Astronauts

The Gardener

"Hey," a faraway voice said. I didn't answer.

"Hey," it said again, a bit louder.

"Hey!"

I reluctantly opened my eyes. It was late now, with the moon high in the sky. Cars and people alike passed us slowly.

"We're almost there. Just thought I'd wake ya, Sleeping Beauty," the man laughed. It was strange, and almost certainly fake.

A chill went up my spine. Paranoid once again, I checked behind us. Another taxi behind us. Not uncommon in New York, but like I said, I'm always paranoid.

"Can we take another route?" I asked. "I'll pay you extra, of course."

"Yeah, yeah. Sure. I take it ya noticed that taxi behind us? They've following us for quite awhile."

I gulped. Maybe this was one of those rare times paranoia was good. Those burly men. Was it them? I checked again before we turned and took a different route.

"Ah. They turned with us..." I said quietly, my voice droning off at the end. Nervous sweating again. "Listen, we need to get out of here. Get them off our trail, I'll pay anything!" I pleaded.

"A'ight, hold ya horses. No need to worry, I'm the best driver in town!" he chortled.

I looked back again. This could not be happening, if they caught us...

The car turned swiftly, swerving onto a dark road, interrupting my train of thought. The driver sped down the alley, then went down another abandoned, desolate road. We turned again, under a tall, cement bridge. We abruptly stopped, and were parked. Dust floated around us. Seemed like this guy actually was a amazing taxi driver.

The car was eerily silent, only the few sounds of my own heavy breathing. The driver seemed confident, though. He even smiled knowingly. I stared out the window, watching for that other checkered taxi. I was just waiting for when we would be caught. Nothing. A few more minutes. More nothing. How long were we there? Ten minutes? Twenty-five minutes? Thirty? A hour? I don't know. It felt like eternity.

"Thanks," I said quietly.

"Ah, it's nothing,"

"Oh, actually? This happens everyday?" I lightened up the mood. "Really. Thank you. You had no idea how much I needed to get away from them."

"You have no idea how much I know," he laughed. "I'm guessing you don't know what I was talking about earlier?"

"What?"

"Heroes? Team?"

I shook my head. I noticed that his accent, his stance, his way of talking, everything changed. He was more serious. Dark. Mysterious.

"They're making a team. They need them to hunt down that... thing."

"Thing?"

"You know, the rumors? The person who was born in space? The only person?"

Oh. Maybe he knew? There was a giant bounty on my head. He might know. He might want the money, the fame. Everything that would come with catching me like an animal.

"Yeah. Of course, everyone's heard of that," I coolly said. "I've never heard of the heroes, though. What is this, a fucking comic book?"

He chuckled. "It's not their official name, but it's what most people think they are. People are scared. They don't know who the damn astronaut is."

"Well, who are these heroes?"

"Can't tell you. But, you know, guess who's in it?" he winked.

"What? Really? A taxi driver is part of this super-secret-government thing?" I asked. "Where were you born, anyway?"

"Prairie." he half-laugh, half-said.

"Prairie? Wow. The prairie? What can you do, make the grass grow?"

"No, no. It can be pretty useful, actually. I can control plants. Grasses, leaves, trees, and weeds!"

"Wouldn't the government want the Eskimos? Or the Mountaineers? How about the Oceaners? Aren't those the strongest?"

"They've got plenty of those! I've been carefully tuning my power for years! Here, watch this."

He turned to the window, and with a single wave of his hands, the weeds by us twitched. They twitched some more. Then, they grew. Thicker and thicker, taller and taller, they grew. By the time they stopped, they were as big as a small house.

I was in awe. Just speechless.

"Thought I was done, eh? Not quite."

Again, he waved hands. The weeds turned to him.

And then he spoke.

He murmured something about tricks. The plant squealed. He whispered some more, and the weed then jumped out the ground.

"WHAT THE FUCK?" I jumped back in my seat.

"I know, right?"  he cheekily replied.

I stared at him. He stared back. I didn't even know his name.

"Who... are you?" I timidly asked "And why would you show me this?"

"Because I know who you are," he smirked. "Space-girl."

I gulped. Questions raced my mind. How did he know? Why was he being so nice? Did he want the bounty? I wanted to ask them, but my mouth was trapped shut.

"Speechless, right? Don't worry, I won't hurt you."

"Really?"

"As long as you help me."

"What with?"

"I'll tell you later. First, let's get you to Brooklyn, ok?"