Okay. Let me explain.
Hi. My name is John Lysander Maple,yes, like the syrup. I'm 20 years old, allergic to almonds, and very passionate about plants. I live alone in a cottage I inherited from my grandparents with a suspicious amount of glowing soil, a garden full of illegal plants.
Look, I swear I'm not a criminal. I just don't love normal plants. I'm always fascinated with plants that were often illegal and neglected.
It all started last year. Dad took me to California to visit a botanical garden. Dad said it was a house for improving plants and flowers. I did like it. I mean, I checked and carefully took some pictures and even decided to buy some seeds to add to my already growing collections of Illegal plants.
I was minding my own business, smelling flowers, judging the ferns, stealing free samples when nature called for me. Then I took a wrong turn looking for the bathroom and ended up in a hallway that got real suspicious, real fast.
I passed a locked supply closet, a glowing "Authorized Personnel Only" sign, and a wall-mounted wand scanner.
So naturally... I went in.
The door was cracked open. Just a sliver. A normal person would say, "Nope!" and walk away. But me? I thought, "Maybe they've got a cool moss display in there."
I slipped inside.
Inside was a hidden laboratory, full of plants I'd never seen before. Plants that moved. Plants that sang. One tried to sell me a potion.
And in the center of the room was a glass dome with a single potted plant under it.
He was small, cotton-like and bright blue. Had these little stubby leaves that wobbled as he swayed like he was dancing to music only he could hear.
That was Barry. There was a tag under the dome:
Specimen B-4R1 – Hazard Level 5
Sonic Emission / Cognitive Pull / Aggressive Blooming Phase
Do Not Engage Without Gloves.
Naturally, I ignored all of that.
I got too close. Barry let out a hum—like someone humming jazz through a seashell. My brain tingled. My heart felt... warm. He was cute.
In a weirdly powerful, "might ruin your plumbing" kind of way. Before I knew it, I was petting his leaf. That's when the alarms blared.
The lights flashed red. The doors slammed. A voice yelled something about "Containment Breach Level Green." And I, like the responsible academic I am, grabbed Barry, stuffed him in my backpack... and ran. On the way out, I may have tripped over a table.
And when I say "tripped," I mean I face-planted into a pile of scrolls and knocked over a thick journal, which accidentally fell into my bag.Totally not on purpose.
The journal was bound by strap with a title of
"Cross Breeding plants and Effect."
Class: Bio-weapon. Military top secret project
Property of: Botanical Biotech, Sector 9
Return Upon Death or Upon Threat of Lawsuit
I did neither.
So now I have Barry and the journal. I've tried to return it once but every time I scry the lab's location, I get nervous. I mean I didn't even read the content. I'm scared what if the military already knew about me? But I'm a hundred percent sure the surveillance camera didn't capture my face. I was wearing a hoodie and a face mask.
Anyway, I brought Barry home, potted him in a nice hand-painted clay dish, gave him chamomile tea which he loved and we've been inseparable.
Barry has grown... a lot. He now has eight leaves, glows when he's happy, and can emit a sound wave that makes raccoons scream and my neighbor hallucinates jellyfish.
Also, I think he's developing emotions.
He gets sulky when I prune him too hard. One time I left for groceries and came back to find all the other plants rotated away from him like he threw a fit. Sandra the rosemary bush still hasn't forgiven him.
The journal has been useful too. It's got an explanation of these special plants and how they created them with a cross breeding between animals and plants DNA. Don't get me wrong. I know it is against nature but humans are always curious.
Barry was a cross breed between a crystal jelly, a jellyfish that gives off a blue glow it organ, bioluminescent algae and finally, cotton plants. I don't understand how those scientists got an idea about cross breeding things. I am not going to be surprised if one day they created a plant combined with human DNA. Scary.
"Warning: Do NOT touch Bioluminescent Cotton. It's deadly.
Eh, I already touched Barry many times and I'm still alive.
The best part of this scientific experiment?
There's a page on sentient plant bonding, which might explain why Barry can understand everything. Of course it has jellyfish DNA.
