A Plant's Life

Reality?!

The giant plant held the little cub closely and muttered in a soothing voice: "Sleep, little one, you are safe now. I am here to protect you."While all of this madness was happening inside the dream world, the culprit enjoyed his new harvest.John had made the targets dream chaotic while producing branches around the brain to weakly nullify the disturbed brain waves. Doing so lowered the natural guard of brain cells, and they slowly accepted this calming foreign entity. Once John gained access to his target's mind, he completely corrected his wreckage. Of course, this operation had its own risks. The subject could at any moment reject the invader before complete bond or become mentally damaged and, in the worst case, die. But with John's grasp over the effort, with many contingency plans in place, the success became a guarantee.He did not know about the incident inside the dream world; the mind had its own ways of adjusting to reality. But once all the dust had been settled, John had complete authority over the body and could at any time assume control. The little cub slept very peacefully for the remainder of the night, curling up within the arms of a strange giant plant.Morning came, bringing the news of another prosperous day. Mother bear fondly looked upon her cubs until she gently stood, going after their daily meal after some time.Sometime later, a curious pair of eyes opened; not finding what they were looking for, they looked around. The owner of this pair had been one of the cubs. Not finding her mother, she made some sound, waking her brothers. They played together for some time until the food came. The dining ritual consisted of some banter, light confrontation for supremacy between these brats!The youngest lost this round; he ate it with some annoyance, taking a measly portion. Then came the night, which brought resting time for this family. The little cub had utterly forgotten about his dream and protective plant. After lying down cuddling with his mother and siblings, he started to drift off into the world of wonders.Dreaming of marvels, small rabbits everywhere, the land was filled with them as far as one could see. He happily chased after some, they were giving him a hard time, but he enjoyed the hunt. After eating multiple rabbits, he started to observe the environment. Within a close distance of his location, there was a massive 5-meter plant, entirely formed of vines. He was delighted to see his protector there, rushing towards the plant he rested amongst many branches available. The plant made him feel a familiar calm.This routine continued for some time; the cub woke up, ate his share of food, played, and learned wild ways from his mother. Then he would go to sleep, where a plant more prominent than before welcomed him.As all good things came to an end, finally, this carefree life of the small cub went under change. Their mother talked about independence with them, they were small no more, so they had to leave the nest to learn flight. This made the cub filled with mixed emotions, he stopped playing that day, said his adieu to annoying siblings and a caring mother then left early in the morning. With excitement for the beginning of a journey, he started to explore. Listening to his instincts, he walked towards fields of small plants. Some distance was walked by him before he saw rabbits! He told himself: "What strong instincts I have, this is awesome, I can eat as much as I want now, I have to brag about my hunt today to dream-plant. It is now a jungle, though! Hard to move in dreams with that many vines."After sprinting towards his prays, he learned the difficulty of hunting first-hand, but he succeeded after trying hard. Finding a big rabbit community like this one had been a fantastic find. The cub wondered how much sharper his instincts were compared t his mother.Some months had passed, from Jill and Fast Larry's disappearance. Their parents lost all of their energy within this time, giving birth to no more offspring. Fertile Jun was no more. Now her peers called her broken. A while later, no more search party was sent out. Still, after careful listening, one could hear a faint voice, full of sorrow calling for Larry and Jill repeatedly in some late nights. The voice sounded similar to a heartbroken mother.Jun spent her days in a daze, but every night, she left to look for her lost children. Time is the best remedy, so after many days passed, Jun left no more. The entire family gathered to celebrate Jun's birthday. After some dark times had passed, they survived, stronger than before. This simple gathering lit the lost fire in Jun's soul; she understood everyone had suffered.Jun loudly addressed the crowd: "My family, we have passed many trials together, but similar to night and day, after hardship comes prosperity, I thank you all for taking care of my husband and me during this time. We will do our best to return the favour."This short speech brought tears to many eyes as they saw Jun regaining some of her spirits. However, before the crowd could express their joy from this speech came a loud scream."BEAR! BEAR! BEAR! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES"Screams filled the air, foiling this joyous occasion.The cub ate many rabbits that day, more than he was usually capable of. There was an insatiable hunger within him. No matter the amount of food going in, it kept increasing. This incident led the young bear to lose control and red in the eyes. He almost entirely made this community go extinct. As soon as the food was consumed, the rapid digestion process would begin, digesting everything with awe-inspiring speed. This marked the beginning of many massacres by a young bear. With strangely sharp instincts and a never-ending appetite, he concurred communities, one after another. Named red eyes by surrounding preys, he became the most feared entity.Soon Red eyes became bigger, stronger and faster. Now he would attack other predators as well, eating jackals, foxes, snakes and anything he found. When he would go towards the spring for some water, every animal would stay as far away as the pound as possible. He would drink an extensive amount of water, consume a gigantic amount of food. However, he had no waste! He could not understand the reason himself either.Many factors had changed from his childhood, with the dream jungle being a constant. Thinking about his green dreams would calm him down, washing away all the uncertainty.After a day filled with only hunting, he slept for a short time, where he played around the vines as happy as a little cub.When the beast awoke from his short slumber, he relaxed, yet his stomach started to signal him for more food. Running outside, he had a different feeling today, but the hunger forced him to forget all but food. Attacking any animal he laid his eyes on, red eyes kept devouring until he could eat no more. The feeling of finally being full made him excited; being satisfied, at last, he drank some water and went back to rest. If other animals knew of this incident, they would release a sigh of relief. Yet they kept as far as possible from the red eyes' layer. And they shivered all day in fear of those red eyes brimming with hunger and madness.Soon red eyes fell in a deep sleep, dreaming of a space filled with long vines, as far as one could see. Still, he was not hungry anymore for the first time, so the young bear simply laid down beside the vines, closing his eyes.John had been conducting many experiments during this time. He needed to observe the natural growth of this subject. John also made many breakthroughs in studying the mind; he had long surpassed his peers of the old life. If the head of his vessel was opened, a frightening sight would welcome the surgeon. The brain was covered by many fragile vines, connecting a tiny seed to all the parts. It was impossible to separate his influence from the bear's mind without harming the subject. He now had the confidence in his next steps. Becoming a master manipulator had been the primary goal of this experiment, and now the purpose had been fulfilled.In the dream world, a plant warmly held the bear and whispered: "Sleep now, little one, you did well, let me take it from here."