The Banana and the Orange

Once there was a banana in a bandana; the meanest, baddest banana in the West. The banana met an orange and before long they were wed. The banana gave a bandana to the orange on their anniversary. "Why would an orange need a bandana," asked the orange of the banana? "That's just silly. In fact, you look ridiculous in that thing. Here, try a sombrero." The banana tried the sombrero, but he couldn't get it to stay on his head. It kept slipping over his eyes and making him trip. Well, have you ever seen a banana trip on itself? There's no greater embarrassment to a banana. He'd lost his mojo. The sombrero had to go. The banana couldn't be his true self - the meanest, baddest banana in the West - without his beloved bandana. And since the orange could not accept him for who he was, the banana left the orange and her sombrero and rode off into the sunset. Mean. Bad. Banana in a bandana.

Once there was an orange who liked sombreros. One day the orange met a fancy banana in a bandana who thought he was the meanest, baddest banana in the West. He made her laugh, so she married him. But they were too different and the marriage was not to last. After a while the orange grew tired of the banana thinking he was all that and a bag of banana chips. That ridiculous bandana drove her crazy, so she asked him to try a sombrero instead. He looked pretty good in it - well, everyfruit looks good in a sombrero - but he wouldn't give it a chance. Bananas! They're all the same. Back to his precious bandana he went, and the two of them rode off together into the sunset. Oh well, perhaps she'd have better luck next time. On second thought... why let luck decide? The orange placed an ad in the local paper:

The Western Star Fruit --- February 21, 2011
Personals Section

Single orange orange looking for someone to make me laugh. Must love sombreros. Must not own a bandana.

In case you're wondering if I've lost my mind....
This very short story was born of a free writing exercise. I decided to write for a few minutes about whatever came to mind using two words for inspiration. The two words that I selected were banana and bandana. What you see above is the result of this free writing exercise, plus a bit of editing.

If you'd like to do some free writing of your own here are some guidelines. Select a word, phrase, or topic for inspiration, or just start writing. Set a timer (e.g. for fifteen minutes) and don't stop writing until the timer goes off. That means no stopping to read or edit, and no rewriting along the way. Just let the pen move across the paper. You can edit it later if so inclined, but the purpose of free writing is not to create anything in particular. The purpose is simply to write and to relax about it. It helps to get the creative juices flowing and to release the imagination. It's a great tool for us editor/writer types who tend to be our own worst critics, and who have trouble writing without also editing.