Once upon a time, in a faraway, very distant fruit country called Fruitlandia, there lived a sweet little Avocado named Avo. Everyone simply called him Avo.
Mama Avocadiha and Papa Avocado loved him very much and spoiled him so much that perhaps no other little fruit in all of Fruitlandia was more pampered than Avo.
The parents tried to indulge him in everything, 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 with thunder began.
One day, while strolling through the garden, Avo saw that nearby they were selling a huge strawberry ice cream with chocolate chips. He wanted to eat it very badly. He began asking his parents to buy the treat.
At first Mama and Papa refused, since Avo could get a sore throat from so much cold food. Avocadik started to whine, and the parents gave in and bought him the huge ice cream.
After eating the ice cream, Avo fell ill almost right away. The whole family had to hurry home.
Meanwhile, in the garden the sun disappeared, and the birds stopped singing their lovely songs, sensing the parents' worry for their little son.
For a long time the parents treated Avo with all kinds of syrups, bitter decoctions, and compresses. At last he recovered, and the family was able to return to their beloved fruit garden.
Avo played tag, hide-and-seek, and made funny faces. Papa took his photo. Then Mama treated her little son to a tasty sandwich. Everyone was happy.
But then Avo saw his friend Bananchik. Bananchik was holding a huge banana-shaped balloon. Avo was very upset that his friend had a balloon and he did not.
He went up to his parents and demanded that they buy him a balloon shaped like an avocado. And this balloon had to be even bigger than Banana's.
At first the parents refused to buy the huge balloon. Avo did not just whine but howled, and very loudly. Papa and Mama had no choice but to give in once again to their spoiled son and buy the balloon.
Again the garden grew dark in the fruit garden, the leaves on the trees withered, and a wind rose so strong that Avo nearly flew away together with the balloon. Luckily, the parents managed to grab him.
Avo was very frightened and upset, but after returning home he quickly forgot the incident and went back to his old ways.
Days passed. Avo wanted more and more gifts and more and more expensive entertainment. The parents had to work hard to satisfy their son's demands. They were very tired and came home from work late. Sometimes they did not even have the strength to read Avo a bedtime story. And as for going for walks and playing together in their beloved fruit garden, that was out of the question.
One Sunday morning the avocado family still set off for the magical fruit garden. But it was sad there.
The parents were pensive and silent. Only Avo was having fun. A thought flashed through his head that the garden was cooler than usual, and the sun barely peeked 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 realized how wrongly they were raising their little son, that they had spoiled him too much, but did not know what to do now.
While strolling and lost in thought, they saw an announcement: "A toy store has received the latest model airplane! Hurry and buy yours! Quantities are limited!!! "
Avo's eyes lit up, and he wanted that airplane so badly that he could hardly bear it. He began asking his parents to buy it. Mama and Papa tried to explain to Avocadik that the airplane was too expensive and that it would use up their entire salary. But Avo did not want to listen to anything.
He fell to the ground, screamed, and kicked his legs. Passersby looked at him in surprise. The parents were very ashamed of their son.
And what of the fruit garden? It became very sad there. Dark clouds gathered, the wind began tearing leaves from the trees, thunder rumbled, and such a downpour came that the avocado family was soaked through.
Avo cried all week and begged for the airplane, and he even refused to eat.
Son, if we buy the little airplane, we will have to work even more, and we will simply have no time left to play together, the parents said.
But Avo did not care.
What kind of parents are you, if you cannot buy your only son an airplane! I don't even want to walk with you, I need an AI-R-PLANE! he shouted in reply.
The parents could not 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 he almost never saw his parents anymore. The family stopped spending time together, playing, going for walks, and even simply having fun.
It seemed Avo had everything he could wish for. But now he no longer had the most important thing: his parents' attention. There was no one to fly the airplane with or walk in the magical forest with, no one to tell the funny story that had happened to him during the day, and no one kissed or hugged him.
One day Avo went to the magical garden alone, but it was very sad for him there.
The garden seemed to freeze, waiting for something very unusual that was about to happen very soon.
Avo wandered through the places where he had been happy and remembered. Here he had been on a picnic with his parents, here he had flown a kite with Papa, here Mama had sat on a bench singing him a song while hugging him tight, and behind that tree he had hidden, and they could not find him for a long time.
When Avo thought about this, a smile wandered across his face, and then he cried bitterly. He cried until his tears ran out and his eyes hurt. It seemed that along with the tears, all the bad things were leaving Avo, and something beautiful was being born.
Having cried it all out, Avo finally realized what he had done. With his own hands he had destroyed all those wonderful moments, trading the most precious thing, his parents, for unnecessary toys and entertainment.
How deeply he had hurt them, what an ungrateful and spoiled child he had been, one who only demanded but gave nothing in return.
Avo firmly decided that he must ask them for forgiveness, and he ran home. He was so agitated that he did not notice the garden.
But the garden began to come alive: sunbeams danced everywhere, flowers bloomed that had never grown there before, and the birds began to sing in a new way.
Avocadik could not find a place for himself, paced back and forth, and looked out the window, waiting for his parents. When Mama and Papa returned, he ran to meet them and hugged them very, very tightly. Papa Avocado and Mama Avocadiha were very surprised by their son's behavior.
Son, what is wrong? Has something happened? Does anything hurt? asked Mama.
Mama, Papa, I am so sorry to you! said Avo through tears. Because of me you work day and night. Today I realized I do not need toys. What I need is you, your love and attention. Please forgive me, and do not work so much anymore.
Son, we love you very much, wish you only good, and of course we hold no grudge against you. It is very good that you understood on your own how important family is, not things, the parents answered.
Everyone hugged and burst into tears.
From this day on everything will be as before! No, it will be even better! exclaimed Papa Avocado.
Shall we get ready and go for a walk in our beloved magical fruit garden? suggested Mama.
When the avocados came to the garden, everything in it was even better than before. Although it was winter in the world, in the magical garden summer reigned. Here the sun shone brightly, a rainbow arched across the sky, the garden was fragrant with never-before-seen flowers, 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.
