by Sean Adami
Approaching the plants with small steps, he saw hanging pinecones dangling from the tree branches. Several sages sprouted in subtle crevices. Multiple ice plants added more to the green vibe. An oak tree stood in his way. He figured he’d try the hydrophilizer on this tree. Inserting it into a crack, he sucked the straw. After a few seconds, his tongue tasted a liquid. It tasted like syrup—as in it was probably sap. Not too far from Herb, he returned back to him.
“Hey, Herb, why isn’t this thing working? I sucked on it and sap came out. It doesn’t even work.”
“Sap?” he questioned. “What plant were you trying it on?”
“An oak tree.”
Herb’s face grew worried. “Oh no. That means the tree is dying.”
Andrew said, “Dying?” Herb ran past him and found the oak tree. He studied the stump and bent his elastic body all around the tree.
Herb said, “My brother is dying. It seems that a pest has been foul to this innocent tree.”
“I’m thirsty, Herb. I don’t want maple syrup.” Andrew was ignored.
Herb caressed the tree with his hand. “Poor tree. I’m so sorry you have to suffer.” He brought his attention back to Andrew. “Give me that!” Andrew gave the straw to him. Herb attached it to his wooden torso. “This does work! Just be patient, Son of Nature. Stop always focusing on yourself.” Herb was standing taller than Andrew. Andrew understood. He gathered himself and went to where Harriet and the bees were.
Herb slowly caught up to them. Resting his body on the ground, he said, “I rest” as his eyes closed.
Still quite thirsty, Andrew asked, “Harriet, wanna try these hydrophilizers out?” He wanted physical action to get his endorphins going.
“I’m fine with that,” she pronounced. “There are so many plants to use it on though. Which one fits best for that device?”
“We’ll just test it out on different plants and go from there.” Things finally felt laid back for once. Harriet agreed with him and set foot to the conglomerate of plants. Beautiful colors from flower bunches provided more life for the terrain. M ore dry than the north, the soil germinated irises, miscanthuses, heucheras, hostas, and baptisias. The straw’s diameter was too big to exhume any sort of water from these plants. Andrew said, “Trees are probably our best bet.” He disregarded the plants and headed a few meters ahead to where the trees were. He cut across the dirt until he reached a neem tree. This tree stood 100 feet tall and was considered an evergreen. “Wanna try it on this tree?”
Not in the headspace of trees, she said, “This is off topic, Andrew. I was going to ask how your mother entered this dimension. I’ve been trying to puzzle it in my head for hours.”
Not really in the headspace of talking about his mother, he said, “Um, sure.” He put the hydrophilizer back into his pocket. “I found my mother in this dimension because of my father. He . . . .” (Hey, reader! You get the full gist of the mother story by now. I’ll save you some time and fast forward this part.)
After his long story, Harriet responded, “Whoa. That is some deep stuff. Now I see why you’re always so frustrated.”
Andrew said, “Yeah, it sucks.” Harriet felt she needed to change the mood.
“So, you wanna try out these hydrophilizers?” she insisted. Harriet wanted to vanquish his vulnerability from which he expressed in his story. Andrew affirmed. Poking the straw into the neem tree, she attempted to suck out of it.
Andrew revealed the hydrophilizer again. “You taste maple syrup? That’s what it tasted like for me.” She contorted her face, trying even harder. Her face finally relaxed. She felt the substance of water touch her tongue.
Removing her mouth from the straw, she declared, “This thing works! Water comes out of it! Pure water.” Andrew felt electrified and stumped.
“Why did I taste sap when I did it?”
Not even using one second of contemplation, she said, “When you attempted the oak tree, sap came out because the tree was rotting.” She resumed her water experience. Pointing to a tree, according to her line of sight, she said, “Try out that tree way into the distance. It looks healthy!”
“That tree better treat me well. I’m dying of thirstation.” She let off a sluggish laugh. Evaluating the distance, he ran to the tree. It appeared to be another neem tree. Inserting the straw, he obtained the sweet sensation of water, even though water acquires no taste. Sucking it as much as he could with eyes closed, he swallowed multiple cups of water. Satisfying his hypothalamus, he opened his eyes.
