The Chrysalis
“You don’t actually believe all that do you?” “You’re such a baby!” “Caterpillars don’t become butterflies.” “The adults just switch them when you’re not looking, you idiot.” “Magic’s for babies.” “Leave her alone! You’ll ruin it for her.” “Maybe you’ll turn into a big smelly cockroach!” Loz tried to look away, but her cousins were […]
I Think That I Shall Never See
Good afternoon, fellow tree lovers, and welcome to the North American Biosphere Tree Museum. My name is Aliah—I’ll be your guide today. Step through the airlock and we’ll begin the tour. Please feel free to ask questions at any time. Our museum houses the most extensive collection of preproprietary tree species in the world. We […]
Farming with Cranky
It’s hot. It’s always hot. It is cooler up at the other end of the field under the shade of the big trees, but I still prefer it down this end, in the heat. The trees are so big, so dark and mossy and quiet—it’s scary. Dad says they grow like that because of the […]
I Hope This Email Does Not Find You
Debris crunched beneath Pepper’s wheelchair as she rolled along the top floor of the Stonegrove Shopping Mall. Just small scraps, though, the kind she could roll over without her wheels catching. This area of the midsized mall was largely cleared out since most of the community lived up here, where they could access the vegetable […]
The Windtech
The first thing we learn when the windtech arrives is that wind turbines are female—or at least he calls them all “she” for some reason. “She looks to be in remarkably good shape,” he says as he peers through a pair of binoculars at the nearest turbine, which is standing idle in the distance. Its […]
Miss Angela Dean
Alabama hadn’t changed a whole lot since Grandpa’s time. Born in 1993, had he lived just a smidge longer, he’d’ve lived in three centuries. As it was, nineteen-year-old Sam was riding in the backseat of Papa’s car boat, watching the murky waves of the swamp lick the boat’s anonymous sides as they headed to clean […]
A Tree amid the Wood
That woman has come into my house again. I hear her husky voice as she grills my caregiver for anything she can learn about me. Some of the words elude me. The curtains, woven from the translucent leaves of living plants, rustle in the air, distorting the murmurs from the next room. Often I cannot […]
Unpredictable Weather Patterns
Kevin isn’t like the other members of his notorious family:his storm-front brothers racing out of the northeast. Nor is he in the category of his boisterous hurricane cousins,foaming and churning off the coast. Kevin isn’t even like his howling tornado twin sisters,twisting and shouting all over the plains. He is just an insignificant, small storm,soon […]
Helianthus
“Funny, a vampire with SAD,” I quip. The tall Ukrainian peers through mirrored goggles. “Intolerance to sunlight does not qualify me as vampire.” Leonid is our grower. It doesn’t matter how clever the plant biologists are, myself newly included, if you don’t have someone with green fingers to nurture your gene-hack creations. And Leonid is, […]
Yard Work
Carlotta said, “The first rule of yard work is—” I held up my hand to stop her. “Hold on,” I said. “I saw this in a movie. Let me guess. The first rule of yard work is: ‘You do not talk about yard work.’” Life is a movie. Sometimes it’s Fight Club. Carlotta shook her […]
