The Prince and the Plant Whisperer

The Plant (Part II)

[~~Posted Feb. 22, '21]

As Kai scurried away from the post office, she thought...

Whew!! That was close—

Lukas. That tall student with the broad shoulders. The soccer star. The entrepreneur. The poker player. The guy worshiped by everyone on campus. Just now... he'd turned up out of nowhere.

They'd never been introduced, but she already knew his name. After all, Lilly talked about the guy almost every day.

Awkward.

Was she supposed to pretend not to know his name? But lying wasn't right either.

... Luckily—he introduced himself.

But—anyway—there were more pressing matters on hand. Like the seedling sent by Nina! Elderly, arthritic Nina...

Kai closed her eyes. Remembered the humid smells of Nina's greenhouse back home.

Half a year after the accident... the accident... Kai'd wandered over to Mt. Airy Nursery like a distraught, dazed ghost.

And Nina, the silent, stout woman who ran the nursery, had let her work there.

Kai started going to Mt. Airy every day after school.

It'd saved her from being swallowed whole by despair.

All summer, Nina essentially ignored Kai. The elderly woman worked feverishly.

Nina wanted to create a brand-new cultivar of the "Lord Baltimore" flowering hibiscus...

... a version which would thrive and bloom in any urban apartment. Even a dingy ground-floor flat with only 4 hours of direct sunlight!

Everyone deserves blooms, Nina said.

Even people who live in darkness.

That was one of the few things she'd ever said out loud to Kai. Otherwise, Nina usually worked in silence. Meditative, focused, silence—scooping soil with her thick, dirt-covered fingers. Peering at her plants over her wire-rimmed glasses.

In silence, they worked side by side.

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And then...

The first day of college, a text from Nina popped up on Kai's phone:

Kai almost whooped out loud at the news.

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The arrival of Nina's message turned Kai into an annoying pest—a pest who pestered the campus post office staff nonstop. 

After Kai's fourth visit to the post office in 3 days, an elderly postal clerk named Terrence told her sternly: "You'll get a phone message when your package arrives."

"I... er... I.... er.....—" Kai stammered, "I think my phone notifications aren't working."

Terrence gave her a skeptical look: We both know your phone notifications are working just fine.

But Kai looked so much like a dog hoping for a bone—that Terrence gave in. Each time, he sighed and went to search for her box.

And he walked slowly. Kai guessed he had arthritis like Nina.

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Finally, the package showed up. Of course Kai sat down outside, and ripped open the box straightaway.

There it was.

Nina's new Lord Baltimore hibiscus.

You could bloom in a basement apartment! Kai said to the plant. You could bloom in a jail cell!

Leaving the post office with the plant clutched in her palms, she tried to act cool. Her face was flushed with excitement.

You don't have to always let your inner dork win out! she scolds herself.

But...

...the inner dork always won out.

And so Kai's cool walk... turned into a very uncool, very fast-paced run.

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If Kai had any thoughts about seeing Lukas just now, they were quickly crowded out by the thrill of holding her new Lord Baltimore plant:

She felt as honored as if someone had entrusted Baby Harry Potter in her care.

This could be big for Nina! She's going to win awards at plant conventions! This could be sold everywhere...

Down the street, Kai had no idea that Lukas lingered for an oddly long moment

—holding the handlebars of his bike—

—watching her run off—

His face glowed in the morning light, with a strangely thoughtful look

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🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱

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