I felt like writing more about carrots, and the contest is over, so without further adieu...
🥕
The first time I tasted buttery
orange flesh softened by fire
and sautéed by garlic flowerI thought I'd devoured
the most delicious carrot
from the richest farmlandon the West Coast
of the Golden State
of this post-glorious country,and who was I to think
I was wrong?—until the cake
from the bonnet-headed womanarrived: she visited our office
on Friday afternoons, overpriced
snacks on her wobbly cart,her carrot cake beckoning
me to celebrate, for the original
carrot love's sake, with just oneslice:
just a taste;
only to findsweet root vegetables
could be sweeter still
when harvested from beyondthe superstore grapevine.
From cake then,
I had to ask,though I knew
once I went there,
I couldn't go back:What would the carrot
taste like if I grew it myself,
with the creative potentialof my two hands?
So I tilled the backyard
and turned the compostwith eggshells, coffee grounds,
and kitchen scraps battered
by mud and rain, gentlymassaging the carrot seeds
an eighth of an inch
into fertile soil, pleasedby the February rain clouds
looming closer, approaching
spring harvest with promise.♦️
First draft: February 19
Word count: 216
YOU ARE READING
Carrot Woman
Science FictionA biologist's daughter and best friend lives in a Petri dish, and he's about to introduce her to the world via a live podcast. Single-chapter completed story with bonus poem about carrot seeds. #11 One Chapter | December 18 #212 Write with Zoe | Dec...