~ A Moment ~
None of the four figures heading home looks back. If they did, their gaze might have fallen on the spot where Warren knelt and tried to persuade the plants to grow.
The soil his hands touched begins to move, now that there are no people around to witness it. It bulges, something beneath it trying to push free. Gradually, whatever it is fights its way to the surface. But what emerges is not a plant. It’s green, soft and covered in fine hairs, bright as a jewel and far more precious, with a dark, blunt head, two black eyes at the front and two rows of strange, pointed limbs. It undulates towards the sun, lifts itself into the light and takes in the world for the first time.
There isn’t a name, anymore, for what this is. At least, not one that’s used regularly.
But if Solma a
