[The Fruit of All Evil] (Yes, it’s horrible naming. Deal with it.)- made by j0nn0 after looking at my short stories and ideas list.
Once upon a time, there was a fruit. Akin to a pear in shape, but with the shell of a coconut, it was a fruit regardless, and, as all fruit must, it bore a seed. This seed contained within the hallowed flesh was brown, ovoid, dull, and largely insignificant; if one were to look at it, they would never, in a million years, believe that it could become the stuff of nightmares.
As it followed the general cycle of life for a plant, both the fruit and seed within were eaten and eventually came out the other end of some such animal with a pulpy green consistency. The seed, of course, was still intact but now void of its fleshy covering. Anyways, its new home upon the dirt was freshly fertilized and served to provide a home to the seed.
After two days, it germinated and sprouted. Unfortunately, during those two days, it became apparent that the seed’s perfect residence, the rich and loamy manure it was cast out within, was no longer the perfect home. The ground upon which it sat was a small hill, situated within a dead swamp, surrounded by feted water and dead brush. What little life remained scratched out its meager existence with a ferocity unparalleled by even the most vicious of animals.
With such an environment, one would expect the seedling to wither and die, but, contrary to all odds, it adapted. Taking its que from the surrounding life, the seedling began to change.
For one, roots drove down as to seek out the pure liquid of life. For another, it began to grow small, brown leaves (rather than a luscious green) close to the ground in order to avoid detection. Given time and the sustenance provided by its fertilizer, it grew hardy, but it was not enough. The manure had to run out of nutrients eventually and there was only so much that the sun and minimal water could provide.
Budding vines, it began to seek out other life, its prey, among the inhabitants of the surrounding area. Once its grasping vines ensnared prey, small thorns quickly and efficiently pierced the stalks of its prey in order to further its hold. Soon after, small veins, tentacles, or rather, roots, began to grow within the other plant. It had latched on much like a parasite and subsequently adsorbed both clean water and nutrients from its host.
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Curiously enough, it did not kill its prey and opted to integrate the host body as if a graft. Two became one and thus a monstrosity was born.
Years pass and plant after plant was to join in the amalgamation. Latching on from one victim to the next, it also acquired a method of travel. If one were to compare it to a monstrosity of flesh, it would be a homunculus. Flesh and traits of a multitude of species meshed into one horror, capable of devouring all before it. The more it consumed, the stronger it became.
Once in a while, small animals would think it a safe haven for a night’s rest. Their ultimate fate, however, was to be consumed as those before it. Now armed with both tooth and claw, the monstrosity’s efficiency grew and grew.
Eventually, for one reason or another, possibly because it had run out of new, unique prey to consume, the creature of plant and flesh came to reside atop a hill within a peaceful meadow. The air was clean, the water clear, grass green, and the monstrosity soon adapted to its surroundings, becoming likewise green and full of growth. Despite such coverings, it could not disguise its inner nature and all creatures fled before it.
All creatures save one, the only one capable of ignorance and pride, those who sin: Man.
Man, in all its folly, decided to uncover the secrets of this mysterious tree, for that is what it appeared to be. Man thought that if one were capable of uncovering its secrets, it would be possible to attain great power. Little did man know just how right they were.
In the end, the folly of man is what led to the Overgrowth Event of @#$%^&*. To this day, man still attempts to combat this verdant foe and reclaim lands once lost, but who or what can combat nature itself? Surely not mere mortals. Perhaps this is for the best, for the world to be cleansed and begin anew.
Do you believe this tale? Perhaps not, but it is the tale I have told. Make of it what you will, and beware the folly of man.
[END]