Main Street Magazine Spring '23

“Yeah we gathered
that.. What happened
to you?” The flowy voiced
one spoke; they seemed
to be taller.
“I, I uh went to see the
abandoned town… I wanted to go on
an adventure…” Arden trailed off trying to
find something to focus on in the dark. “Went
into the mayor’s house… n’the plants scratched me up
so I ripped them off. Wasn’t really expecting them to fight back,”
he said jokingly. The two were silent.
“What is this place? What happened here?” He asked, puzzled. There was
slight movement in the darkness, and the high pitched voice took over.
“We’re the citizens of Westbrook.”
Arden was silent for a moment. His brain felt empty.
“How is that possible?” the words came out in a rough, exasperated
statement.
“You know about the scientists that were here, right? Well, they discovered
the plant cells ability to think, but also feel. The vines could move around to
where they would flourish in the sunlight. The soil isn’t what granted them
their survival, they cultivated it themselves. They can simulate environments
different from the ones we’re in. They can intoxicate us with a poison that
warps reality,” Arden remembered being stuck in the dark for hours. I didn’t
even fall down, it was all a trick. “There are pockets of water down here, some
of the vines are edible and can support a human diet, mostly,” they trailed off,
avoiding the weight of the question they left unanswered.
“But why would they keep you down here?” The energy shifted. Arden felt as
though he had entered hostile territory. The flowy voiced individual spoke up,
the other silent.
“You saw the empty lot up there right? All the flattened land?”
“Yeah.”
“Well. There you go.” Arden blinked.
“I don’t understand.”
“How happy would you be if someone moved
you out of your home unannounced, no
warning?” Irritation flooded their
voice.
Arden
flinched at
their tone.
“I had nothing to do
with that! I don’t deserve
to be here!” Arden’s voice cracked again, he felt his throat constrict and tears
come to his eyes.
“But you did tear them apart, didn’t you? I bet you ripped some of those vines
to shreds on your ‘exploration’,” they sneered. Arden shrunk back into the wall.
“You think we did this? It wasn’t my name on the bottom of that contract,”
they yelled. Arden waited for the figure to keep talking, but there was complete
silence. Their words nagged at him, guilt building in his gut.
“I didn’t really think about it… it didn’t seem like that big of a deal…”
he spoke quietly, but even as he said the words he knew. It was
a big deal though, just not to me. I ripped that ivy apart going
through that mansion. They had no idea who I was, just that
I was a stranger hurting them… maybe even killing? Am I
a murderer? I had no idea what I was doing… I didn’t
even think about how my actions could possibly
affect those plants. That makes me part of the
problem, I guess — a problem I wasn’t even
aware of. I just wanted to explore… but I
didn’t stop to do any research. Would
I have been better off if I’d prepared
more? Would they? Please, I’m so
sorry… I understand now, I’ll be
more careful… I didn’t mean it.
Arden’s head dropped into his
hands.
This isn’t what I wanted.
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