Trip of a Century

Part 1 Chapter 4

The Druid

Meanwhile, outside the town of La Honda, California, the bell above a greenhouse door jingled and the dryadis fiddling with a potted plant behind the counter looked up to see who it was. Biene had to push her long brown hair back behind her pointed ears so she could see. Her upturned, copper eyes peered around but she didn’t see anyone so she called out, “Dazzlespark?”

It was silent for a moment while Biene looked around. Then she heard the buzzing of large, insect-like wings to her left and a voice that strongly resembled that of a cartoon chipmunk said, “That a new order?”

Biene jumped a little and looked left to see the pixie’s big, black orb-like eyes hovering next to her face. Dazzlespark’s bright green hair stood wildly all around. His long, very pointed ears extended above his head like antennae. She wasn’t a fan of his choice of hair color. She thought it clashed with his bubblegum-pink skin.

Biene huffed, the pale skin of her diamond-shaped face turned a shade of pink, and she sighed. “I hate when you do that!” she exclaimed through gritted teeth.

“Well, Biene Weena,” Biene rolled her eyes at the rhyming nickname, “seeing as how you’re leaving me forever tomorrow, I couldn’t let you go without doing it one more time,” he replied with a grin. 

“Speaking of leaving…” Biene began as she moved away from the counter and walked through a door that led to a small office. She opened a filing cabinet and pulled out a tan folder. She turned around and held it out to Dazzlespark who followed her and was hovering behind her. Dazzlespark, not thinking about how thick the folder was, grabbed on with both hands. When Biene let go, Dazzlespark crashed to the floor, dragged down by the unexpectedly heavy load of paper.

Biene giggled.

Dazzlespark stood up, straightened his retro Music🗲Band T-shirt, dusted off his black, leather pants and said, “The first thing I’m going to do when you leave is digitize this operation. It’s 2090, not 1990. All of this should be in a cloud and accessible from a ninety gram mobile device.” Dazzlespark grabbed the folder and started dragging it toward the office desk. 

Biene watched him a moment and smiled to herself. Then started walking around the greenhouse, inspecting plants, and smelling flowers. This place was her escape. It was a little haven from the cities and the urban sickness that had plagued her, and other elves, her entire life. Biene stopped at a broad leaved helleborine orchid. She touched its blue flowers and was reminded of her family. Her father was a florist and her mother was an herbalist. She supposed she got her love of plants from them. 

Biene continued walking until she came upon a bin of carrots. The leafy green stems were about 30cm tall. She dug one out with her fingers to check on the root and found it was maybe 2cm long and a very pale orange. She checked on the rest of the carrots in the bin to find that they were similarly miniscule. “A graduate degree in botany and I can’t get freaking carrots to grow,” she thought to herself. Biene placed her hands, palm down, in the bin of carrots, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. Concentrating, she connected herself to The Flow, feeling the Mobius energy collect. She chanted something in a language that she just intuitively understood how to use even if she didn’t understand the meaning of what she was saying. She turned her palms up and slowly raised her hands. A faint green light glowed around each of the carrots. 

“Hey, Beanie! Whatcha doin’,” asked a tiny voice next to her right ear.

Biene opened her eyes to see the faint glow around the carrots turn dark and the green stems wilt as her concentration was broken. She let out a frustrated sigh and gave Dazzlespark a very annoyed side-eye.

“Those carrots look terrible,” Dazzlespark observed, seemingly oblivious to Biene’s ire.

Biene let out a growl and grabbed two fistfuls of dirt and ruined carrot. “I can’t wait to be on Janus. I’ll be so glad when I can work the ground on a proper farm with unspoiled, phosphorus-rich soil and fresh air. It will be so nice to not have to isolate myself all the time to stay healthy.”

“Beanie,” said Dazzlespark, pondering. “How long do you think Janus will stay…non-urbanized? It’s already being developed by robots, preparing the land and infrastructure for the arrival of 14,000 people. You’re going to land in a small, concrete and metal city with everything that comes with it.”

“At least one dryadis had a say in how the colony is designed and nearly a third of the colonists going to Janus are dryadis. We will outnumber every other demographic on the ship. When it comes time to make decisions about expansion, our voices will be the loudest.” Then Biene added with a smirk, “Plus, we’re all women. If the males hope to squick, they’ll keep the largest demographic of women healthy and happy.”

Dazzlespark scrunched up his nose and said, “Squick. Sounds like a noise you’d hear in tentacle porn. Speaking of attracting males and getting laid,” Dazzlespark thrusted his hips and pumped his arms for emphasis, “what are you going to take with you? I watched a ‘cast about the process and they said that you’re only allowed to bring whatever personal items will fit into a duffel bag. Everything you need will already be there, though, so I think you should just fill it with sexy lingerie and toys.” Dazzlespark sat on the edge of a table, crossed his legs, and grinned with his chin rested on one fist.

