Uva

In the beginning there was a little purple grape.
She hung more or less happily from her vine.
Each day the sun grew stronger and she became darker, sweeter.
As the winds blew south, she moved south, to Sinai.
There she found herself alone and afraid.
She was an American grape, you see.
American grapes are told to be afraid of turbans and the dark skinned men who wear them.
She stayed in her hut on the shore of the Red Sea and cowered.
After two days her fear had melted and dripped away and she felt free.
She returned to the sun and again grew darker, sweeter.

This little purple grape soon heard a call from a bright red tomato in the north.
She remembers this tomato from the nursery.
They were seeds together. Fed by the same university. Later sent off seperately into the fields.
The tomato promised adventure and good company.
North she went, that little purple grape. Always a sucker for fine conversation.
Their vines interlaced and together they grew darker, sweeter in the sun.
They set their moveable roots down into the land of Jordan.
The red sand was very hospitable, Always offering sugared Sage tea.
The tomato grew very fast, and the little grape was much slower.
They kept themselves at a reasonable pace and enjoyed the sun together very much.
Eventually he ripened, big and red, and found himself at a market in Jerusalem.

Alone again, this little purple grape.
She overheard some other grapes talking in a foreign but familiar tongue.
They mentioned some grapes that had been put into bottles and kept for a very long time.
This intrigued the little grape. What answers must lie at the bottom of these bottles!
She went to find out for herself.
After winding through many valleys on the kindness of many vines, the little purple grape landed softly in Madrid.
The people in Madrid eat a lot of Ham, she noticed. And they talk very quickly.
Luckily, the little purple grape did not come for conversation.
It started to rain and the little grape grew juicy.
She slipped along the cobbled streets and found a place with many, many bottles and many, many people eating ham.

A very tall glass with a very thin stem sat down beside her.
She sat up nice and straight and looked as if she was thinking very serious thoughts.
The glass was filled and introduced the little purple grape to several delicate secrets.
The little purple grape enjoyed this very much. She emptied the glass and her thoughts did not seem so serious.
Her cheeks became red and she slipped off into the streets.
She filled herself with music and cheese and fell asleep happily.

Soon she will visit Lisboa, where there are even more grapes in even more bottles.
Some of the grapes are enriched. They are sipped out of small glasses and this makes them fancy.
Soon after the little purple grape will sail south to Africa. Here there are many things that are dark and sweet.
She will have a lot of time to ripen in the sun and will assuredly grow deep and purple.

The future of this little grape is uncertain.
She thinks she would like to grow old and wrinkle.
Raisins are very nice, aren´t they?