Curious Findings (17) : Maybe it’s got something to do with the weather, or the construction, or all the other general oddities that seem to occur in Destiny City, but for the first time in nearly fifty years, the historic tree in one of Downtown Destiny City’s parks has woken up. While the tree was known for being alive and growing despite a lengthy hibernation, this is the first year that it’s sprouted leaves–but that’s not all! The unique tree has now also started growing strange pods. Because of the trees legacy–and not at all because of the oddity–the area has been taped off, but that really hasn’t been enough to stop anyone curious enough to investigate. The tree itself is several feet wide and stands roughly fifty feet tall; it’s branches spread significantly and seem like they can hold a lot of weight–which is good, because the pods growing on it have a hard brown shell and can grow up to the size of a soccer ball. Sometimes, the larger ones seem to tremble and shake in place. Maybe it's an animal trying to nibble? Maybe it’s just the wind? Maybe it’s something else. The pods can be pulled from the tree or collected from the ground; the shells are incredibly difficult to crack open, and some of them leak a strange, acidic sap that is strong enough to cause skin agitation–and in some cases there are even reports that it’s burned through wood or fabric. Sometimes, the healthier looking pods that aren’t leaking anything even seem to shake on their own, which is a mystery in itself. Another mystery is why Almadel seems so keen to trade for them…
Summer wasn’t her favorite holiday, but she could enjoy it all the same provided she had shade and a refreshing beverage.
She had both today, along with some takeout from one of her favorite brunch spots and a lovely summer breeze, courtesy of Mother Nature. Even if she was out here to do her homework, this was bliss! She had everything she needed for a productive afternoon away from home.
Mel hunkered down in one of downtown DC’s parks, on a short bench in the shade of what was apparently one of the oldest, largest trees in the city. She considered herself a regular visitor of this spot, and in fact, like one of her favorite sitcom characters, sort of considered it to be her spot in this specific park. She liked it because it was roomy for one person, but too small to share with a complete stranger, particularly if she had all her books and such with her. So her bag was secure on one side of her, her books in a small stack on the other. She was in the middle, settled very comfortably with her laptop on her lap.
Her spot.
She’d been working for some time already, ignoring the rather loud sound of the Tree’s fruit falling just nearby. She wasn’t directly under the tree and at imminent risk of one dropping directly on her head, but she did notice that a lot were falling. She glanced over when she came to a natural stopping point in her work, light blue eyes staring at the strange pods.
There had been some coverage on this tree when the pods first appeared that summer. Old and barren, they said, until it wasn’t. What she found more bizarre than the tree suddenly producing something was the actual something it was producing. She’d never bothered to really take a look before…
“I can spare a few minutes,” she said, considering her work. She was almost done, just in time for lunch. So her plan was to pack what she was finished with, check out the pods real quick, eat lunch, finish work, and then head home. It felt like a solid plan, so she got to work on packing up.
Unbeknownst to her, one of the larger pods up on a higher branch was swaying. Whether it was the wind or something from within the pod wasn’t entirely obvious, but it swayed.
The pod to’d and fro’d until finally the stem snapped off the branch and the soccer-ball sized pod plummeted to the ground, just beside another equally large pod and, like a cue ball hitting its mark, sending it hurtling in a random direction.
Straight toward Mel, of course.
The young woman was still packing, of course, and was just about to lean down to pick up her lunch when she saw it.
It felt like it happened in slow motion, actually. The way her eyes widened at the sight of the speeding pod. She cried out, “No!” but didn’t actually hear her own voice. It was deeper and distorted, at least how she heard it. She tried to turn and reach for her lunch, which was sitting just at the feet of the bench, completely unaware, but no. The pod was just too quick.
She was a mere few inches away when the pod bowled right into it, as if it was its target all along, crushing it into unappetizing oblivion between itself and the bench leg.
Mel felt her heart drop. Her perfect day–her perfect, productive, beautiful summer day–ruined by a stupid pod.
What made it possibly even worse was the thing was leaking all over her food. While she might have been able to deal with eating an extra flattened panini and a bag of chip dust, now that there was pod juice all over it?
No thanks.
The blonde straightened herself out and heaved a sigh, shoulders hunched as if the pod had knocked the spirit right out of her. She threw the rest of her plan out the window at that point and finished up packing her things before turning her attention to the pod and her crushed lunch.
Well. There was a pod. The rest of her plan might have been shot but she started packing to check one of these out and here it was. So the young woman, not wanting to waste the opportunity that forced itself upon her, crouched down and inspected the thing. No hands, of course. It was leaking and that was kind of gross.
It didn’t look all that special, that was for sure. Probably the only special thing she could think of was its impressive size. Apart from that it sort of just looked like a bald, oversized coconut. Which didn’t help her see it in a better light.
The young woman curled her lip at the thing, then pulled her sketchbook out. She did a quick sketch of the scene, then two panels below it: one with tape outlining the spot where her lunch had been, one with the pod posing for a mug shot. She titled it “Lunch Murderer,” then put her sketchbook back in her bag. It was amusing, in that ‘rotten luck’ kind of way, after all, so she wanted to save it somehow.
Once packed and ready to go, Mel heaved another great big sigh–an attempt to get rid of her bad mood. “Ah, well. I’ll just make something at home,” she said as she gingerly picked up the flattened bag of food, made extra gross by the leakage from the pod. She tossed it into a nearby bin, circled back for her stuff and was off.
Mel glanced back at the pod, which she noticed was about a foot away from the bench. Just a last glimpse because she had no plans of coming back until after all these pods were gone. She scrunched her brows together though, thinking hard for the next few minutes as she walked home.
She could have sworn it had been pretty much right next to the bench when she left it.
1018 (gdocs)