Biene tilted her head and smirked at her diminutive friend. “Laid? Nobody under eighty says that, Daz. At least not unironically.”

Dazzlespark made an exaggerated frown and said, “Better than squick.”

Biene said, “Old-person slang and your porn choices aside, that’s not the worst idea you’ve ever had. However, I’ve already decided that much of my bag will be filled with seeds from my greenhouse. It’s only enough for a few plants but eventually I’ll be able to add some genetic diversity to what’s being planted ahead of us.”

Biene continued walking and checking plants and Dazzlespark hovered next to her as he said, “I still think my way is better. You can add genetic diversity AND have fun doing it,” Dazzlespark winked. It was such a ridiculously deliberate motion on his ping-pong-ball-sized eye that Biene couldn’t help but laugh a little.

In a mocking voice, Biene said, “Well, maybe I just won’t pack any clothes at all and I’ll just go around naked.”

Dazzlespark shrugged. “Eh, it works for the Fae. Personally, I like clothing. It’s such a strange human quirk when you think about it. Everyone covers themselves up and only certain people are allowed to see what’s under like it’s some big secret that females have vulvas and males have penises…and they’re all located in the same place!” Dazzlespark said the last part with mock surprise with his hands on his cheeks. “But it’s also a form of self-expression, at the same time. You don’t have to be just what you were born with on the outside. Your clothes can make a statement about yourself. Or just look neat!” Dazzlespark brought his feet up and indicated his glittery, silver and pink cowboy boots.

“And what sort of statement do your clothes say about you, Daz? Early millenium American teenage queen?”

“Psh,” Dazzlespark replied with a limp-wristed wave. “No queen would be caught dead in this fine, retro T-shirt. Besides, I think the reference dates to the 2010s or 2020s.”

“That’s probably why I don’t get it. You’re wearing an eighty-year-old meme. Where did you even find that?”

“Oh, I consider myself a little bit of an amateur Internet archaeologist. The internet was quite a place of culture in its first few decades, and really took off in the third. Not like the corporate, ad-riddled monstrosity that exists today, where, if you’re not careful, you can accidentally make a non-refundable purchase or get robbed or killed by some shady technomage. Even the darkweb was overrun by corporate influencers. These days, to stay safe or escape the ad-scape, you have to be invited to trustworthy indy-nets.”

Dazzlespark continued talking about the state of the modern Internet but Biene’s eyes glazed over and she checked out of the conversation. It didn’t matter. She was leaving and would not have to deal with the Internet anymore. Biene walked away and Dazzlespark followed, still talking. At the back of the greenhouse she reached a door marked PRIVATE, opened it, and climbed the stairs. She reached a door at the top, pulled a key out of her belt pouch, and unlocked it. She grabbed the door handle, turned to Dazzlespark, and interrupted his monologue, “Dazzlespark.”

“What?”

“I’m going to go finish packing. You good with the shop?”

“Oh. Oh-oh, yeah.”

Biene smiled at her tiny friend and then opened the door, walked into her living room and closed the plain, pine door behind her. The apartment wasn’t much. It consisted of a living room, a tiny kitchen, a bedroom, and a bathroom. The best part of all of that is that it was all custom sized for her sixtythree inch height. The north wall of the living room was dominated by a sliding glass door that led to a small balcony. The west wall was a half wall shared with the kitchen that acted as counter space and dining space. The rest of it was shelves and furniture that served to support Biene’s house plants. It was practically a forest in the living room. A path led through the potted plants to the kitchen. It was a well-lit forest since the roof was transparent in order to allow in as much natural light as possible.

Biene reached the kitchen and thought she might like a snack so she opened a cupboard and pulled out a brown ceramic bowl and set it on the stone countertop. She then opened a wooden pantry and looked through containers of fungus until she found some satisfactory-looking mushrooms that she then collected and put in her bowl. Then she went to a drawer and opened it. It was full of a mix of different types of dried seeds. She grabbed a ladle and scooped out a ladle-full of seeds and dumped them in her bowl. Biene then went to the sink, turned on the tap, and washed her food. Once satisfied, she dumped it all onto a towel and patted it dry. She ate a mushroom and then carried the towel of food into her bedroom and set it on a shelf by her bedroll, which lay on the floor.

