Jeremiah dashed through the woods, regardless of all the underbrush that whipped at his face and legs. He had to escape his stepmother, once and for all.
He was sick and tired of the humiliation she gave him, especially when he didn't deserve it. His work was never as good as his older sisters or brothers, no, he always had to do his chores over and over again until his step-siblings came over shoved him over and yelled at him for being stupid and useless. He was only eight, why did she expect him to be able to do the exact same work as his much older siblings, who were all sixteen and older.
As he came crashing out of the woods, into a forest clearing, he noticed a horrid looking tree in the middle of the clearing, its branches all twisted into terrible contortions that made his mind swim trying to figure them all out.
His father would have loved to see this, if he wasn't stuck in his stupid botany office all day, working on god-knows-what about plants until the late hours of the night. Even if they had seen it together, he would be too tired to care. God, how wished to escape this dreadful life.
Jeremiah stared at the tree and noticed a solitary fruit growing from its gnarled branches. He was awfully hungry, and it looked very tasty, despite its plant it was growing from. He plucked it down, and took a large bite from the tasty fruit.
What was the fruit?