Once upon a time there was a family of geese. The father goose loved the mother goose, the mother goose loved the father goose, both of them loved their children who loved them back and they were very happy.One day on their daily swim they found a plum floating in the pond on a little raft. Oh, it looked so tasty. But when they got to the raft the plum opened its eyes and smiled at them. For you see this was no ordinary plum. This was a sentient plum. The geese were very surprised. They were even more surprised, though, when the plum burst into flames. This was a burning sentient plum. The geese were very unprepared for their discovery, but since the plum was alive and so alone the geese adopted it and took it back to their nest.

The very first thing the plum did a a member of the family was to catch the nest on fire. He didn’t mean to, of course. He was just going to lay down for a nap, but one should be careful if one is usually on fire. The young plum hadn’t quite learned that yet.

As the plum got used to being a part of the family he couldn’t help feeling that he had brought the geese nothing but trouble. He couldn’t swim so one of them had to carry him. He didn’t eat fish so they had to collect special plum food just for him. And he couldn’t seem to stop catching the nest on fire every once in a while. The plum felt very useless and couldn’t figure out why the geese still loved him.

The time came for the geese to fly south. They started planning baskets and carrying slings to bring the plum with them. But the plum decided he wasn’t going to go with them. He was going to try to find some plums who were just like him. He loved the geese very much and they loved him, but he was tired of being a burden. They tried to tell him he was no burden and how he was a very special part of their family. They tried to get him to stay with them, but he just wouldn’t listen. And so with heavy hearts the geese flew south and the plum rolled north.

The plum travelled for some time and just enjoyed being alone and free to do what he wanted. On his fifth day travelling he to an orchard. There were so many different trees he was sure there must be a tree full of burning plums just like him. They would take him in and they would understand him and he wouldn’t be a burden at all.

The first tree was full of apples. The second of oranges. There were peaches, apricots, tangerines and lots of trees the plum didn’t recognize. All the way at the other side of the orchard was a single plum tree.

The plum was so happy. They were so much like him. Eagerly the plum rolled up to the tree. As he approached all the plums on the tree burst into flame. Now the plum was really excited. These plums were exactly like him. Now he could have a family just like him and he could be useful and happy.

With all this joy in his little plum heart he found it almost impossible to talk. When he was finally able to speak he listened to the other plum’s silence with great excitement. But after a while silence gets a little boring.

It takes a lot of excitement to stand up to large amounts of silence. The burning plum was very excited, but the other burning plums were even more silent. At first it seemed to him that the other plums were shy, then he though they didn’t like him, then he wondered if they were mute and finally he became certain they were deaf. He stayed with the deaf idea until finally he had to admit the plums couldn’t hear or speak or even think. They weren’t burning plums like him. They were just plums on fire.

Because the plum was so young he immediately assumed the because these plums weren’t like him he would never find any plums who were. And while being alone was fun for a while it doesn’t take long for alone to turn into lonely. So the plum decided to roll home and ask the geese to take him back.

As he rolled south he composed a speech. He would start by assuring them that he was fully aware of how much of a burden he was to them. He would be very clear on that point. He would make sure they knew that he knew he wasn’t any good to them. Then he would ask if they minded him coming back.

Heavy with these thoughts the plum rolled up the lane the led to the nest. He was startled into looking up by the sound of a loud honk. One of his brothers was standing in the lane staring at him in surprise. Soon the entire family had piled out of the nest and were running to him. They were all yelling at the same time. His mother was asking if he had been warm enough and if he had had enough to eat. His father was saying the family hadn’t been the same without him and all his brothers and sisters were yelling about how much they had missed him. In all the commotion somehow the plum forgot all about his carefully prepared speech.

Life soon went back to what the goose family called normal. The plum still caught the nest on fire sometimes and he was still never sure exactly why the geese still wanted him. But he knew that they did want him and he knew they loved him. He let them serve him and he did everything in his power to serve them back. And the whole family lived happily ever after to the end of their days.