A ginormous gray beast with four limbs faced Andrew directly. It was a rhino with a vibrant purple wedge on the back of its head who also had a light-green horn on the tip. Andrew couldn’t picture how this creature looked, despite it being at his forefront. He didn't move. He was too frightened. The beast didn’t move either. He additionally realized this creature had no eyes, mouth, or ears. Andrew thought, can this thing hear me? He wanted to call over Harriet to help, but he didn't want to disturb the rhino either.
Gently, he lifted his right foot and placed it back. The same process repeated for the other foot. The creature remained anchored in its position. Andrew enacted on this process exponentially quicker, desiring as much distance as possible. Countless possibilities of failure surrounded his thoughts.
Gazing behind, he spotted Harriet, drinking from the hydrophilizer. The rhino was now at a considerably safe distance from him. He was at a considerably close distance to Harriet. He unknowingly managed to escape a creature tremendously larger than him.
Taking note of his presence, Harriet said, “Andrew, what are you doing—” Andrew put his finger on her lips. He pointed behind his back. Glancing over, she shook her shoulders up and down, and then raised her hands up in confusion. Andrew thought, why’s she confused? There’s literally a rhino behind us. Again, she asked, “What is it? I see no—” Andrew shushed her again. Turning around, he saw no appearance of the rhino. “Are you seeing things, Andrew? There is nothing there.”
Andrew was discombobulated. “What! I swear to god I saw a huge rhino! Where’d it go?”
Harriet said, “I know what you went through with your mother was hard, but I think you shouldn’t trust all the things you see by this point. It was probably just your imagination.”
Andrew denied this. “No! I saw it with my bare eyes. It was no vision.” Harriet shook her head with skepticism.
Harriet said, “I say we head back to Herb. I feel fulfilled with the amount of water I drank.” She began walking back, Andrew or Andrew-less. Forgetting her, he walked back to the same spot that he saw the rhino at. Travelling in other areas where the rhino could be, he couldn’t find it. He felt meek disappointment. He didn't know why though. Andrew headed back to Herb’s proximity.
Harriet was there and so was Herb, but this time he was floating on top of the stagnant lake, absorbing Esse’s light. Andrew asked, “Is Herb done yet? I wanna get to this ‘rift’ thing as quick as possible.” Herb told him to relax. He needed his photosynthetic energy. Andrew also asked, “Herb, have you ever seen a rhino creature on this planet during your lifetime?”
“Rhi-no? No.”
Andrew said, “I figured that you’d be an adventurous venus flytrap who’d have knowledge of every creature. Well, I guess you’re not then.”
Herb shifted his floating position to a standing position. He was standing directly on top of water. “Are you questioning my intellect, Son of Nature?” Harriet and Andrew were mystified by his stance.
Andrew had completely zoned out his question. “How are you standing on water? I didn’t know you were the new Jesus?”
Harriet played along as well. “Yeah, who knew you were the Messiah?”
Of course, Herb was oblivious to these terms. He said, “I can stand because of photosynthetic floatation. Once I get enough Esse light, I’m light on water.”
Andrew asked, “Harriet, can you fact-check that?”
“Can do. It seems true to me,” Harriet said. She held back her la
ugh, but she was genuinely surprised.
Herb was genuinely offended by Andrew. “I constitute more knowledge than what your brain suffices to. I know the natural spectrum of our planet and know every creature that exists. Your rhi-no that you speak of is nothing but a fallacy.”
Andrew said, “If you’re so smart, then you would know that we should continue our journey. Knowing that you’re standing on water means that you’ve reached the peak of your photosynthetic energy. If you were an intellectual, you would order us to start heading back, you old plant.”
Herb took a minute to process this. “You’re right. Let’s get going. More distractions mean more vulnerability.” He began walking on the water towards them. While walking, he disfigured his right leg and fell into the water, though he did not sink. He yelped with water cascading into his mouth.
Andrew grew frantic. “What is it! You okay?” Herb grabbed his leg and splashed all over the place. Andrew jumped into the water and swam to Herb. Carrying Herb, Andrew brought him to the coast of the lake.
Herb coughed up some water. He laid on the dirt next to the lake, still holding onto his leg. “I think an ivyfish stung me. I feel frail.”
