Monkey Lyly is usually the first to dive into a bowl of fruit. Bananas, mangoes, papayas—she never says no. So when her mother offered her a plump, juicy longan one afternoon, she expected Lyly to grab it eagerly. Instead, Lyly wrinkled her little nose, pushed the fruit away, and turned her head with a firm no.
Her mother blinked in surprise. “Lyly, what’s wrong? You love sweet things!” She tried again, gently peeling the longan and holding the translucent fruit in front of her. But Lyly shook her head, lips pressed together, arms crossed as if to say, Absolutely not.
Confused, her mother placed the longan on a small plate and pretended not to notice. A few minutes later, Lyly crept closer, eyeing the fruit suspiciously. She reached out one tiny hand, touched it, and then quickly pulled back with a dramatic squeak. That’s when her mother realized the truth—Lyly wasn’t refusing the taste, she was afraid of the seed inside!
Earlier that week, Lyly had accidentally bitten into a longan seed. The hard, shiny core startled her so much that she must have decided all longans were “tricky fruits.” In her little monkey mind, they weren’t worth the risk. To her, the seed was a sneaky surprise hiding in what looked like a treat.
Her mother couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh, Lyly! You’re not scared of mango pits or banana peels, but one little longan seed and suddenly you’re suspicious of the whole fruit?”
To reassure her, Mom carefully peeled another longan, removed the seed, and showed Lyly the safe, sweet piece. Only then did Lyly cautiously take a bite. Her face softened instantly—the juicy sweetness won her over. Before long, she was reaching for more, but only if Mama was the one to prepare them first.
From that day forward, Lyly’s mother knew: longans had to come seed-free, or else her clever little monkey would turn her head and refuse again. And honestly, the dramatic performance was almost as sweet as the fruit itself.
