Gershwin and the never-ending coconut

Once upon a time, there was a boy named Gershwin, and Gershwin was a bit of an adventurer. He’d been to lots of different places. He’d been up mountains, to jungles, to the desert, to the North Pole and into space. He’d been to a playground and to Monster Truck Land. He’d seen things that nobody could ever have dreamed of before. But sometimes he just needed to rest, and the best place we know to rest is the beach.

Gershwin looked around and read every book he could find to find the best beaches. He was told that the best beaches were in the Philippines, on Isla de Palma. So that was where he decided to go.

He booked a plane from the airport all the way to Manila in the Philippines. When he got there, he hired a private boat, which took him to Isla de Palma. He got off, the boat waved him goodbye, and all he saw for miles and miles was golden sand.

At the edge of the sand there was grass and palm trees. The palm trees were big and delicious and green, and every palm tree was filled with coconuts.

A man came up to him. “Hello, you want a coconut?”

Gershwin did want a coconut, so he said yes. But the man wasn’t in a truck. He didn’t have a cart. He had no coconuts, and Gershwin was confused as to where the coconut would come from.

Without hesitation, the man ran to the nearest palm tree and started to climb. He climbed like a monkey, faster than anything Gershwin had ever seen before. When he got to the top, he pulled out a knife and cut one of the coconuts off, which fell to the floor.

The man climbed down almost as fast as he’d gone up. As he came down, he kicked the tree, did a backflip and landed in front of Gershwin on the sand. He grabbed the coconut and started chiselling away until the coconut water inside started to splash out. He pulled a straw out of his back pocket, chucked it in the coconut and handed it to Gershwin.

Gershwin took a sip through the straw, then had a big, long drink. It was delicious. The milk was still warm, and it really quenched his thirst on such a hot day.

Gershwin started walking down the beach. Very soon a different man came up to him. “Hey, I’m new here. Where did you get that coconut? It looks delicious.”

Gershwin pointed at the monkey man. It wasn’t a very nice thing to call a man, but he was like a monkey when he scaled that tree. “That man there. He climbed a tree and got me the coconut, and it’s delicious. You should have one.”

The man went after the monkey man, and very soon he had his own coconut.

Gershwin kept walking and walking. The beach was delicious. The sand got stuck between his toes, just like toe fluff, but made of sand. When his toes got too sandy, he walked a little way into the water lapping up on the shore. The water was cool against the warmth of the day, but it felt nice on his feet and definitely cleaned off all the sand.

Turning a corner, Gershwin saw a little group of crabs with their arms up in the air, snapping and walking sideways along the beach. They went up the beach and down the beach, constantly in a straight line.

Gershwin was a little confused. Since he could talk to animals, he got down on his hands and knees. “Is everything okay, Mr Crab?”

“No, no, it’s not. It’s too hot today, and the sand keeps burning our little toesies. All my children have burnt feet, and I don’t know what to do.”

“Wait there! I’ll sort it.” Gershwin ran into the undergrowth, found a fallen twig and came back. He dug the twig into the sand and made a massive hole. He went up to the water, got a little water in his hands and poured it into the hole.

“There you go, Mr Crab. That should be a very nice, cool hole for you to live in now.”

The crabs climbed in and waved. “Thank you so much. This is amazing.” They snapped away, and Gershwin walked off.

As he turned the next corner, he looked out to sea. The sun was setting, and in the distance some really large turtles were swimming past, probably on their way home.

“I should probably find a place to sleep. It’s getting dark soon.”

Gershwin walked a little inland to the trees and grass, where he thought it would be cooler at night. He opened his rucksack and found a pouch named Beach Bed. He opened it and thought it would be comfortable, but it was a weird bed. He’d never seen one like it before. It was made of string, and on the ends were two very long pieces of rope.

Then Gershwin understood. The beach bed was a hammock. He could tie it to the trees and sleep between them, off the floor, so no crabs could nip his bum in the night.

Gershwin tied the beach bed to the trees and climbed in. He lay listening to the wind whistling in the trees and the night birds hooting around. Very slowly, staring at the stars, he fell asleep. It was a wonderful, comfy night’s sleep.

When Gershwin awoke, he realised he had one more night on the beach. He would be there for two whole nights in total. On his second day, he thought he’d make the most of it, walk even more of the island and see if there was anything interesting apart from the animals.

