Once upon a time, in a sunny orchard surrounded by singing birds and buzzing bees, there was a wooden basket filled with shiny red apples. The apples were proud of their smooth skins and sweet smells. They had been picked that morning and placed gently in the basket, ready to be taken to the market.

But among these lovely apples was one that was not quite right.

This apple, named Ricky, had a dark spot near his stem. He had fallen from the tree a little too early and landed on a rock. Though he looked mostly fine, the inside of Ricky had started to go soft and mushy.

The other apples noticed Ricky’s bruise and gave him space.

“Don’t worry,” said Ricky, trying to sound cheerful. “I may have a bruise, but I’m still good!”

So the apples didn’t say anything more. Day by day, however, Ricky began to change. He got softer and darker. And worse, he started complaining.

“This basket is too tight!” Ricky grumbled.

“Why do we have to be so clean and shiny all the time?” he muttered another day.

Soon, Ricky’s rot started to spread. First, it touched Polly, the apple next to him. Polly felt her skin softening where it touched Ricky. She frowned but didn’t move away.

“Maybe Ricky’s right,” Polly whispered. “Maybe being sweet and good isn’t so great after all.”

Then it spread to Benny. And then to Carla. One by one, the apples started to lose their shine. They grew spots and began to grumble and complain loudly just like Ricky.

By the time the farmer came to check the basket, half the apples had turned bad.

“Oh no!” the farmer cried. “What a waste!”

He gently picked out the good apples and threw away the rotten ones, including Ricky.

Now, imagine you are like an apple in a big basket. The friends you sit close to, the ones you spend time with, can shape the kind of apple you become.

If you’re around kind, cheerful apples, their goodness rubs off on you. But if you stay too close to a rotten one who’s always unkind or complains or does mean things, that behaviour might start to spread to you, too.

So when you pick your friends, be wise. Look for ones who are caring, fun, honest, and help you grow strong and sweet. And if you ever feel like you’re turning into a grumpy apple, pause, take a breath, and think: what kind of friend do I want to be?

Moral of the story: one rotten apple can spoil the bunch, so choose your friends the way you’d choose your apples: with care.

The End.