Andrew panted heavily. “Ivyfish? What’s that?”
Still struggling to keep his cool, Herb said, “I forgot you foreigners don’t know everything. I will share my intellect. It is basically a fish that has poison ivy on its scales.”
Harriet came in quick and said, “But poison ivy is only supposed to make you itch.”
Having a distorted face, Herb said, “No. Poison ivy is poison. It sends venom to our roots and infects our whole rudimentary system.” He expressed his shouts of pain.
Andrew sighed. “Shit! How can we help? Any treatment to make this feel better?”
Herb struggled and said, “Well, I may know the knowledge of the species, but I am not accustomed to the vast field of medicinal treatments. I am not sure.”
Andrew’s legs trembled. “We can’t just leave you here to suffer! There’s gotta be something we can do.” Herb rested on the floor like an inanimate stick.
Herb said, “I know my downfall is here. Right here, right now. And there’s nothing that can change that. What I can say though is that, Andrew, you must travel to the rift. Just head the same direction we were going down before. There’s no turning back. It’s what Esse would’ve wanted.”
Andrew’s emotions disconnected. “No! You’re not going to die! We’ll just carry you. We’ll, um, we’ll, um—”
Harriet shouted, “We’ll get those tadpole creatures to heal you. In fact, I’ll look for them now.”
Herb said, “No! The Healers only exist in the north. You will get nowhere. I’m sorry. Just go. Now! Time is shrinking!” His leg fibers tightened. Harriet shedded a few tears. Andrew didn’t cry. He didn’t want to leave either.
Andrew said, “I’m not leaving you, Herb.”
Herb’s eyes were closed at this point. He had stopped ventilating. He was dead.
Andrew asserted several profane slurs at himself. He shedded a few tears. Harriet put her hand on his shoulder. He said, “I can’t believe he’s dead. It doesn’t make sense. He was breathing one minute ago, and now he’s gone.”
Harriet said, “I know. It’s just really, really sad.” With her hand she pinched the top of her nasal bone while looking down.
“Why are you sad?” Andrew asked. “You barely even knew him.”
She said, “No, I did. Just because I didn’t know him as much as you did does not mean I shouldn’t be remorseful.”
“Yes it does. You only knew him superficially. You didn’t get to know the real him.” He had a mildly-irritated look in his right eye. From Herb’s wooden torso, Andrew picked up the horn that was attached to it. Inserting the instrument into his mouth, he played the G# chord in remembrance of Herb. However, being naturally attracted to this noise, the two dopamine bees went sporadic and flew up into the air. The bees had lost their sense of control.
Harriet said, “Andrew! What are you doing?”
He said, “I’m just remembering Herb for who he was.”
“Yeah, but you’re making the bees go crazy. Stop playing the horn!”
“No, shut up, Harriet! Let me deal with my grief my own way. I need this.” He played the horn note again.
She said, “What we don’t need though is our bees escaping. They’re our only mode of transportation. Please, just stop!” He terminated the G# chord. “You’re approaching your crazy side again. Just try to calm down.”
Andrew said, “I’m sorry, but everyone goes through sorrow a little differently. And you should respect that.” The biome’s vibrancy felt decreased to Andrew. The flowers showed no color, the water wasn’t vivid, and dirt felt paler than his own skin.
“Andrew, I told you before. I respect your grief. I honor it. It’s just that we have to follow common sense, too.” He grabbed Herb’s right leg and dragged his body to the lake. Purple cumulus clouds covered up Esse. Insufficient in photosynthetic nutrients, Herb sinked to the bottom of the lake. Andrew returned back to Harriet and sat down crisscrossed. The bees halted their dispersion and rested behind the two.
Harriet said, “I think we should hop back onto the bees.”
Loudly, Andrew yelled, “And why is that, Harriet? Huh? To get to a pointless ‘rift’ destination? This shit is all bullshit! None of it matters.” He threw the horn into the lake. It sinked.
Harriet saw it was now night. She suggested, “I’ve gotten no sleep for the past 24 hours. I think we should sleep here tonight and leave when the sun rises.”
Andrew stood up and said, “Yeah. That’d probably be best. And it’s called Esse, not the sun.”
