Huff! Puff! Yum! UFLI Foundations Lesson 86

Gran had a plan. 'Today,' she said, aiming her hose at the garden, 'we will make the best coconut bars in the world.' Pip jumped up. 'Yes! Let us go get some!' Gran gave a slow smile. 'Get some? No, no, no. We grow them.'

'First, we grow them well!' Gran said. Pip ran from tree to tree, arms up. 'Grow tall! Grow big! Make those coconuts huge!' Gran held her water bottle and looked at Pip. 'That is the spirit,' she said with a smile. Pip did not think this job would be hard. Not yet!

Gran had made a lift with ropes and a platform on the big tree. She sat on it like a queen on a throne. 'Turn the wheel,' she called to Pip. Pip held the wheel and started cranking. The ropes groaned. Pip groaned. Gran rose up, up, up into the branches. 'Is this the hard part?' Pip panted. Gran just smiled.

From up in the tree, Gran sent coconut after coconut along the plank and into the basket below. They rolled and thunked! One, two, three, four, five! 'That is the lot!' Gran called with a grin. Pip looked at the big pile. 'Can we make the bars yet?' 'Sweet child,' said Gran. 'We have not even started.'

The coconut husk was thick and hard. Gran got to work with her blade. Pip pulled at a bit and pulled and pulled and pulled. Nothing budged. 'This coconut,' Pip groaned, 'does not want to be a bar.' 'Bad luck for the coconut,' said Gran.

Pip began to sneak away, just for a tiny rest, just to sit in the shade. 'And where do you think you are going?' Gran called. Pip froze. Gran had one hand on her hip. 'We are not done.' Pip gave a long, low moan. But Gran was always wise. That was just the thing with Gran.

'All set?' Gran said, lifting the blade. Pip held the bowl. Gran swung hard, and the coconut split in two with a crack. Water burst up, and Pip dived and stretched to get every last drop in the bowl. 'Got it, not a drop, not a drip!' Pip yelled. Gran smiled and gave a nod. She had felt Pip would catch it.

Then Pip had to scrape the meat from the shell. Gran handed Pip a red crank. Pip cranked hard, but nothing happened. Pip cranked harder and harder. Pip groaned, 'Is this the hard part?' 'You keep asking that,' Gran said with a smile. Gran gave Pip a pat on the back. 'The worst part is behind you.' Pip did not think so, not even a little.

Gran set the coconut in the big bowl on the stove. She kept mixing and would not stop. Then the best thing happened. The sweetest, richest smell filled the kitchen and rose up to Pip. Pip shut both eyes and breathed deep. 'Gran. Gran. Is that what I think it is?' 'That,' said Gran, 'is what hard work smells like.'

Gran held the bowl low and let the coconut mix fall in the tin. 'Let the bake begin,' she called. Pip sat with chin on hands and kept both eyes on every bit. Pip had worked so hard. 'Gran,' Pip whispered. 'Are we done yet?' Gran winked. 'Not yet.'

Gran pulled the golden, roasted bars from the tin. Each bar was crunchy and hot. 'Fill those jars to the brim,' Gran said. Pip loaded each bar in and set the lids on all three jars. 'Gran, are we done?' Pip asked. Gran leaned close and grinned. 'We are done,' she said.

Pip held a bar up and called, 'Got it!' Pip bit hard and it was crunchy and sweet. It was the best thing Pip had ever tasted. Gran got a bar, and both munched and smiled and said not a word. All that cranking and cracking. All those times Gran said 'we are not done.' Pip had a glow, and every bit of it was worth it.