enveloped my little papaya self and I feel myself expanding and expanding and expanding. It feels like it was endless. I can't believe it. I am going to be a boy! I never thought this day would come. That a human will still have enough mercy and compassion left in her heart to save me from this awful, fruit state. I embraced my transformation freely and smiled as my human self finished its forming. I opened my eyes and found myself where I've been sitting as a papaya just minutes ago, but my eye level is different. I can look at Libby's face more comfortably, though that my human form is taller than hers. It was a wonder that in my transformation, it also provided me humane clothes. I looked down on my hands. My very own hands, my very own arms, legs, and feet. My very own! I laughed. This is a miracle! I looked at Libby's shocked expression, “Hey. It's still me, you know. The papaya you spoke with earlier?” She nodded, “I know that. It's just... I never expected this.” “Expected what? I told you, we are the Cursed Ones. And only we are showed true compassion, we receive our human form.” “It's like a fairytale,” she whispered. “What's your name?” She asked suddenly and her hand towards me. “I'm Libby. But I know you already now that.” I laughed and took her hand for a handshake. I've seen people do that before, when they're meeting for the first time. “I'm Luhan.” She smiled, “That's a nice name. Why didn't you tell me that earlier?” I shrug, feeling proud that I have shoulders now. “It didn't seem to matter at the time.” “You still should have,” she insisted. “So, you know that it will took a kiss to make you a boy? You could've told me that beforehand, you know.” “It must come from the heart, Libby. If I told you, it would be forced if I told you. That, and I sort of given up the idea of being a human boy.” “Why is that?” I sighed, “Too many of us have been cut up, eaten, stepped on and squashed by humans. I didn't think that there are still people kind enough to exist to talk to a fruit and kiss it.” She laughed, and I smiled, staring at her. “You know, I haven't been able to return something to you,” I told her. She raised one of her eyebrows, “What is it?” I leaned towards her, and pecked her lips. “That was a 'You're welcome' kiss,” I informed her. She smiled as she shook her head, our faces only inches apart, “This is one hell of a dream, if this is one. But I've never been this happy in a dream before. Or have I just gotten completely insane.” I touched her cheek, “You're not dreaming, Libby. I promise. This is real. We are real.” “That's good, my papaya prince.” Now it's my turn to raise my eyebrow, “Papaya prince?” She smiled that cute smile and I felt something tug at my chest. She's just so beautiful. “Well, you see, there's this story about a talking frog. He was cursed into being a frog because he's mean. The spell will break and he will return to his human body only when a princess will kiss him.” “So, that's what you think I am?” I asked her. “Yep. A Papaya Prince,” she said, her head bobbing up and down. “No,” I replied, sofly. “Your Papaya Prince.”

A/n: sorry for this short update i'm pretty busy and this was the easiest among the request ^^

        hope you liked it <3 upvote!!!! 

still looking for another author to help me 3