“Alright.” She found a pile of soft dirt and laid her body on it. The weather here was lukewarm. “Are you gonna sleep, Andrew?”
“I’ll try,” he said as he laid on a pile of dirt.
The night passed on. Waking up to the first Esse beam of light shining in her eyes, she pushed herself up from the ground. Reaching her hand out to Andrew, she calmly said, “Come on, let’s go now. It’s what Herb would’ve wanted.” Andrew faced the opposite direction of her. His eyes became lost in the lake. She gently poked his shoulder. “Come on,” she repeated. Andrew slowly got up. She saw his eyes had gone extremely red and strained. “Did you sleep okay?”
He said, “Sleep? I couldn’t sleep for even one minute.” Hopping on the bee’s thorax, he waited for Harriet.
Rubbing her eyes, Harriet remained still. She asked, “Since we have two bees, should I hop on yours or use Herb’s?”
His voice was monotonous. Andrew said, “Hop on mine. His bee stays his even after death.” She agreed and sat at the front of the thorax. The other bee sat motionless while Herb’s dead body rested at the bottom of the lake.
She asked, “Do you want me to control?”
“Please. I don’t want to kamikaze us.” She pressed the bee’s antennas downward, and they were off. Wind brushed her hair back, making her head look like the outer rim silhouette of an animate plant.
Andrew’s distraught slowly died down. He dazed blankly into the atmosphere as the bee went forward to the unknown: the rift. The overseer of Andrew came out. He asked, “How many days have we been here, Harriet?” He noticed that it was morning now.
Analyzing her rollercoaster of an experience here, she said, “I think today is our . . .” She paused. “Seventh day.”
His eyes widened. “So today is our last day here!” he finished. “Fuck! That means by the time we get there, it’ll probably be night!”
She said, “Shoot. You’re right. But if we maintain our pace, we should be fine.”
He complained, “I knew we should’ve left last night! But, of course, you wanted to leave this morning because of your ‘precious’ sleep.”
“Andrew, we’ll be fine! By the time we get there, it’ll probably be evening. And then we’ll have some time in the night to find the rift,” she said. “Y
ou’re just tired. Just sleep on the way there. You can even do your belt loop mechanic if you want. I don’t care.”
Andrew had no vine, so he rested his head on her shoulders. He finally fell asleep.
Tapping his forehead, she awakened Andrew. She simply said, “We’re almost there.” Vision blurred, he saw sand in the air, and a dark orange mist rectified all around them. They were in a sand blizzard. Esse did not shine through the thick mist either.
Andrew contracted his eyebrows. He had so many questions. “Where are we!” Microscopic sand dust chafed his inner throat.
Harriet said, “I think we’re getting closer. Herb did say the biomes changed the further south we went.”
“What does this rift even look like? How do you know if we passed it or not?” Andrew questioned. “Imagine if this rift is just symbolism for their god. How do we even know if the rift is a concrete thing?” Harriet disliked his perverse questioning.
She said, “I have no idea by this point. It’s almost night, and I’m tired. Just cross your fingers that it exists.”
“Even if it does exist, what does it accomplish? I feel we're getting nothing out of this.”
“Just do it for Herb by this point.” She tilted the bee’s antennas a little upward. “But I definitely feel like we’re close.” Andrew somewhat agreed with this.
He heard a weird noise, sounding almost like a whale hum. The sound felt distant but also close, too. “The hell was that?” He lowered his voice. Moreover, he felt creeped out. The bee continued travelling forward, but the speed seemed slower. Gravitating towards his fear, he looked all around to and fro. A creature encroached his peripheral vision from a pretty far distance. The creature floated in the atmosphere at the same altitude of the bee. It’s bleached blue body was shaped like a hot air balloon, similar to a bent stingray. The creature looked menacing. Pointing at this outlandish creature, he said, “Harriet, look at that. What am I seeing right now?”
Spooked out, she said, “Okay, let’s stay away from that thing.”
Tracking its movement, he saw the creature was slowly appearing larger. Looking the opposite direction, he saw another one. And later, he saw even another one next to that one. Andrew’s sanity was at its boiling point. “I think those things are coming at us!” Then, unexpectedly, the bee began declining at a steady level. “Why is the bee falling now!”
