Mao Mao Tales

Overgrowth

It was a mild afternoon. The sun was shining, clouds circled around in the cyan sky. The wind blew by gently, ruffling the leaves in the trees and the grass in the dales.

In the dojo, Mao Mao trained, dealing blows to a punching bag; low jabs, high jabs, kicks. Badgerclops sat on the couch, mashing the buttons on his controller and pivoting the joystick at a fast pace. On screen, he was fighting another player who was fighting quite exceptionally, and Badgerclops struggled to keep him at bay.

Mao Mao began to punch the bag faster, breathing hard and fast, sweat dripping profusely. The bag swung wildly as he attacked with more force. Badgerclops also started to speed his button mashing, as the game reaching a breaking point, as both players were on their last bars of health. Badgerclops focused more intently, leaning in and biting his lip as he fought the other player.

Mao Mao finished his barrage of attacks and just to end it, he delivered a powerful uppercut. The force knocked the bag back and snapped the strings that held it. It flew away and crashed into the wall. Badgerclops had finally cornered the other player, and began depleting their health bar, and to top it all off, he delivered his ultimate, and obliterated the other player.

Just then, Adorabat walked in, lugging a backpack, and holding a flower pot which held a little sprout.

"What's up guys?" She asked.

"Oh hey Adorabat," Badgerclops replied, "How was school?"

"Boring as usual, except for this!" She excitedly held up the flower pot. "We're supposed to plant this and make it grow!"

"Oh that's pretty cool." Badgerclops said, putting down his controller. "Do you mind if I help you with it?"

"Nope!" Adorabat walked into the dojo. "Hey Mao Mao, look what I have!"

Mao Mao wiped the sweat off his brow. "What's this?" He picked the pot up and examined it, listening to Adorabat explaining what she has to do. "I see. So does it say that other people can help?"

"Nope!" Adorabat answered. "I want you guys to help with it."

"Alright, we can do that." Mao Mao walked out of the dojo with Adorabat trailing behind, thrilled. Badgerclops stood up from the couch and accompanied the others. The trio walked into the backyard.

"Where should it go?" Adorabat asked.

"Well, obviously it should go where the soil in the ground matches with the soil in the pot." Badgerclops explained. "We also have to account for what kind of plant it is, its certain needs, and-"

"No we don't." Mao Mao protested. "We should just plant it and see what happens."

"Uh, dude, that's not smart." Badgerclops scoffed. "How will the plant grow to the best of its ability then?"

"It doesn't matter!" Mao Mao argued. "Let's just plant it, give it its needs, and see if it grows or not."

"Quiet!" Adorabat yelled. "I'm going to decide where it goes, okay?" With that, she waddled forward, and pointed to a spot on the ground. "There. We're planting it here."

"If you say so." Badgerclops' mechanical arm transformed into a shovel, and Badgerclops dug into the dirt, hollowing out a space that was the same size as the pot. With a gentle carefulness, Adorabat placed the dirt which held the sprout into the hole, covering it with soil.

"Now, we wait." Mao Mao said. "And trust me Adorabat, it will grow."

—-

Adorabat believed Mao Mao, and she did everything to help it grow. She checked up on it daily, watering it, making sure nothing was eating it, putting bits of fertilizer in the dirt. But for some reason, it never grew. Yes, it looked healthy and stayed healthy, but it didn't even reach an inch higher.