Biene opened the doors to her armoire made of reclaimed wood. Hanging inside were several sundresses, robes, and tunic shirts. From the bottom, she grabbed a white duffel bag and pulled it out. The logo on the side was a bold, black line outline of a head with two faces with “Janus” under it. She sat on her bedroll next to the snacks, placed the bag on the floor in front of her, and unzipped it. As she looked at the clearly labeled canvas bags of seeds already inside, she thought to herself, “Okay, I can only bring what will fit in the bag.” The pile of litre-sized bags of seeds already filled much of the bag. She picked up the seeds and looked through them, then started sorting them into two piles–The can’t go without pile and the could maybe leave pile. In the can’t go without pile went maize, tomato, oats, peas, and squash. The “could maybe leave” pile included cucumber, sunflower, apple, grape, strawberry, cinnamon, sage, peppermint, turmeric, holy basil, cayenne, ginger, fenugreek, rosemary, garlic, parsley, chilli, cumin, and walnut. She looked at the two piles and then moved the cinnamon, sage, turmeric, holy basil, fenugreek, rosemary, garlic, parsley and cumin to the can’t go without pile. Then she picked up the chilli and cayenne, one in each hand and balanced each one, twisting her mouth this way and that. Eventually she decided chilli belonged in the can’t go without pile. Then she did the same with peppermint and ginger, and placed the ginger in the can’t go without pile. All of the could maybe leave pile were then moved to the floor of the armoir and the others were placed in the bag. 

Then she stared for a moment, grabbed a handful of her snack, and while chewing a nut she stared at a mushroom and realized what she was missing. She got up and went into the kitchen. She opened a cabinet and inside were some opaque plastic containers. She selected one labeled shiitake, another psilocybe cubensis, and finally, cannabis sativa. She returned to her room and placed all three in the duffel bag. 

Biene then stood up and walked over to a chest of drawers–also made of reclaimed wood–and grabbed a pair of sturdy work gloves and tossed them onto the duffel. Then she turned back to the drawers and looked at the antique Scottish dagger she had displayed on a simple wooden stand. It was a family heirloom inherited from her mother. She picked it up and ran her fingers over the leafy vine pattern engraved in the wooden sheath. She pulled the blade out to see the same leafy vine pattern engraved into the blade. The hilt flared at the pommel and was wrapped in brown leather with silver trim and fastener. The weapon had been well cared for.

She was about to place it in the bag and then thought she should wrap it up to protect the scabbard during transport. She pulled a green sundress out of the armoire and rolled the dagger in it before placing it into the duffel. The duffel was almost full. She looked around and noticed her sewing kit and retrieved that and placed it in the bag. Then her eyes stopped on her top drawer and one corner of her mouth curled up in a half smile. She walked to the drawer and opened it. She moved some things around and pulled out little black lacy panties in one hand and a black gossamer babydoll chemise in the other. She looked at them, bit her lip, and grinned as she was reminded of an ex-boyfriend and then stuffed the items into the bag.

Biene snacked on some more seeds while she took a moment to think about hygiene products or tools that she would need but anything she could think of (soap, dental stuff, gardening tools, dishes, etc.¹), she knew would already be on the ship or already manufactured by the robots on Janus.

Biene sat on her bedroll again and continued eating her mushrooms and seeds. As she looked around, her eyes fell on her bookcase. “Oh shit. Will there be books?”

Biene went to her bookcase and began pulling books off, creating a pile on the floor. She sat between the pile of books and her near-full duffel bag. There was only enough room for a book or two. She started pulling out bags of seeds and holding seeds and books next to each other. She sat for a moment, considering the value of a bag of tomato seeds with her copy of The Hobbit. She decided that, even though it was a good story with great world building, there was no way she would ever read that big, boring book again, and she put her seeds back in. Biene ended up stuffing in a condensed Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine and her favorite classic novel, The Swiss Family Robinson. 

Biene spent the rest of the day making sure everything was in order for Dazzlespark to take over the greenhouse and that he had access to everything in the apartment. At the end of the day she was tired but she was also excited about what tomorrow held. After dark she stripped and crawled into her bed under a cozy blanket. It took her a couple of hours to relax and settle her mind. She had to be sure she had everything and had made the right choices. She got up once to check her bag to confirm she had the right seeds packed. The nearly full waning gibbous moon provided enough light on this cloudless night that she could read the labels clearly. She questioned whether she would wake up in time. Of course she would. She always woke up with the sun. That was hours before she needed to catch her ferry. Eventually she got her thoughts and worries sorted and sleep won.

1. You might be thinking I’ve forgotten certain feminine products but I haven’t. Dryadis, unlike most homo sapiens, but like most mammals, don’t menstruate.
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