Plant Boy

Exposition

     The sun had been perfect. It was a warm, life giving object in the middle of the cloudless, light-blue sky. It warmed the atmosphere to just the perfect temperature and the summer breeze felt nice against my skin. Only minutes had seemed to pass as I just sat there, staring at it for hours. I was sitting on a tree stump in the middle of a small field with my hands on my knees.
     I looked upon the green of my hands and frowned. The back of my hands had the same texture and color to that of oak leaves. Normal human veins forked off in random places off of a central plant-like vein on the back of my hands. The government scientists told me that was to carry nutrients and energy to the rest of my body. They had said it was through some process of "Photosynthesis".
     My plant-like qualities had always been a reminder that I am somehow a savior, a hero, or something like that. It's a reminder that I'm the only genetically modified human to have plant DNA. It was a reminder that I didn't do jack shit and I was all of a sudden amazing.
     I sighed and shook my head. I rather not think of it. It's great I had to do nothing but what my plant instincts told me to do. Sit and photosynthesize.
     "Nine!" A doctor called. My back straitened from surprise. It blasted my thoughts away.
     I turned to the woman who called for me. She was wearing a white lab-coat and holding an orange lunchbox. The woman's hair was gray from age. Her eyes darkened like an eclipse. This was by far the worst part of her job. Sadly this was the worst part of mine as well.
     "I know you hate this as much as I do", the doctor told me. I shook my head slowly.
     "PH-09...", she spoke. I turned my head. I hated my full name.
     "I know it is wrong in your mind", she stated as she held out a cob of corn. "You are 85% human, and need nutrients like the rest of us."
     This was the hardest task I had ever done, and I had to do it once a week. I was repulsed to see the corn cob where it had been torn from the stem. A plant had died for this. I looked away to avoid throwing up. From the corner of my vision I saw her bring the corn closer to my face. She knew from the day she started trying to feed me that I was petrified to even touch vegetables. So to make it better she fed me like a child.
     I turned my head slowly and took a small bite. I shook from discontent as I chewed the plant into mush and forced it down my throat.
     As I clenched my eyes and wished the aftertaste to go away, the doctor put the rest of the cob back in the bag. I had been doing this for years and I still couldn't handle it.
     I shook my head and clenched my eyes. I turned my head away from the doctor. If she saw my pure discontent, she would ask what's wrong. In my head I played the words "plants don't cry" over and over until I was sure the aftertaste was gone.
     "We are done Nine", the doctor said softly. I cupped my face in my hands as I sniffled.
     This had happened nearly every time the doctor tried to give me food. I knew she was a good person deep down. I should have probably acted better. She always tried to pat my back and ask to talk like maybe a mother would. Instead of letting her try, I turned away wanting solitude. Somehow it hurt more when she gave up. Up until a year ago she stopped trying, and left me to stay until some other doctor came along to do some pointless test.
     Once I heard the slightly distant door close her from my world, I got up and brushed the dirt off of the seat my beige cargo shorts and the rim of my purple t-shirt. I slowly strolled feeling the grass below my feet. Everything was warm and green. Too green. I always suspected that it was fake but never questioned it. Why should I question comfort?
     As I walked along I found my favorite tree. It had many sturdy branches that made it easy to climb. I showed a weak smile as I climbed from branch to branch as I always had. It didn't take long with perfectly planned out movements and precision gripping each branch. When I finally gripped the top branch and poked my head through the top of the leaves, the sun's rays greeted my eyes. I gave a warmer smile as I sat on the tree top. The top part had forked off in three directions making a perfect spot for relaxing.
     As I let my thoughts trail, my smile faded. Thinking about that doctor. How she now doesn't seem to care. Then I looked to the tree I was sitting on. My smile came back upon realizing that it was living too. Wasn't I a plant? That thought comforted me.
     I sat up a bit and hugged the branch. I had not realized until now, that all these years I had not come to think this tree as my friend. All these years it never told me off for crying and it never let me down. It just let me sit. Unlike all of the humans who seemed to think otherwise.
     "Thank you", I said to my friend softly. I snuggled up against the tree and closed my eyes. The warmth soothed my skin as I dozed off into a deep sleep.

     My eyes shot open when I heard something I never heard before. The sound had been loud and obnoxious like a sort of siren. I had no dreams that night neither was I awoken respectfully.
     My eyes shot open to see completely black surroundings. It was as if the stars and moon had been eclipsed from the night sky. I stood and felt around frantically.  There was a solid ground under my feet as cold as stone and merely just empty space within my reach. My heartbeat began to quicken.
    "Do not move at night", I recall a doctor's voice. "You take energy from the sun and apparently use glucose much like plants do. If you do not eat food then you must remain in sunlight at all times. Got it?"
     My breaths became quicker as panic shot through my body. I tried to scream but fear clogged my throat. I fell on my knees by an unexpected spasm of hunger. I put my hand over my stomach as it growled.
     "Nine! Where are you!" shouted a doctors voice. It sounded like the one who took my vitals every once in a while.
     "Here", I managed weakly.
     I heard a click and a light flickered on at the other end of the room. It wasn't natural light like the sun, it was a cold, lonesome ray of white light. I saw the ray had hit a completely green wall. Not grassy green like I was used to. Just a texture-lacking generic light green.
     Suddenly the light hit me. I instinctively put the back of my hands against the light to photosynthesize. For some strange reason I felt nothing from it.
     I heard constant footsteps patter towards me when I had a spasm of hunger. Weakness overtook my limbs. I barely felt the hand on my shoulder that stopped me from falling. As my body went numb, voices had sounded as if they were at the end of a tunnel. I couldn't recognize them as more came into earshot. The last thing I heard a distant voice scream "Nine."