Once there was a successful farmer who was blessed with a green thumb. Anything that he laid his hands upon, any plant that his hands touched, any field that he cultivated, grew into lush green vegetation. It comes as no surprise that his farm is the main source of the crops in their small town. With his experience and the recognition that he receives from his townsfolk, it reinforced his self-worth and belief that he can cultivate any field there is.

One day in the field while he was tilling the soil, an old man stopped by to watch him. The old man stood there to watch for an hour long and the farmer became curious. The farmer initiated by asking a question, “Say, what brought you here, Mister?”

“All these, you have cultivated?” Pointing to the plethora of greenery.

“Yes.” The farmer replied, “What made you ask?”

“It is an amazing gift you have. You remind me of my good old days.”

The farmer with an inquisitive look, asked, “Good old days? What do you mean, mister?”

“I also share the same gift you have, but it was a long, long time ago. It’s been ages since I held with the palm of my hands the soil of my farm. If it weren’t for that plant…”

“What is ‘that’ plant?”

The old man clenched his fist, “That cursed plant and its seed. It’s the reason why my land became desolate. I have no idea what became of the soil I tended for years.” The old man showed took his pouch from his bag and showed it do the farmer. “I have managed to save some of those seeds. My grandfather once told me that this plant can provide a multitude of cures for different types of sicknesses. I became desperate to cultivate it, but to no avail, I failed. It kept dying, and eventually, even my other crops. It may have transformed my field to the barren state that it is now, I still believe of what my grandfather told me.”

The farmer got challenged. If he can make the plant grow, it will give him the validation that he surpassed where the old man has failed. Plus, he will become the source of this herbal medicine that can cure any disease. The prospect of this challenge is too big for him to pass on. The farmer was up for the task. Luckily, the old man was willing to give the seeds to him. The farmer insisted to give the old man some of his vegetables, but as he was about to hand to the old man the vegetables, the old man vanished. He looked to his left and to his right, but the old man was nowhere to be found. What remained was the pouch full of those mysterious seeds. He prepared for tomorrow, as the day he will start planting the seeds. Just thinking of the task formed a big grin on his face.

Tomorrow came, waking up quite early than usual, the farmer started tilling the land to where he will plant the seeds. After a long day of work, he has successfully set the seeds into the land. He does not know when this plant will start to grow; it could take weeks, months, or even years, but he’s willing to wait for it. Being the farmer that he is, if there is one skill that proved to have improved over time, it’s his ability to exercise patience.

After a few weeks, the plant grew a little bud. When the farmer saw this, he was ecstatic, there was improvement! He tended the little bud, gave it the nourishment that it deserves. Sun, water, good soil, fertilizer, and even music to go along to hasten its growth. A month has passed, and the bud grew as a strange plant. It had vines and a weird-looking disfigured stalk. Weird as it may seem, the farmer was still eager to observe its growth. The time he invested and resources to pave way for its development, it’s all worth it the farmer believed.

However, there was an unfortunate event. The plant began to wither as well as his other crops. The farmer was baffled of this misfortune. He went berserk and desperate to the point that he set aside the cultivation of his other crops and focused on this mysterious plant. After a long period of trial and error, up to no avail, the mysterious plant kept dying and dying. He lost hope, he started to question his self-worth, ability, the green thumb that he possesses, even the town was affected since it is his farm that provides the main source of their crops. All went in shambles.

And on a barren, desolate day he decided to go for a walk. Looking over at the dead soil where he stands; he thought he’s already in a desert, to how dead and dry this once vegetated land was. Out of nowhere, the old man that gave him the seed appeared afar. He ran towards the man and he knows that the old man was waiting for him.

With attempts to catch his breath, he asked the old man, “What’s happening to my land?! I didn’t sign up for this!”

“What have I told you? I warned you of its implications and the misfortune that it brought mine.”

“I was mistaken…” Replied the farmer.

“You thought of my misfortune as some obstacle that you can surpass, but where does it leave you now? In the same state that I was years ago. You thought with facetious arrogance that your way will be different, you thought low of my ability. All of this that is happening to you now is no different than mine.”

The farmer feeling sad and all, “How will I bring back my land to its previous state?”

“You can’t. Not anymore.” Then the old man started to fade, as if he was merely a hazy illusion.

The farmer was left dumbstruck. What is he to do now? He has lost his magnificence as a farmer, his success of having the greenest and lusher vegetation than anyone, everything was lost… Or so he thought. He still hasn’t lost his land, although barren and desolate, he can still do something about it.

The farmer saw one of the withering stalks of the mysterious plant. The farmer tried to pull it off the ground, but to his surprise, it was established heavily as if the roots were reaching six feet below. He tried using his truck to pull the plant out of its roots and he was somewhat successful. What he saw when he got down his truck was unbelievable. The root of the mysterious plant went in a lateral direction underground that it became tangled with the roots of other withering plants. The farmer, curious enough as he was, did his research and discovered the origins of the plant. To his amazement, the mysterious plant has its root run deep, so deep that it takes up the space of the roots of other plants if it cannot reach down below. If that’s the case, the farmer thought, then it is not the mysterious plant that causes the problem, but what is down below.

He thought of excavating what is underneath his land. Whatever he will uncover, the farmer thought, it is the reason for the root of the mysterious plant to go haywire. He went on a long, arduous process of digging; he went digging too deep as if he was excavating for some dinosaur remain. While he was in engrossed in his digging momentum, the metallic part of his shovel clashed with a metallic surface. The farmer was boggled, what could this metallic surface be? He tried pounding the metallic surface and dig the sides, then out of nowhere, there was a big explosion. The explosion was so big that it created a mushroom cloud… The metallic thing was apparently a World War II nuclear warhead.

The End! ☺

Just kidding. Think of this as a thought experiment and that scenario could be one of the instances that might have happened, because if it were not, where’s the fun in that? Going back!

While he was in engrossed in his digging momentum, the metallic part of his shovel clashed with a metallic surface. The farmer was boggled, what could this metallic surface be? He tried pounding the metallic surface and started digging the sides, what he found has aroused a concoction of emotions: excitement, awe, happiness, and elation. Underneath his land was chunks of diamond reserves all throughout.

After a year, the farmer became wealthy from the diamond that he excavated. He also redeemed the magnificent state of his farm, filled with lush green vegetation. His relations with the townsfolk has earned him a place in their town again. The mysterious plant became the center of the farmer’s plantation and it provided the cure to a multitude of diseases.