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 Georgia believes

Georgia believes every word of the lore and none of the footnotes. “Marigold says the Blossom Mother likes pie,” she says. “So I leave a slice out. Just in case.”