The distant planet turned slowly. A planet of stillness and dirt.
Two shapes moved in the laboratory made of mineral and ore.
"Is that the specimen?" one said.
"Yes," said the other. "Do not touch the containment lenses."
"It's not moving."
"No. Containment is intact."
"What are those structures? They spread into the soil. Feeding from it."
"Terrible aren't they? And fast. Very, very fast."
"How long before it can be weaponized?"
One shape pulled back.
"This is the second specimen. The first has already been loaded, targeted, and delivered."
"Oh."
Across the planet of dirt, in the slow cycle of rain, tulips rooted faster than the slow world had ever seen.
Millions of shapes could no longer move. Millions of deaths became beautiful red blooms.
4 comments:
awesome!
Millions of deaths became beautiful red blooms.
Very cool vignette, Jason. You have quite the imagination and certainly the means to deliver it...
I'll have to remember this little story every time I look at tulips... :-)
Love all the floral pix lately. I just started reading a book about the hybridization and commercialization of the floral industry. That made it even more fascinating to read your verse.
Raj, thanks!
Vesper, I wanted to turn the beauty of the flower on its head. I like those really mind-bending stories and movies, so I thought I'd dabble! :)
Lee, I'm sure it's fascinating to learn about how cultivars and hybrids are created. I know next to nothing about it. Weird how we keep developing new, and letting the old wither plants out of existence.
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