Very soon he saw a giant temple. It must have been used to pray in the olden days, but now it had been ignored for many years and was starting to fall to pieces. Gershwin went in and looked around. There was green moss all over the walls, and writing. He didn’t know what the writing meant. It was just weird symbols to him. But he took some photos with his camera so he could show people at home and perhaps find someone to translate it.

He walked a little further and saw four beach huts made from the wood of palm trees. They looked very cool. Each had an open side reaching out towards the water, so they could sell things while enjoying a beautiful view.

Gershwin was thirsty, so he pulled out his coconut and took another sip. This coconut lasted forever. It was the longest drink of coconut he’d ever had. He kept drinking and drinking, and it seemed endless.

The first shop sold sweets and snacks: chocolate biscuits, sweeties, crisps and drinks, all Filipino. The thing he found weirdest was the ketchup. It wasn’t made from tomatoes like at home. It was made from bananas, but it tasted delicious.

Gershwin took another drink of his coconut. “It’s full again!”

“Ah, you have the very special coconut,” said the shopkeeper. “You’re very lucky.”

Gershwin didn’t understand, but he went to the next shop anyway. It sold souvenirs: magnets, bracelets and necklaces. He thought he’d take something home for one of his friends, and found a beautiful coaster with turtles, crabs, sand and coconuts. It was perfect for his trip, so he bought it.

He took another big sip and realised the coconut was full again. “This coconut just won’t go down.”

The man in the shop nodded. “Ah, you have the monkey man coconut.”

Gershwin nodded, said, “Yes,” and left.

The next shop sold surfboards. Gershwin had always wanted to learn to surf, but it was almost the end of the day. He only had one more night, and his plane left the next day. He watched a video of people surfing and thought, “Another day, I’ll go on a surfing adventure.”

He took another big drink, and the coconut filled up yet again. “This coconut just won’t stop filling.”

“Yeah, dude, you got the Monkey Man coconut,” said the surf man. “That’s the best coconut on the island. Good job.”

Gershwin was confused, but he carried on. The last shop sold boat trips, which was handy because he needed a boat back to Manila the next day. He hired one that would pick him up from his hammock the following morning.

He took another big drink, and the coconut filled. He sucked again, and it filled. Then, after another drink, it started to overflow. It kept going and going. “I don’t know how to stop it!”

The man in the boat shop said he didn’t know the passwords from the Monkey Man. “You need to find the Monkey Man. You get the password.”

Gershwin went out and walked along the waterline. The coconut kept spilling milk, and he didn’t want to make the beach messy. He picked up his pace and very soon saw the monkey man in the distance.

“Monkey man! Monkey man! Help me!”

The monkey man came running over. “What’s the problem? You got coconut. You take home. You enjoy.”

“But it just keeps leaking. It keeps pouring coconut milk everywhere.”

“Did you not listen? I told you. When you want it to stop, you say, ‘Stop, coconut, stop.’”

“You never told me that.”

“Yeah, I told you. You say, ‘Stop, coconut, stop,’ and when you want it, you say, ‘Start, coconut, start.’ Now you go back. You take home. You enjoy coconut forever.”

Gershwin looked at the coconut. “Stop, coconut, stop.” He took a big drink, and the coconut didn’t fill up with milk. He was so happy he wouldn’t be covered in coconut juice any more.

“Start, coconut, start.” The coconut filled up. “Stop, coconut, stop.” He took a big drink. Everything seemed to work perfectly.

Now he was tired, so he went back to his beach bed and fell asleep.

The next morning he awoke to a big horn. His boat was here. He packed quickly, jumped on the boat, waved goodbye to the island and headed back to Manila. As he passed the horizon, he saw the monkey man at the top of a coconut tree, waving to him.

Gershwin waved back and shouted, “Goodbye, monkey man!” as loudly as he could, then sat down, ready to go.

Very soon he was at the airport. He got on the plane and flew home. When he got home, he took the coconut out of his bag. “Start, coconut, start.” He took a big drink. “Stop, coconut, stop.” And it was good.

He put the coconut on the side table in his bedroom so he would always have milk whenever he wanted. The next day, when his mummy and daddy were there, he would show them how to use it themselves.

But right now, he’d had a beautiful, relaxing beach trip, and it was time to go to sleep. That’s what he did. He fell asleep and dreamed of the beach holiday he’d just had.

The end.