But yeah.
It was 2:13 a.m.
I was in my room, wearing pink pajamas with little cartoon tulips on them. Barry sat on my desk, swaying slowly to the lo-fi forest sounds I was playing from my laptop. The journal—yeah, that journal was on my bed, I'm currently reading it, understanding the brilliant mind of those humans who were working on that experiment.
It was peaceful. Too peaceful.
Then my phone buzzed.
Caller ID:Dad.
Weird. He never called this late unless he accidentally microwaved aluminum again.
I picked it up.
"Hey, Dad, what's—"
"JOHN, PACK YOUR THINGS AND RUN!" It was in a hush tone as if he didn't want anyone to hear it.
I blinked.
"What?"
"There are men in suits. In my living room. They asked about you. Said you stole something that belongs to the Military."
My stomach dropped faster than a cactus off a bookshelf.
"What…what did you say?"
"I told them I don't know anything," Dad hissed. "But they knew your name. They showed me your pictures. Of you wearing a hood and mask inside the lab. They even have a photo of you face-planted on the floor and the blue plant clutching behind you, son! Get out of there immediately. You're against the Military!"
Barry let out a soft, nervous squeak. His leaves puffed out like angry balloons.
"Did you tell them where I was, Dad?"
"No, but the nossy Salve told them your address."
"What!? "Are they still there?" I asked, already stumbling toward my closet.
"No. They already left and Said they'd be back in the morning with a 'containment' squad but I knew they're on the way there. Whatever you did, it's serious. You need to go. Now."
My heart was doing backflips inside my chest.
"Okay. Okay. I'm gonna pack. Don't tell them anything, okay?"
"I told them you moved to Canada but Salve told them she just saw you last week in my parents house."
"Curse that nosy bitch!"
"Exactly."
Then he hung up.
For three terrifying seconds, I just stood there. Then I exploded into action.
"Barry, buddy," I said, grabbing his pot. "We're going on a very sudden road trip."
He hummed anxiously.
I yanked my backpack from under the bed—my go bag. I called it that because it had exactly what I needed in case the day ever came when experimental plant theft caught up to me.
I stuffed it with:
1 roll of high-quality charcoal sticks (for drawing sigils) and for fire.
1 enchanted lighter (fully charged, thanks to three AA batteries and a minor fire spirit)
3 packs of dehydrated survival noodles (miso flavor)
1 pair of extra boxers (navy blue)
1 tiny water purifier
1 half-used bottle of anti-rash balm (poison ivy drama)
2 protein bars, expired but still edible (probably)
My toothbrush (no toothpaste, but I had gum)
A mini shovel (never leave home without one)
The journal (in case)
I threw on my puffy jacket over my tulip pajamas and zipped it halfway.
Boots? Check. Backpack? Check. Barry? Double check.I tiptoed outside, flashlight in my mouth, Barry in my arms, and a wild thumping in my chest that wouldn't stop.
The night air was freezing. The moon was fat and judging me.
"Let's go," I whispered to Barry, who vibrated like a scared potato.
We crept through the garden. The poppies rustled behind us, probably cheering. Sandra the rosemary bush just sniffed like she was glad to see me leave.
I paused at the gate, looked back at my little cottage—the saggy roof, the glowy mushrooms by the fence, the slightly cursed garden. I'll miss my babies.
"I'll come back," I said. "Eventually."
Then I ran into the night. Branches slapped my face. My boots crunched over leaves. Barry squealed once when we hit a bump. Somewhere in the distance, an owl hooted like it was mocking me.
I ran until I reached the edge of the woods, panting like a tired goose.
My plan was simple:
-Find a hiding spot.
-Keep Barry safe.
-Survive long enough to regret my life choices.
Behind me, in the stillness of night, I swore I heard something. A flicker. A crackle of something. Or maybe just the wind.
Either way, we were no longer safe.
And I had the idea who these men in black were…military personnel.
But if they wanted Barry and the journal back, they were going to have to fight me.
Or trip on a poison ivy bush first.