Once upon a time, in a faraway, very faraway fruit country called Fruitlandia, there lived a sweet little Avocadik. Everyone called him simply Avo.
Mum Avocadika and Dad Avocado loved him dearly and spoiled him so much that there was probably no more spoilt little fruit in all of Fruitlandia than Avo.
His parents tried to give in to his every wish, just so their little son would be happy and never upset.
The avocado family had a wonderful tradition. Every day they went for a walk together in the magical fruit garden, because it was always warm there, no matter the season.
The magic of this garden was that when the little fruits were happy, the sun shone, the grass turned green and the birds sang wonderful songs.
But when the little fruits were upset, misbehaved, were rude or sad, the sun disappeared, dark clouds gathered, a strong wind rose and rain and thunderstorms began.
One day, while strolling through the garden, Avo spotted a huge strawberry ice cream with chocolate sprinkles being sold nearby. He badly wanted to eat it. He began asking his parents to buy the treat.
At first Mum and Dad said no, because Avo could get a sore throat from so much cold food. Avocadik started to whinge, and his parents gave in and bought him the huge ice cream.
After eating the ice cream, Avo became unwell almost straight away. The whole family had to hurry home.
Meanwhile, in the garden the sun vanished and the birds stopped their lovely singing, sensing the parents' worry for their little boy.
For a long time the parents nursed Avo with all sorts of syrups, bitter herbal teas and poultices. At last he recovered, and the family could once again go out to their beloved fruit garden.
Avo played tag, hide-and-seek and pulled funny faces. Dad took photos of him. Then Mum treated her little son to a tasty sandwich. Everyone was happy.
But then Avo saw his friend Banana-chick. Banana-chick was holding a giant banana-shaped helium balloon. Avo was very upset that his friend had a balloon and he didn't.
He went up to his parents and demanded that they buy him an avocado-shaped balloon. And this balloon had to be even bigger than Banana-chick's.
At first the parents refused to buy the enormous balloon. Avo didn't just whinge, he bawled, and very loudly. Mum and Dad had no choice but to give in to their spoilt son once again and buy the balloon.
Once again the fruit garden darkened, the leaves on the trees withered, and a wind rose so strong that Avo nearly flew away with his balloon. Luckily, his parents managed to grab him.
Avo was very frightened and upset, but once back home he quickly forgot about the incident and went back to his old ways.
Days passed. Avo wanted more and more presents and more and more expensive entertainment. His parents had to work hard to satisfy their son's demands. They were exhausted and came home from work late. Sometimes they didn't even have the energy to read Avo a bedtime story. And as for going for a walk and playing together in their beloved fruit garden, that was out of the question.
One Sunday morning the avocado family did set off for the magical fruit garden. But it was sad there.
The parents were thoughtful and quiet. Only Avo was having fun. A thought flitted through his head that the garden was cooler than usual, and the sun was barely peeping out from behind the clouds. But he quickly forgot about it.
The garden, however, knew and felt everything. It was like this because Avo's parents realised how wrongly they were raising their little son, that they had spoiled him too much, but they didn't know what to do now.
Walking along lost in thought, they came across a notice: "A brand-new model aeroplane has just arrived at the toy shop! Hurry and buy yours! Limited stock!!! "
Avo's eyes lit up, and he wanted that aeroplane so badly that he simply could not stand it. He began begging his parents to buy it. Mum and Dad tried to explain to Avocadik that the aeroplane was too expensive and would use up their entire pay. But Avo would not listen to anything.
He flopped onto the ground, screamed and kicked his legs. Passers-by stared at him in astonishment. His parents were deeply embarrassed by their son.
And what about the fruit garden? It became utterly miserable there. Dark clouds gathered, the wind began tearing leaves from the trees, thunder rumbled and such a downpour began that the avocado family was soaked to the skin.
For the whole week Avo cried and asked for that aeroplane, and he even refused to eat.
Sweetheart, if we buy you the little aeroplane, we'll have to work even harder, and we simply won't have any time left to play together, said the parents.
But Avo didn't care.
What kind of parents are you, if you can't buy your only son an aeroplane! I don't even want to go for walks with you, I need an AE-RO-PLANE! he shouted back.
The parents couldn't take it anymore and gave in to their son once again, spending all their remaining money on the toy. Now they had to work even harder.
Avo kept getting new toys, but by now he hardly ever saw his parents. The family stopped spending time together, playing, going for walks, or simply having fun.
It seemed Avo had everything he could wish for. But now the most important thing was missing: his parents' attention. There was nobody to fly the aeroplane with or go for walks in the magical forest with, nobody to tell the funny story that had happened to him during the day, and nobody kissed or hugged him.
One day Avo went to the magical garden on his own, but he felt very sad there.
The garden seemed to stand still, waiting for something very unusual that was about to happen very soon.
Avo wandered past the places where he had been happy, and remembered. Here he had had a picnic with his parents, and here he had flown a kite with Dad, here Mum had sat on the bench singing him a song while hugging him tightly, and behind that tree he had hidden, and they couldn't find him for ages.
When Avo thought about this, a smile crossed his face, and then he cried bitterly. He cried until his tears ran out and his eyes hurt. It felt as though everything bad was leaving Avo along with the tears, and something beautiful was being born.
Once he had cried himself out, Avo finally realised what he had done. With his own hands he had destroyed all those precious moments, trading the most precious thing of all, his parents, for useless toys and entertainment.
How deeply he had hurt them, what an ungrateful and spoilt child he had been, who only ever demanded and never gave anything back.
Avo firmly resolved that he must apologise to them, and he ran home. He was so agitated that he didn't notice the garden.
But the garden began to come alive. Sunbeams danced everywhere, flowers that had never grown there before bloomed, and the birds began singing in a new way.
Avocadik couldn't settle, paced from corner to corner and kept looking out of the window, waiting for his parents. When Mum and Dad came back, he ran to meet them and hugged them very tightly. Dad Avocado and Mum Avocadika were very surprised by their son's behaviour.
Sweetheart, what's wrong? Has something happened? Does anything hurt? asked Mum.
Mum, Dad, I am so sorry for what I've done to you! said Avo, in tears. Because of me you work day and night. Today I realised I don't need toys. What I need is you, your love and your attention. Please forgive me, and please don't work so many hours anymore.
Sweetheart, we love you very much, we only wish you well, and of course we don't hold any grudges against you. It's very good that you have understood on your own how important family is, not things, replied the parents.
Everyone hugged and cried.
From today everything will be just as it was! No, it will be even better! exclaimed Dad Avocado.
Shall we get ready and go for a walk in our beloved magical fruit garden? suggested Mum.
When the avocado family arrived at the garden, everything in it was even better than before. Although it was winter in the rest of the world, in the magical garden it was summer. Here the sun shone brightly, a rainbow arched across the sky, the garden was fragrant with flowers never seen before, and the birds sang the most beautiful songs. Everyone smiled and was friendly when they greeted the avocado family.
Avo and his parents were simply happy, because they had each other. Avo gave himself his word that he would never hurt his parents again.
