We Plants are Happy Plants (part 3)

Posted on Sun Jul 16th, 2017 @ 9:25am by Lieutenant JG Elizabeth Jackson & Veronica Kiley

1,086 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Pulling Together
Location: Arboretum

[CONTINUED]

[OLD]

The girl still couldn't admit to herself that she was actually intrigued by plants, yet she felt more and more interested in what the arboretum lady was showing her. The miniature trees looked cute and funny, in a way which sparked Veronica's interest. Did she say they need to be shaped?

[NEW]

"Tiny Japanese trees.", she smiled in surprise as she looked at Lizzie, "Yes, please.", she said, "Can I keep tiny trees in my room?", she the asked, "I mean, it would definately surprise mom."

"Of course. I have some here that are ready to be taken, if you want one." Lizzie indicated one flat of tiny bonsai trees. "The only thing you need to do besides water them and give them fertilizer pellets once a week is to trim their branches if they grow much taller than this."

"No, no, you misunderstood me.", Veronica folded her arms, looking at the silly adult, "I wanna start my own tree."

"Ah!" Now she understood. "Okay. So you want to start a tiny tree for your room. How tiny?"

Veronica had to think about this for a moment. How tiny exactly? For a brief second, she considered the size of her room, her bed, her table. "Hmm...", the girl looked at Lizzie with unsure eyes, "I have to make room for it on my table.", she expalined, "Sooo... not really big. But not really small either." She smiled, knowing she just gave a puzzle to her new-found friend.

"Hmm..." Lizzie considered that for several moments. "Well, there's the Japanese Bonsai tree. That, as you can see, is very tiny. You start with a small branch and plant it, then tend it until it begins to sprout a new tree. Or, there's the Dwarf tree. It looks like an oak tree, but it only grows to be about 2 feet tall. Or there's the Tweelim Faerie tree. That one is a little bit shorter and has fern-like leaves and tiny white flowers. There are also a number of bushes that don't grow very tall."

She led the girl to a console and pulled up a list of small trees and bushes. "Here. Pick one you'd like."

The girl looked at the possible choices, but it only took her a brief second to choose the one she wanted. When she heard the name 'Tweelim Fearie tree', she immediately knew that's the one for her. "I'd like the Fearie tree, please.", she said with a proud smile, "I'm half Irish, you know. I know everything about faeries." In fact, mentioning her Irish heritage reminded Veronica of her father, whom she only used to see once or twice a year, but exactly for this reason, she kinda longed for getting to know these ancestral roots better.

"You do? Well then, that tree is perfect for you." Lizzie went over to a large door, opened it, and pulled out a shelf full of packets and bulbs. She selected a small stick and closed them back up.

She took the stick to a table full of pots and slected one. Then she took both to a table. "Okay. Here is where you get to start the process. First, you want to put a good layer of small rocks in the bottom of the pot to help with drainage. Then a layer of dirt, a layer of enriched soil, and another laer of dirt. Carefully make a hole in the middle and put the stick inside. Make sure you have half to two-thirds of the stick in the dirt and make sure it's secure. After that, we'll water it and put in a food stick." She stood back so that Veronica could do the work.

Veronica listened through the instructions, but wasn't sure if she understood everything right. She looked at the pot, and thought for a moment. She said small rocks first. Alright. The girl picked up a bunch of them and placed them in the pot, carefully placing them in a straight line. Then came a layer of dirt, if she remembered correctly. It was a funny feeling getting her hand fully covered by the dirt, and then by the soil, as she built up the foundations of her future plant. "Am I doing this right?", she turned to the arboretum lady with an unsure look, "Once I tried to build a model house, you know. I didn't succeed.", she admitted.

"You're doing great," Lizzie assured her. "This is not as difficult as building a house. If you make some mistakes, it still works out."

"If you say so, arboretum lady.", Veronica said with a shrug, continuing the task of building a pot for the future mini-tree. "Do you know anything about football?"

"Which kind?" Lizzie asked. "There are several games that go by the name of football."

"Oh, no!", the girl shook her head like if her companion might've said something sacrilegious, "There is only one game worth mentioning. Football. Also known as soccer."

Lizzie chuckled. "It is definitely the less violent of the two. So, do you play?"

"Of course, I do!", Veronica said, like if it were a well-known universal fact, "Alright. I think I'm done with the soil.", she turned back her attention to the pot, "Now how about that hole?"

"Just use your finger. That should be big enough.

There was a sudden screeching sound from the arboretum and a small monkey ran into the room. It jumped onto LIzzie's shoulder and began scolding her. "Oh, dear. I forgot, didn't i?" she said, hugging the little monkey. "Veronica, this is Robin. He's a bit of a thief, but he's geneally well-behaved. You poke the hole and I'll get him some food. I forgot to put it out earlier."

With the monkey still chattering away, she went back in her office to get him a bowl of fruit.

She returned a short time later and set the monkey and his bolw of fruit on an empty table.

This place held a new surprise literally every minute, Veronica realized jaw-dropped, as she watched the monkey run in, and the arboretum lady introducing her strange pet to her. "Hi, Robin...", the girl said shyly, as she watched the monkey grab its food and began eating the various fruits. "I've seen monkeys at the zoo on Bolarus III last year.", she explained, while watching the animal's moves, "I didn't know they were also living on starships."

(To be continued...)

Veronica KIley
Alexandra Alves' Daughter

Lieutenant JG Elizabeth "Lizzie" Jackson
Biologist

 

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