Green

It all started with a seed. Farmer Ted had no idea what to expect. What would he grow, would it be a pear or something more interesting? The feed store did not have the labels prepared right or so he presumed. Mislabeled or not, this is where the adventure begins!

Ted had high hopes for this batch. The previous batch did not turn out as he had thought it would. Fueled by his passion for horticulture he thrived for the advancement of his career.

His parents thought that this line of work was rubbish, but he enjoyed every bit of it. Ted had a fondness and a green thumb for plants. The only thing he wasn't expecting was a woman's companionship in his endeavor. That would be the final straw, per se. Maybe sometime he would fall in love. And the support she'd give would represent his qualities.

But he would have to wait and see. In the meantime studies and his work would have to reign supreme.

There were many fine ladies that he had seen in passing. Crystal was one of them, the way she twirled her hair was menacing. And she had a knack for understanding him and his obsessions with plant life. Maybe she would be a positive role model for him.

His mother always told him that his love for pears would send him into misery, but he didn't understand why at the time. Upon closer inspection, his mother was probably right. It had all the intricacies of a garbage can.

Green was always his favorite color. Blue came in second. The rainbow had so many different variants. But I'm going off topic.

The garden in Ted's backyard not only had pears, but other fruits and vegetables as well. He enjoyed his gardening career. It had all the essence of...

... The swine flu. But that is a different story. Crystal and Ted had it made in the shade. Their son was also introduced to the farming business as well. When he came of age he was to be taught on how to produce a green thumb. The only problem was his preconditioned mood swings. They seemed to get in the way of his learning.

They started them young, preemptively, banning their sacred oath of excuses. There are so many distractions in the farming business. The soaking rain, the blazing sun, as well as monstrous and torrential rainstorms. Sometimes the gulf between learning and doing were two different extremes.

Patrick, Ted and Crystals' son, always was reprimanded as he grew up. But he did not mind. It taught him greater value. As well as respect for the family business. The responsibilities he found were endless. A green thumb was something he always wanted, his fathers' pride in his work.

Pears, pears, and more pears. That was the plan. The acreage on their family's land was plentiful. Plentiful enough to grow whatever they wanted to. Prickly pears and cactus were also something that naturally thrived in their garden of Eden. The only thing they were missing was the fig of sanity.

It ended with a seed watered to perfection. As if it were never there at all. The storms would make sure that it would be divided evenly. Until the end of time and onward. The power that this batch held was tremendous. Titans would need a weather pattern to destroy it. A weather pattern so out of this world as to turn it upside down.

Devastated by his success, Ted turned himself into the local sanitarium. Hoping that one day his son would finish what he started. The flu would have to wait until they both felt better. Neither one of them knew when that would happen. Hopefully it would come in short order, so that they would not be devastated by it. And spread it separately from what it would become in the meantime. The sanitarium did not want him or so he thought. I guess they would call him when they needed him.