This memoir was highly commended in the Year 4-6 category of our Keep It Real Memoir competition.
The winning entries can be found in Write On Issue 57: Believe It or Not which is being launched in early December.
Arlo
by Josephine Roxburgh
It all started with a sunny day out in town. The delicate touch of the sun on my skin felt strangely comforting as I placed my foot out of the car, and onto the broken concrete of the Mapua Four Square parking lot.
After cleaning the office my family would normally go for an ice cream together at the Mapua Four Square, and we were doing just that. But as we approached the sensor doors, I noticed one of my favourite foods in a basket usually used for low price items. I flicked a glance at the price-tag.
“Avocados and only one dollar each!” I exclaimed, then realising the whole store probably heard me. “Whoops,” I mumbled as the embarrassment set in. I turned to my mum. “Hey mum, you wouldn’t have a spare dollar, would you?” I said with a cheeky look on my face.
“Um yeah, but how are you going to eat it?” she said.
“You don’t worry about that,” I replied.
I didn’t end up getting an ice cream. I got the avocado instead. As everyone ate their ice cream, I ate my avocado. It was delicious!
Once I was done with it, I didn’t want to just throw it away. So, I waited until we got home, washed the pit and decided to search up “What can you do with an avocado seed?”
I stumbled upon a video by Brad Canning which led me to try and grow an avocado plant.
In the process you must cover an avocado in damp paper towels in a plastic bag and wait for it to sprout. Once it sprouts you can either put it directly in soil, or you can do what I did, you can stick 3-4 toothpicks in the side of the pit and place it on the rim of a jar or vase with water covering the roots.
After about a month of that I replanted mine into soil. And like I do with many objects/plants I gave it a gender: it’s a boy and I gave it a name - his name is Arlo, and he is thriving!
Thank you to Josephine for sharing this lovely unfolding of events with us. We hope Arlo continues to thrive.
Here is the link to the Youtube clip that is mentioned in the memoir. The FASTEST Way To Grow An Avocado
(c) Write On and Josephine
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