The Plant Whisperer

Chapter One

In Jackson's mind, this school year would never end. As the last week of school steadily approached, he became more and more defeated and less enthusiastic about his work. All school years ended like this. Jackson hated math and hated reading even more. One could even suggest that he hated school in general, which wouldn't be far from the truth. In reality, Jackson both loathed and loved school at the same time.

He loved school because it offered a good place to nap. He hated it because sometimes napping didn't go over well with the teachers.

Jackson didn't get much sleep at night due to the sound of the cars and obnoxious noises of snoring that could be heard throughout the room. As time went on, he became more awake at night than he ever did during the day. He became more productive and worked ever so hard on the one thing he actually cared about: his art skills. Sure, education wasn't something he was willing to work at, but art was a different story. Art allowed him to sit and allow his imagination to flow with any emotion he was feeling at the time. Sometimes, if he was feeling nothing, he would let his plants feed him ideas.

Jackson loved his plants dearly and had an affinity for them ever since he was a child. He could hear their beautiful voices and songs flowing through his head and creating a peaceful serenity that he couldn't get anywhere else. That's right, he could hear them.

Ever since he could remember, he could hear plants. Not audibly, through his ears, but mentally in his head. When he was young, he spoke about his plants to his mother, who thought Jackson just had a case of an overactive imagination, as children do. As time went on, she grew concerned, and Jackson began to notice this concern. He no longer spoke about the plants and hid the fact that he could hear them at all. His parents lost their concern. The child's imagination went back to regular levels, as far as they were concerned.

Time passed and Jackson acquired more plants, and as his room grew full of the different varieties, his heart was filled with the love of more friends. He had no human friends, but he didn't need them. His plants taught him more that a human ever could.

Jackson knew that plants not only grew quickly, but they learned and wisened quickly. They had their own languages that they were able to speak from the second they grew leaves. They had an intelligence that was gained incredibly fast and Jackson only wish he could acquire. However, plants sleep very loudly. They snore. Every night, if Jackson tried to sleep he would be listening the the horrendous noises of twenty plants roaring in their sleep. It was worth it to him. Sleep was constantly sacrificed, to him it was over rated anyways.

Jackson and his mom were very close. His father worked a lot, so often that Jackson only saw him once a month. They had plenty of money because of it though, so he didn't complain much. His mom told him that his dad was just a cranky old man anyways. But, because of this closeness between him and his mom, he could always tell when she was keeping something from him. Recently, she had been acting strange and Jackson couldn't help but notice her awkwardness.

One day, when Jackson arrived home from school, he walked through the door into his living room to be greeted by his mother who was waiting for him on the couch. She patted the seat next to her and sighed.

"Sit down please. I have to talk to you." She said expectantly. Immediately, Jackson noticed that she had that mom look in her eyes, the one that said 'I'm not arguing with you today.'

Jackson obediently sat down and politely asked, "What is it?" He knew that he had done nothing, wrong, yet he felt like he was about to get interrogated.

His mom sighed and then looked him in the eyes and disappointingly stated, "You're going to a summer camp this year, and don't try to argue your way out of it. I don't want you to stay in your room with your plants and your art all summer long again. You can take your art supplies with you if you'd like. You don't even have to socialize. Just listen to what the camp directors have to say and join in on the activities."