The Last Laugh: A Tale of Bananas and Love
For decades, the Great Banana Sticker War raged on, fought with stealth and sticky yellow badges of honor. It began simply enough – a father's playful impulse to stick a Chiquita banana label on his young daughter's back, sending her unwittingly into the world wearing the fruit company's iconic logo. She discovered it hours later, after countless knowing smiles from strangers, and thus began an epic battle of wit and adhesive.
No occasion was safe. Birthday parties became tactical operations. Thanksgiving dinners turned into surveillance missions. Each participant had to master the art of the casual pat on the back – was it a gesture of affection, or were they being tagged with another banana brand?
As his daughter entered her teens, she elevated the game. Armed with needle and thread, she created a masterpiece: a hand-stitched Chiquita banana, framed with love and presented on his birthday. He treasured this creative escalation, carefully storing away both the gift and the memory for future reference.
When college came around, he waited until move-in day. There, taking up an entire wall of her dorm room, hung a billboard-sized Chiquita banana poster. Her roommate was confused, but she knew – Dad had gone nuclear in their friendly war.
Years passed, the game continuing with sporadic surprise attacks whenever they met. Then, in December 2024, at the age of 90, Dad took his final bow. His daughter, through tears and laughter, met with the minister to plan the service. In a move that would have made her father burst with pride, she snuck a Chiquita sticker under his urn during the memorial.
"Finally," she thought, "I've won. Dad would be so proud – and so annoyed."
But her father, master strategist that he was, had planned one final move. As she prepared to leave town after the service, his wife handed her a package. Inside was the needlepoint banana she'd created as a teenager, the one she'd given him all those years ago. Attached was a fresh Chiquita sticker and a note that read: "Tag, you're it."
Some say if you listen carefully in that town, you can still hear a daughter's laughter mixing with her father's, echoing through the years of their banana-sticker battle. As for who had the last word? Well, perhaps that's not what mattered. In the end, it was never about winning – it was about a father and daughter who found the sweetest way to say "I love you" through a simple fruit sticker.
About the Author
Nancy Worley Harrison is a senior, new wife, mom, writer living in Stone Mountain, Georgia.
Worleywords@gmail.com
© Nancy Worley Harrison
