The Madrona Heroes Register: Echoes of the Past

Chapter 15 - The Mutant Mango

Binny, Zach, and Penny sat huddled together under the long table, as the footsteps and the whistling got louder and louder. Finally, a pair of well-worn workboots appeared directly in front of them. The whistling continued. Binny repeated over and over in her head a silent plea for the boots to turn around and walk straight out the door. Zach was afraid to breathe. 

The whistling stopped. Before the kids could react, a face appeared, peering under the table and smiling broadly. At least it looked like a smile. It was hard to tell since it was almost completely upside down. Then the face spoke. “Seems crowded under there. Wanna come out?”

The kids looked at each other, not entirely sure what to do. Binny was the first to emerge, with Zach and Penny following uncertainly. The face belonged to an old man with pale white skin, rosy cheeks, and white hair. If the man were a bit heavier and had a beard he might have been Santa Claus.

He didn’t look like all the other employees. A plaid shirt completed his outfit, and his hands were dirty. It seemed clear to Binny that this man worked in the greenhouse. What did you call someone who tended to the plants in a greenhouse? A gardener? That didn’t seem quite right. “Hi.” Binny responded. 

“You can’t see much from down there, don’t you think?” The Santa man addressed the children gently, chuckling.

The kids couldn’t help but smile. The man’s friendliness was infectious. “True.” Binny smiled back.

“What exactly are we looking at?” Penny interjected, curiosity getting the better of her.

“That’s an excellent question. What are we looking at?” The man seemed positively thrilled to be asked. Binny imagined that the man didn’t get many visitors in the greenhouse. He continued, “We are looking at the entire catalog of flora that we grow here at Luce Laboratories. Mostly tropical species, hence the humid environment.” The man chuckled again as he wiped a bit of sweat from his brow.

“Why does a drug company need to grow tropical plants?” Now it was Zach’s turn to be curious. 

The man produced something large and ovoid out of his pocket as he spoke. “Another excellent question, young man.” Zach was still suspicious but couldn’t help but soften a little at the compliment. The kids recognized the object as a mango. The man pulled a pocket knife out of his other pocket and started cutting into the fruit as he answered. “Well, our job here is to create compounds that heal people. And we believe that many of these compounds already exist in nature.”

The kids’ eyes fixated on the knife slicing through the fruit as they listened to the Santa-like man’s friendly explanation. “Long before there were pharmaceutical companies like Luce Laboratories, medicine men – and women,” he added looking at Binny and Penny, “found all sorts of plants growing that had healing properties. Have your parents ever put aloe on a burn?”

“My mom has an aloe plant growing on the window sill in the kitchen.” Penny chimed in.

“Exactly! Your kitchen window sill is just a miniature version of this greenhouse. Here at Luce Laboratories we just grow a lot more plants and use science to enhance the plants and find out what they can do.” The man finished slicing, put the knife back in his pocket, and offered the cutting board with several slices of juicy and tasty looking mango to Binny, Penny, and Zach.

Binny eyed the fruit suspiciously. “What disease does your mutant mango cure?”

The man’s eyes lit up with excitement as he took a breath looking like he was thrilled to share the answer. “Hunger!”

There was a brief moment where the kids didn’t understand the answer and then the old man started laughing. Penny and the others couldn’t help but smile. “I forget to pack my lunch sometimes and the climate in here is perfect for mangoes. I assure you that the only special quality they have is how delicious they are. Go ahead, try some.” The man pushed the cutting board towards the kids, renewing his offer.