As his harsh alarm rings, he hastily rises. He prepares himself to face the day. Takes less than a moment in the shower, eats a hurried breakfast and attempts a brief moment of solace in his busy morning. Stopping before out the door to feed his jade plant, cautiously allowing himself a necessary pause in his schedule. He lives in its simple glory, if only for a moment. The plant sits calmly on his windowsill, occupying a portion of the tableau that was the sunrise. He remembered panicking once after waking up and, upon inspection, finding a small wilted leaf. He hurriedly read a plant care guide, carelessly flipping through the pages, accomplishing a small tear on the top corner of the page holding the aloe. Upon reading that the jade plant should have a constant source of sunlight, he removed it from its comfortable home beside his bed to its more practical one on the windowsill. He always admires it during the times when it is most vulnerable, when it basks in the soft moonlight. In the dark it does not work towards nourishment, towards betterment. It just is. As he falls asleep, so too does the plant.
Having been gifted this plant at this past year's staff organized secret Santa, he accepted it with the best false smile he could muster to appease the crowd of eager onlookers, silently mentioning to himself that he should make more of an effort to have his gifting preference better known to his coworkers. In fact, it had been an operation with many people involved to come up with an idea of what kind of gift this solitary and single-minded man would want. In the end, it was one persons decision. On his walk home through the darkening sky, he gazed upon the plant that he was carrying underneath his arm. Previously thinking it to be an inconvenience on his simple walk, basking in the moonlight, it became alive. Tucked in-between his ulna and his ribcage rested a life he was now responsible for. The rest of his walk was disturbed with thoughts of nervousness and questions of his own nurturing competence. He placed it beside his bed and stared at it, hard, for several minutes, questioning the intent of this gift. Was this a clever trick devised to take up more of his time so he would be demoted at work, making way for a new eager coworker? Was it a subtle message that he should find a partner and settle down? He brushed aside these thoughts coming from a surprisingly creative and unknown side of him. Surely not. He wasn't used to receiving gifts. He stood up and realized, trick or not, this small green plant was in his care and he must do everything in his power to nurture it.
He appreciated their relationship. He provides this gentle plant with the necessities of life and it provides him with a stoic companion. He thinks to himself and wonders where he would be without this constant silent support. Since its inception, he has become a happier man. This jade plant's dulled green tone providing ample colour to the otherwise stark apartment, and a newfound reason for his existence, though he hardly realized to that extent. A rogue asteroid caught in orbit, he had given it life; or had it given life to him?
Comments