Space Gardens
MOTE Prompt Response
Zeke stood in the agricultural section of the station and gazed about in awe. Even in the middle of the vast technological wonder that was Glasvyr Station, he could make his way down here and breathe deep the smells of trees, flowers, even animals, and wonder of wonders, hear birdsong.
Claudia, one of the ag specialists, although she referred to herself as a gardener, smiled. “I love it here. Did you know the magpie’s song is never the same twice?”
“I did not know that. How do you manage to keep birds happy here? I’d think that even though there’s a lot of horizontal space, there’s not a lot of vertical space… at least for a bird that’s not a chicken,” Zeke said, slowly dropping to the bench.
“Well, they’ve been genetically modified a little bit so any migratory instinct is damped down. But most of the birds here are non-migratory like blue jays, ravens, and we even have some hummingbirds, and several other species. Sometimes I almost, almost, forget I’m living on a space station and not planetside,” Claudia said.
Zeke nodded and stared around a bit more before shaking himself and looking over at Claudia. “Well, I’ll let you get back to your work. I’m just going to wander around a bit more and try to clear my head. Thanks for the chat.”
“Oh, you’re more than welcome. I’d recommend heading over to the orchards. There’s more birds over there, and bees too.”
“Thanks, Claudia. Enjoy the rest of your day.” Zeke strolled down the path toward the orchards as Claudia had suggested. As he walked, he felt the stress draining out of his shoulders and neck. While the artificial light wasn’t quite like sunshine, it was warm enough and bright enough to fool himself into thinking he was wandering around a large farm. Which, technically, he was as the ag sector covered the entire third level of the outer ring of Glasvyr Station. He was grateful he and Lina had expanded the sector to the entire third level to provide not only their own food source, but the ability to get “outdoors” and maintain a good mental balance.
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Just a short snippet to give some idea of what Glasvyr Station is like. My More Odds Than Ends prompt this week came from Cedar Sanderson: The magpie’s song was never the same twice. I’m off to do some homework for a writing workshop I’m taking in a week, but you should head on over to More Odds Than Ends and see what everybody else has come up with.