v"Daaaaaddy, you've got a package on the doorstep!"
Basil, Mineral Village's only herbologist and most prominent writer, looked up from his tabletop full of glass beakers and test tubes and bunsen burners. That was his daughter Mary's voice, calling from downstairs in the house, followed by the sound of a door closing.
"I'm upstairs, Mary," he called, "in the lab."
"It's from Kai's brother, the new owner of the Seaside Lodge," Mary read on the brown paper-wrapped parcel, all done up with twine. She shook the box lightly as she went upstairs. "It's very musty-smelling, whatever it is." She handed it over to her father.
"Ah, I've been expecting this." Basil grinned. He glanced around the laboratory (which was really only a sectioned-off area in the bedroom that his wife, Anna, indulged in letting him have) but found nothing suitably sharp. He patted down his green vest, which he still wore from that morning's hike up Mother's Hill, behind the farmer Jack's property.
Mary sat on the bed, playing with her long, dark-brown braid, and watched her father remove the wrapping with a pen. "What is it?"
"The Doctor told me I should be expecting this-- apparently Jamal has a new kind of herb that he's never seen before, and the doc wanted me to try it out. There," he said, finally getting the paper off.
Basil looked at the two-pound blocks of marijuana, wrapped in shiny plastic, sitting at his desk.
He blinked, and looked again, scrunching his face up. "Grass mulchings?"
"No," he reevaluated slowly, scratching at his chin. "It's a bit crumbly-looking, and the smell is all wrong. Frankly, I'm stumped. I'd like to have a few words with Jamal about it."
"This was with the package too, daddy," Mary said, holding up a large folder. She handed it to her father, who promptly tore it open.
"What the heck?" He reached inside and puilled out a folded-up letter, and a large marijuana leaf, pressed between two large pieces of wax paper.
The leaf was huge, roughly the size of Basil's head, with seven distinctive serrated leaflets branching out symmetrically from the stem. Its stem was rough to the touch, hairy and somewhat grooved. Although the leaf itself was dried and browned, there was evidence on the stem that its hairs were exuding a light colorless sap, like dried glue. Basil sniffed at it and nodded; the dried sap was contributing to the distinctive smell of this most peculiar plant.
"What are you going to do with it, Daddy?" Mary asked her father, giving a slight tug on her braid.
Basil shrugged as he stood, stroking his chin, deep in thought. "We may as well smoke it, to see if it really works," he said. He began to reach into his green vest's pocket for his pipe, then stopped and looked at his daughter. "Oh, and could you please bring up some snacks for me? For some reason, just smelling the damn thing gave me the munchies."
[ To be continued! ]
Basil, Mineral Village's only herbologist and most prominent writer, looked up from his tabletop full of glass beakers and test tubes and bunsen burners. That was his daughter Mary's voice, calling from downstairs in the house, followed by the sound of a door closing.
"I'm upstairs, Mary," he called, "in the lab."
"It's from Kai's brother, the new owner of the Seaside Lodge," Mary read on the brown paper-wrapped parcel, all done up with twine. She shook the box lightly as she went upstairs. "It's very musty-smelling, whatever it is." She handed it over to her father.
"Ah, I've been expecting this." Basil grinned. He glanced around the laboratory (which was really only a sectioned-off area in the bedroom that his wife, Anna, indulged in letting him have) but found nothing suitably sharp. He patted down his green vest, which he still wore from that morning's hike up Mother's Hill, behind the farmer Jack's property.
Mary sat on the bed, playing with her long, dark-brown braid, and watched her father remove the wrapping with a pen. "What is it?"
"The Doctor told me I should be expecting this-- apparently Jamal has a new kind of herb that he's never seen before, and the doc wanted me to try it out. There," he said, finally getting the paper off.
Basil looked at the two-pound blocks of marijuana, wrapped in shiny plastic, sitting at his desk.
He blinked, and looked again, scrunching his face up. "Grass mulchings?"
"No," he reevaluated slowly, scratching at his chin. "It's a bit crumbly-looking, and the smell is all wrong. Frankly, I'm stumped. I'd like to have a few words with Jamal about it."
"This was with the package too, daddy," Mary said, holding up a large folder. She handed it to her father, who promptly tore it open.
"What the heck?" He reached inside and puilled out a folded-up letter, and a large marijuana leaf, pressed between two large pieces of wax paper.
The leaf was huge, roughly the size of Basil's head, with seven distinctive serrated leaflets branching out symmetrically from the stem. Its stem was rough to the touch, hairy and somewhat grooved. Although the leaf itself was dried and browned, there was evidence on the stem that its hairs were exuding a light colorless sap, like dried glue. Basil sniffed at it and nodded; the dried sap was contributing to the distinctive smell of this most peculiar plant.
"What are you going to do with it, Daddy?" Mary asked her father, giving a slight tug on her braid.
Basil shrugged as he stood, stroking his chin, deep in thought. "We may as well smoke it, to see if it really works," he said. He began to reach into his green vest's pocket for his pipe, then stopped and looked at his daughter. "Oh, and could you please bring up some snacks for me? For some reason, just smelling the damn thing gave me the munchies."
[ To be continued! ]