Prelude
Freshman’s First Day
To the plants coming off the buses at Fresh Roots High School, it was their first day.
The freshman orientation ceremony was about to begin, and they only had 12 minutes to get to their locker and head towards the auditorium. Bud is in locker 1382, all the way on the end of the D wing, and the auditorium is through the A wing.
As Bud was rushing past all his friends from middle school, quickly waving and nodding to them as he passed. Bud’s best friend and neighbor, Rose, noticed the frantic pace and rushed alongside Bud. “Do you realize you walked past Fern, Chip, and Husk back there?” “Yes”, Bud answered. “I saw them, I waved. I’m just trying to get to my locker quickly so I’m not late for the ceremony.” During the ceremony, each freshman gets announced one by one to the rest of the school.
They each walk across the auditorium stage to meet Principal Cedar and Superintendent Jasmine, which at 7 feet tall, Principal Cedar alone makes everyone nervous to cross that stage. But, the reason why Bud is in such a hurry, is because he is the first one on the list.
On the planet, Naterria, surnames don’t exist. Everyone is given one name at sprout, and once bloomed, are able to change their name. That name can never change by any circumstance, nor are two plants on Naterria allowed to have the same name. This of course makes it very difficult with plants that are ready to pollinate, which is every 3 years from the minute they bloomed, until wilt. As the plants involved in the pollination are responsible in assigning the seedling a name that isn’t taken.
Naterria is not a very large planet, about the same size as Texas, but it’s abundant in sunlight and water.
Which provides a perfect environment for the Plantonian species to thrive. Through the years, several beings from other planets and galaxies have visited Naterria, but they end up leaving shortly after their arrival due to the intense rays from their sun, which the residents of Plantonians like to call The Star of Life. Overall, it’s a very calm planet. Plantonians all live very simple lives, and with the abundance of resources to survive, they lack the need for any financial incentives, and therefore simply live with each other. There’s no war, because there’s nothing to fight for. There’s no laws, because the Plantonians never needed them. There’s never been stealing, fighting, or murder. And there has never been anyone wanting to take control of the planet. For centuries, it’s been this way. But, just as the weather changes… Nothing stays the same forever.
