“Spot of Green”

Prompt: “Cactus”.

I stare at the spot of green in front of me. A singular sharp spine pokes up from the top.

“What in the rotting apocalypse’s name is that?” Renn hisses, his head poking over my shoulder.

I crouch. The green thing stares back at me, its spike blowing in the wind like a lone hair.

“I… I don’t know,” I admit.

I reach out a tentative finger. Renn grabs my shoulder, yanking me back.

“Don’t touch it!” he says, a hint of panic worming through his voice. “Geez, Flo, you’ve lived for how many years on this death planet and you’re still stupid enough to touch unknown objects?”

I pull my finger back. As much as I hate to admit it, Renn’s right. It’s just… it’s green. Never, in my eighteen years on this “death planet” as Renn calls it, have I ever seen something green that wasn’t grown inside a grow-lab.

“What if it’s friendly?” I whisper.

Renn rolls his eyes. “Oh yeah, sure. What, are you going to ask ‘What if it’s alive?’ next? Come on, Flo, use your brain for once.”