The Floaters

Some time later

"...how can you eat flesh?" I ask Chxcy from before his stall. In a sigh he replied "How many times more will you bring this up..." seeing me only root down as a reply to his rhetorical statement he continued " My kind, same as yours only eat what we have to-to sustain ourselves, besides doesn't the sprout kin eat plants? isn't eating plants to you the same as to us eating flesh?"

Having expected this line of argument I launched into my prepared debate "The plants me and my kin eat are not of the awakened, of us sprouts. They aren't alive in the same sense as you and I are alive. But the animals you hunt they are alive just like you, they hunt, they socialize, they fornicate they are alive just like you but you murder and eat their flesh still." Clearly not expecting this line of argument a flash of annoyance crossed Chxcy's face."I don't have the time for this none sense, i have stock to move today" he sneered back at me. Shocked at my friend's harsh reply i started to uproot and turn away to move on to other market stalls. But before i could fully move away from the stall he called after me " Sorry i just have a bunch of stock to move today, why don't you stop by at growth cycle and we can discuss this debate then. I'll even give you one of those canes you seem to like so much." Looking back and seeing that weird teeth reveal he does whenever he is trying to make amends i responded "Make it two and you got a deal".

As i set off to explore the rest of today's harvest of Stalls knowing i'm getting two canes for growth cycle today i couldn't help but find the strange custom of apology that Chxcy used comical. The strange custom of using words like "sorry" or giving gifts to someone if you wronged them is so strange, i'll never understand that, we sprouts just know what the other means, don't they too understand the true intent behind anothers actions?. Promising myself to ask Chxcy about this at growth cycle i set off to see if chghe set up his Smith stall this feeding cycle, he always trades my Mineral crusts off me.

As I slowly trudged through the market on my stomper roots looking for chghe's black smith stall I casually glanced at the floater's birth mother wondering how it might be up there, what plants could they have ? Are there more sprout kin up there?How does that floating island stay up there ? Does the sun shine on it or is it too high for the sun to kiss? Who controls where the floating birth mother goes? As all these questions start to flood my now 43 buds it occurs to me that I've never asked these questions to chxcy or chghe or any of the other floaters I've met. Why have I not asked them these questions?.

"Hey, heeeey, heyyy"as i snap back to reality I realized that chghe's apprentice chfff was calling out to me. In my contemplation I had stomped right passed the stall without even noticing. As I turn back to chghe's stall I notice it's only manned by chfff "where's chghe today ?I have some trade to discuss that he will certainly be interested in" I enquired as I trudged back to the stall. "He was feeling a bit sickly this morning and asked me to man the trades in his stead today. But what is this absent mindedness of yours now? You turning tall sprout on me?" He chided giddily at me while revealing all his teeth and doing that weird throat gurgling thing which I at first interpreted as a threatening posture but apparently is a show of humour. Strange creatures these floaters, strange.

"No I'm just wondering about your birth mother that's all" I replied while doing the humour branch shake as tradition dictates and opening my side furrows to take out the mineral crusts I promised chghe I'd bring him this feeding cycle. As chfff counted off my mineral crusts and meticulously weighed them and wrote down the weight for each one in the big "trades book" that was open on chghe's table, I continued to gaze upwards to the floaters "island" as they called it.

When chfff finished counting and weighing up the mineral crusts, he looked up at me with a strange expression. "How much did chghe say he will give you for all these gems and ores?" He asked me, his voice pulling thin as if having difficulty pronouncing his own mother tongue.

"Give me? How do you mean chfff? Why is your face and voice so distorted? " I asked the clearly pained youth."Well sir l, the payment for these ores and gems, how much did my master say he will pay you for these minerals?" He stammered. Now I understand chfff's confusion, he was trying to figure out how he is supposed to pay me for the minerals worth more than the entire stalls inventory.

"Calm down child" I tried to soothe chfff. "This is simply payment for tonights dinner arrangements, everything has been sorted out already" I continued. Seeing chfff's worry change to confusion I added "My race's value of such minerals differ from your own, this is not as much as you think. Join us for growth cycle meal this evening and see for yourself. Just tell chghe I said it's alright. Honestly I don't know why you haven't joined us earlier".