The Protector of Plants (UIC 2023)

Chapter 09: The Opportunity Disappears Before I Even Started

A change of plans

Remember how I was talking about Wyfi and how they were going to be taking it away to make sure it doesn't spread?

Well turns out I was worrying about nothing.

Why? Because Wyfi is missing... again.

Apparently, Wifi somehow managed to escape (again), before the scientists even managed to load the plant onto a vehicle. The only reason I know this is because Mom and dad came back panicking a day later, after the emergency meeting was held.

It was the only logical explanation I could think of.

I turned on the news again, to see the latest headline. But the minute I turned it on, I turned it off. There was still no sign of Wyfi on the news. It'd been three days already, and not even once has Wyfi been mentioned on the news again.

Which could only mean that the scientists didn't want the public to know that they failed to capture Wyfi. In the perspective of the scientists, it was completely understandable, even if it meant they had huge egos that they didn't want to break.

But keeping this a secret was good news for me as well. It was something I can benefit out of...

My parents were at work, because when I woke up, they weren't home. And this is coming from someone who wakes up really early in the morning. Compared to most people, anyways. The night before, my parents told me they would leave for work "early in the morning". But I didn't know they meant before sunrise, before I was even up.

And if I'm not wrong, they weren't going to return home anytime soon. The earliest they would be home would probably be sometime in the middle of the night, when I'm fast asleep.

Which meant that I had the whole day to myself. There is no way I'm letting this precious time alone go to waste. And I know exactly what I'm going to do today.

I got out my jacket and house keys after breakfast. Something that's newly been added to my routine. Well, ever since I started to secretly visit Wyfi.

Whenever I go outside, it always feels like something's watching me. And it's not the humans, I know that for sure. Usually, I feel like it's the birds, butterflies, bees, bugs, and all the other critters found in gardens. And as crazy as it sounds, I also think that some plants may be watching my every move as well.

Which is crazy because there are no plants within a five mile radius. So I was probably being paranoid. Still... I couldn't shake off that feeling of someone watching me.

As I was walking down the perfectly paved, concrete sidewalk, I did something out of the ordinary. Maybe it was from the plant paranoia, maybe it was because I wanted a change of scenery.

But that doesn't make my decision any less important.

Whatever it was, for some reason I strayed away from my regular path today. I went the route that took me back to the abandoned store. It wasn't on our regular concrete path. In order to go to the abandoned store, I had to walk on the hard rubble. I guess that was the reason it was considered abandoned.

It'd been a few weeks since I came here. The last time I went this path was when I still had Wyfi. Before I took it home and I abandoned it at a random alleyway. Before it was found and the entire world was informed. Back when everything was a secret only I knew.

After a few minutes, maybe about ten or fifteen, the store came into my view. It was just as broken and old as I remembered.

Taking in a deep breath, I stepped inside the building.

And wow... It was empty. What a surprise.

I should have left. I needed to be on the hunt for Wyfi. Instead, I decided to do the complete opposite. My brain decided that I should snoop around deeper into the building.

And I did. It was the same empty building as I remember. Dust here, dust there... oh look, more dust!

As I was about to give up and leave, something caught my eye. I walked over closer to it, just to see what it was. And when I went over to the little corner where I saw the glint of light, I gasped in amazement.

From the little crack, grew a new plant. And it looked exactly like Wyfi.

~~~

A/N:

This chapter took so long for me to write. About a month. It was like having writers block, but for a specific chapter in a specific book. 

I tried rewriting this chapter many times as well. It didn't really help though.

But finally, I got it finished.

I would like to think of this as the halfway mark for the book. And from here, things start get interesting once again. At least, I hope so.

Hope your enjoying this book, and see you in the next chapter!