Lakota Rossi

Don’t Forget to Water the Plants

The heat. That is what the New Farmer’s Almanac warned could affect the overall health of any electronic or other program-enhanced seedling. But for all his attention to the forecasts and his daily studying of the Almanac, Marty could never quite get the hang of keeping a plant alive. He would forget to water, or forget that he did water and water the soil too much. There would be no rotations around the apartment to follow the sun. The random spring frost would sneak up and catch him off guard leaving the seedling moist and frozen. 

Marty stared out of the Viewing Window above his kitchen sink. The day was bright and a slight breeze moved the tall tree at the corner of his yard. He could hear the sound of birds. It was one of those spring days that felt invigorating, where one could feel the essence of life and its cycles. 

Marty turned from the window and looked at the plant sitting in the middle of his kitchen table. The room smelled of coffee and he could hear the vacuum cleaner in the other room. 

Yesterday, the forecast called for excessive heat. Marty knew that when he experienced excessive heat, he required water. So Marty made sure to water the seedling three times that day. However, when he woke up this morning, the plant had wilted and its pink flowers were slightly less vibrant than the night before. 

“Melissa, please make an appointment at the Garden Center.”

A pink light glowed where the floor met the wall.

“Yes, hon.” 

“Thank you, dear.”

The light disappeared and he could hear the vacuum start again.

Usually when a plant was dying, Marty didn’t take as much care to figure out the problem. It is true, he always sought out plants: little vegetables that could hang out of the window, small colorful flowers for the front porch, tall grasses to line the driveway; but keeping them alive was another issue that he resolved to acknowledge as a weakness. They survived for a few days, sometimes a few weeks, the succulents a few months, but then they would slowly start to fade. Marty understood that this was all his fault. He would forget. He would be neglectful. But this colorful seedling sitting on his kitchen table was no ordinary plant picked up on a whim. His mother had given him this plant as congratulations for his promotion at work. He went from a grade three tele-educator, to a grade two in-person educator. His mother never really showed much in the way of affection, but when she arrived on his doorstep with the plant, this bright pink bud, Marty felt a paternal instinct that he never experienced on the checkout line at the Garden Center.

He walked over to the plant and touched the soil. The soil was still a little moist and as he dug his finger into the soil he felt the heat radiating from the wiring of the plant. He walked over to the sink and filled a cup with water. Little bits of water splashed on the counter. He walked over and poured some of the water into the pot. The plant’s flower seemed to glow a little bit before the dusty pink color returned. 

Marty sighed and walked over to the counter and grabbed a small pair of scissors. He walked back to the plant and started clipping off the leaves that were beginning to brown toward the base of the stem. He brought the cut leaves to the trash can and listened to the garbage compactor hum. 

Marty pulled out his phone and checked the time. 

“Hey, Melissa?”
The walls glowed.

“When is the appointment?”
“It is in forty-five minutes, hon. With current traffic it will take you twenty-three minutes to arrive.”

“Thank you.”

The walls dimmed. 

Marty walked to the temperature gauge on the wall. He clicked through the settings and changed the grass’ level to seven. This would give him something to do this weekend. Cutting the grass was less of a chore than a form of meditation for Marty and he hadn’t changed the grass’ level in a few weeks now. 

He walked over and picked up the plant. A little bit of water dripped out and ran on his hands from the bottom of the pot. The pot was a burgundy color. A new one that he selected specifically for the bright pink plant. When his mother had given him the seedling, it was still in the original green plastic container from the Garden Center, but Marty went out immediately and bought a new pot. One that would compliment the new seedling.

He walked to the living room. The vacuum was still running. 

“I will be back.”

The walls glowed.

“Yes, dear.”

Opening the front door, he was hit by a wave of heat and a burnt orange skyline. There was a layer of smog in the air and Marty wished he was back inside looking out of the Viewing Window, staring at the lush yard he had created. 

With the potted seedling strapped into the seat next to him, Marty directed the car toward the Garden Center. There wasn’t much traffic for this time of day and Marty got to the Garden Center ten minutes before his appointment. He entered the bright white store and was greeted by a woman wearing a blue polo shirt. 

“How may we help you today?” 

Her smile was bright like the white lights of the store.

“I have an appointment at one fifteen.”

“Okay, let me check you in and a team member will call you when they are ready.”

Walking around the store, Marty saw a good number of new plant technologies. He saw digital soils that regulated themselves. He saw two tall trees that could be reprogrammed to fruit differently depending on the season. There was a little girl playing the old game, “He Loves Me – He Loves Me Not” with a flower by the counter and every time she got her answer, the flower rebloomed.

“Marty?”

“Yes, that is me.”

“Hello, sir. Follow me.”

Marty walked up to the counter and placed down the plant.

“What can I help you with today?”
“I think I got a defective plant, or there is something wrong with the software or an update or something.”

“Oh, geez. What seems to be the problem?”

“I am following the directions for this type of seedling, but nothing I do is keeping it alive.”

“Well, let’s take a look.”

The man behind the counter dug into the soil and pulled out a small cord that was connected to the stem of the plant. He plugged the wire into a small device. 

“This is a beautiful seedling. Very nice color too, pretty rare run.”

“Thank you. That’s why I’m pressed to keep it alive as long as possible.”

The small device buzzed.

“Well, it seems that on April fifteenth you missed a cleaning cycle update. Let me just run that for you and see if that helps.”

“Okay.”

“Okay, all set.”

The plant was still limp and pale.

“When will the plant come back to its original bright color? It is still wilted.”
“Well, give it some time. After the update it could take up to twenty-four hours for the system to fully reboot. We see this all the time, though, so no need to worry.”

“And what if it’s still this way tomorrow?”
“If it is still looking like this tomorrow, you may have done something to the internal mechanism. We can only be sure by completely taking apart the seedling and running a diagnostic.”

Marty was beginning to feel defeated. “Is it under warranty?”
“Unfortunately, it looks like you repotted the plant and that voids the warranty.”

Marty was silent.
“But let’s hope this works. Like I said, we see this all the time.”

“Okay.”

Marty walked out of the store, the pink flowers of the plant blinking, the smell of fertilizer coming from the vents above him, warm air pushing him toward the door.

End.