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What the Plant Knows
I can sense one hovering near.
Please, please, PLEASE don't go away this time!
"Isn't my color interesting to you, and don't you smell something intriguing?"
There. That's right. Come closer.
The buzzing sound. It's moving in this direction. Thank you, God!
I might have a chance to survive. It's been so long since I've eaten, so very long. I can't even remember what a meal tastes like. I can't recall what the infusion of energy feels like, but I know I'm in desperate need! If I don't feed, and soon, I will become like my brothers around me, not putting out a scent, not swaying with the breeze, not attracting meals any longer.
I fear they may be dead, and I don't want to join them. I MUST feed!
Oh! A meal has arrived! It has landed on my surface, but, alas, on my exterior. The suspense drains me; I can't tolerate the waiting! I hope and pray this won't be like last time.
The other meal, from last time, was so close! It was just a step away from the snapping place, just one movement away from its oblivion and my regeneration, and all my senses were tingling with anticipation.
Then disaster struck. A drop of rain fell, and jiggled me ever so slightly. The meal, already twitching suspiciously, took flight, buzzing with annoyance as he escaped his fate.
And I was left behind, helplessly rooted, weak and dizzy with the effort to hold my trap open.
I have no color.
I have no strength.
I am releasing just the barest hint of my aroma, but I guess it must have been enough to attract this meal. Maybe he's a curious one, to his own undoing!
He is so slow! He is moving toward my teeth, but in the vaguest of ways, and is frustrating me with his lack of progress.
I am fading!
I am sagging on my stalk: I am so famished I don't even have the strength to support my own weight.
I fear I'm so frail now that I won't be able to snap shut, even if he does finally trip my sensors. My longing for food overwhelms me.
If he will just move one of his legs the tiniest bit...
SNAP!
God nodded. He had been observing this life-and-death drama, and hoped His people would learn from one of His more peculiar creations, the Venus's-flytrap.
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"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." Matthew 5:6 (NIV)
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Brenda Kern
November 14, 2004
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