Tag #24 – The Secret Life of Daisies
Daniel sat in the dry dust of PJ2-445, sketching in his journal. The white orb-like plant did nothing, no matter how far back he sat, so he stationed himself close to it and drew what only he had seen before: the plant growing taller than Daniel, in long ropy stalks. Over his shoulder he could hear Jack loudly berating the mute natives as he tried to keep them quarantined. Jack doesn't believe me, Daniel thought somewhat bitterly. But this is important.
"Daniel, come help me with these guys!" Jack yelled, sounding annoyed.
Daniel shivered at the ripples of irritation Jack was unknowingly casting in his direction, but he didn't answer. The plant held his full attention. He had to get it to grow again.
It doesn't even look like a plant, he mused, looking it over. Looks more like…I dunno, a pile of marshmallows. Maybe white balloons.
Despite the negative thoughts, he kept working on analyzing what he had witnessed. There had to be some kind of trigger, something that made it grow tall and give off that wonderful soothing feeling. He couldn't place what exactly it did that made him feel as he did, but it was very comforting on some level.
The same resonance had not only come from the plant, he realized. It also came from…the alien? Well that puts a new spin on things, he pondered, scribbling that down along the side of the sketch.
Getting an idea, he dug through his pack. Somewhat aware of Jack's increasing frustration, he remained focused on his task and eventually located his video camera, buried under a handful of rations and extra clips for his Beretta.
"Ah-ah-ah, get back! Come on, get back!" An explosive sigh. "Fine. Knock yourself out. Go ahead. Go play in the street! Don't forget your sunblock." Jack stomped over as Daniel set up his camera. "Why aren't you helping me!"
"It's no use, they don't understand," Daniel explained. "They just wanna be with each other."
"Well we're not gonna stand around doing nothing!" Jack snapped.
"We're not doing nothing!" Daniel replied, setting up the short tripod and aiming the camera at the plant.
"…you're video-taping a plant," Jack pointed out sarcastically. Daniel had to admit, it sounded kind of stupid when he put it that way. But it was an alien plant, so it made at least a little more sense in context. Alien plants and such had a bad habit of being totally unlike their Earth relatives.
"Well, I think this might be important," Daniel explained calmly, setting the camera to record. This could be the solution to the whole damn situation. I can feel it.
"Well I think you might be losing what's left of your mind!"
Daniel blinked and straightened up, turning to meet Jack. What? he thought incredulously, hardly able to believe what he'd just heard his friend say. "What's that supposed to mean?"