Dandelion | Teen Ink

Dandelion

May 4, 2008
By Anonymous

As I rushed down 80th Street to my lumber company, I heard a peculiar squeak. I looked down - there laid under my foot a dandelion growing from a lonely crack. Bewildered, I stumbled and tried to leave the scene of crime. I heard the squeak again, “Aren’t you at least going to say sorry?”
“O!” I gasped. “Who’s there?”
“Typical American,” Came the voice. “Too dumb to look at what’s under your nose.”
I looked under my nose. A defeated looking dandelion glared up.
“I must have had too many beers.” I said, puzzled.
“You should at least apologize to me.” It squeaked. “You squashed me and my home!”
I squatted. For the first time in my life, I saw faces on a flower. I thought to myself: John you’re freaking out man! You shouldn’t have had so much last night man. It's some freaky stuff...
The voice brought me back to the real world, “I am still waiting for my sorry.”
I crouched again. To my surprise, there really was a dandelion talking - talking to me.
“Oh!” I exclaimed, baffled. “I’m sorry.”
“You better be! You almost killed me!”
I pinched myself. “My sincerest apologies.” I replied.
“Typical humans,” It scoffed. “You narcissist are blinded by your own reflection, can’t even see another living being trying to make its living.”
“Oh, pardon me your majesty. What do you mean by that?”
“I mean that your kind is conceited and selfish. You love only yourself and nothing else. You’re stepping on the world, thinking it’s your own.”
I had to admit, the flower had some spunk.
“You filthy humans only think for yourself - you take the world for granted.”
“Excuse me?” I replied. “We share the planet with other creatures.”
“Not from what I see!” You humans look down your nose on my kind. Look what we have come to. Years and Years ago, the planet was equally shared by all species. Dandelions everywhere were prosperous, the world was our home. Was - until you came and modernized it. Now I’m lucky to live in a crack in the sidewalk.”
“Excuse me if this sounds rude,” I replied, “But isn’t your kind a type of parasite? A weed?”
“Well excuse me if I am offended! Dandelions are not a parasite. Your definition of a ‘weed’ is not similar to our definition. To us, since we can live just about anywhere, our definition is that we are a strong kind. You on the other hand -”
“Me?”
“- are a different story. Without your material positions, your Nintendo Wii, your Facebook, MapleStory and the other mumbo jumbo, you are just as much as a ‘weed’ as us. With your garbage and your gasoline, you are the parasite to Mother Earth.”
“Care to explain?”
“It’s my pleasure to demean homo sapiens. This is how it works, your definition of a weed is a valueless unwanted plant that grows on your land and causes chaos to your valued plants. Right?”
“That seems simple enough.”
“Well can’t I say that the world is everyone's and everything’s huge garden plot, and your kind is what grows and destroys the land, building buildings and filling landfills, causing chaos to Mother Nature’s balance.”
“But your kind is an unwanted species, on the other hand, humans have a right to live on this land, after all we built it.” I said.
It busted into hysteria. “You mean you people built on land that was originally built for everyone? That’s like saying you drew on a masterpiece and called it as your own. No one said that the world was for humans only. You people kill and kill plants and animals. My kind has been here for over thousands of years. Humans came, plowed the land, tilled the soil, and here I am, forced into a crack for what I am forced to call home.”
“Just because my kind is smarter, you cannot penalize us.” I said.
“Dolphins and chickens are smart. You don’t see them running amok, destroying the land and making their mark. It’s the concept, you see, homo sapiens are a selfish kind. Mother Nature has nurtured you since the beginning of time. All through the time, you were slowly poisoning her as she rose as a son, rather than disposing of you as the parasite that you are. Humans act as if the world is your play land. It’s your nature to do as you wish. Thus, the oceans, the lands are all filled with your garbage and waste. The once fertile land is destroyed with your pesticides aimed at my kind and your building productions raking the earth. Craters and cracks are carved into Mother Earth’s body with your bombs and bullets.”
“We still allow you to grow.” I replied, offended. “Millions of my tax dollars are spent contributing to green houses and artificial fertilizers. You’re lucky we let you dig in into my territory.”
It scoffed. “Your territory? My kind is lucky to live with you? Ha! Don’t make me laugh. Your tax dollars pouring into my safety would be zero if it weren’t for the reason why it came to be like the way it is in the first place. Green houses would be non-existent if your buildings, cars, and garbage wasn’t here taking up all this space. Your fertilizers are meaningless to us. I’m sure I can speak for all plants out there that we aren’t happy if we are forced to grow. We want to strive on our own freewill.
On the other hand, your people are the real pests. In the wild, there is an uncountable number of ants, billions and billions. And from those billions of ants, when you look outside how many do you see? None. It is only your kind that takes this much room. The thousands of millions of acres that Earth has, you take up almost all - and your kind is still destroying rainforests and natural habitats of my family and friends.”
Just then my cell phone rang, I was late. I said to the plant,” So do something about it."
"You're not as bright as I expected. You people, should open your eyes for once, and look around you. Breathe deep. Is anything in your world truly perfect? I doubt it. With the amount of fumes in the air you choke me with and the many sky scraper needles you embed into Mother Earth's body, this world is indeed flawed.
"Listen, I can’t do anything about it. Only you can do anything about it, for I am only a lonely dandelion. Do me a favor, stop destroying your home. Inevitably, your kind will corrupt itself and take everything along with it."

“You know what?” I said. “I’m tired of being heckled by a mere dandelion. Have a nice day.”
“Ahh, can’t accept the facts I see. Well, before you leave, consider this; after all I told you, about Mother Nature and her ideas that humans should rule the world, answer this: would your people ever consider themselves a parasite?”

Later that day, John quit his job.


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