Chapter 55 - That...That Was it?

"They seek her here..."

"...They seek her there."

Alex had worked out how she could bypass some of the waiting. She poured over the websites about gardening.  She borrowed countless books from Easter and the library and eventually she stumbled upon a solution that would ensure results fast.

As she is a keen gardener, although she doesn't quite seem to be able to get past the level 9 hump, she is able to take cuttings and graft plants together.

Her work had already produced a beautiful example of an apple tree that produced the most amazing apples.  We have them in Apple Pie.  With ice-cream.  It's funny.  Apple pie is made from Apples but Baby Milk or Cat Food.. no babies or cats involved in the production.  At least I don't think so!  I have never actually read the labels.

Anyhoo, she took a cutting of her reasonable Growfruit tree and grafted it onto the apple tree.  The apple tree didn't seem to be too impressed as it disappeared.  But after a few days it was back and producing both apples and growfruit.

A couple of evolutions later and the growfruit were perfect.

"Ta daaaa"

Alex raced down to the park.  This time she didn't bother with the turning round and round nonsense.  She just hung about a waited.  

Soon Jasmine appeared and wandered over.  Alex produced the Growfruit and Jasmine seemed suitably impressed.

She told Alex that her super duper prize would be waiting for her at home. 

Alex raced home and immediately checked the mailbox for the cheque.  Or perhaps a small package containing jewels, a certificate or an invitation to some fancy garden party.  She didn't find any of those things.

What she did find was a selection of single planters.  Some were, she had to admit jewel encrusted.  Although on closer inspection she found they were some kind of resin and the paint peeled off if you tried to gouge them out with a butter knife.

All that effort.

Alex was disheartened.  She did have a lovely growfruit tree and the fun of solving the problem of getting the perfect growfruit had kept her busy.  But she couldn't help think that for all the effort the prize was a little.... 

Especially for Old Mrs Johnstone who had no gardening skill when she started this and had to work to just understand fertilising.  Boy was she going to be in for a shocker.  Mrs Johnstone had already complained about the glowing light from her tree keeping her awake at night.

What had it all been about?  Really?  Why did Jasmine need a perfect Growfruit?  And why couldn't she just grow her own?

"Just need a few more suckers and my masterplan will be set into motion."