In-world mythology — invented tales

The First Seed

The oldest story in Fruitopia: in the beginning there was a single seed, carried on the wind from beyond the Candy Peaks. Where it landed, the first orchard grew — and from the orchard's ripest fruit, the first fruit-people woke, blinking, at sunrise. Every Blossom Festival retells it; every telling adds a detail.

The Great Ripening

Lore holds that fruit-people “arrive” rather than being born — found in baskets, groves, and once, famously, in a coat closet at the Velvet Pit. Scholars of the Mellow Marsh insist this is metaphor. The fruit-people of the valley insist it's Tuesday.

Orchard spirits

• The Blossom Mother — said to walk the orchards on the first morning of spring, touching buds awake.
• Old Peel — a river spirit who rescues lost peel-boats, in exchange for a song.
• The Sugar Snow — the Peaks' winter gift; children are told it's the mountains sharing their sweetness.

What Marlow believes

Marlow collects the myths like cocktails — each with a garnish of doubt and a toast at the end. “The First Seed?” he'll say, raising a glass. “To whoever planted it.”