Chapter 2: The Company

    Mike went out to the local diner that night.  About once a week he would go down there for some Chicken Marsala.  It was a favorite meal of his, and Mike was definitely in the mood to celebrate.  The next day at work Mike was sorting through some mail in his new office when the phone rang again.  It seemed to ring constantly, with different vendors calling all the time.  This particular call was from a big corporate office, in fact it was the biggest corporation the industry had known.

    "Mother Nature" was it's name, and they always seemed to have some new product coming out to make things easier for the home gardener, landscaper, or local resident.  "Hi, this is Bill with Mother Nature.  How are you doing today?"  "I'm fine", replied Mike. "How can I help you today?"  "We have a new fertilizer that we are introducing to the world next week, one that will change everything." said Bill.  "Would you like to have some of this revolutionary product in your nursery?  I am sure your customers will love it."  "Of course", said Mike.  "I have seen the commercials about this fertilizer already, supposed to accelerate plant growth to five times the normal growth rate right?"  "That's the one", replied Bill.  "I'll send you a couple pallets to arrive on monday.  The bill will come later in the month."  "Thanks so much" said Mike, "I'll look forward to it."  Friday was almost over now, and Mike was just finishing up watering the plants.  He noticed the magnolias were starting to bud, and the climatis were in full bloom.  On the bike ride home, he wondered about something.  How on earth can you accelerate a plant's growth by five times?  I have been using the same fertilizer for years, and it does help the plants grow faster, but not even double the speed of a regular plant.

    Over the weekend Mike decided to do some research on plant growth, and on "Mother Nature" to see if he could figure any of it out.  He found that with just the right acidity in the soil, and just right conditions, you can make a plant grow faster.  But "Mother Nature" turned out to be very mysterious about their new product.  There was very little information posted about the chemicals used in the fertilizer, and even less about the research behind it.  But the media for it was everywhere, on his facebook, on television, in the newspaper ads, and in the news.  On Sunday Mike even received a mailer about it.  "This new fertilizer is going to be a big deal I guess."

-end chapter two-

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Chapter 1: Plant "Life"

    It was 6:00 A.M., and the alarm was buzzing annoyingly. Mike quickly sprang from his curled up warm place on the bed, because today was going to be a big day.  Quickly, he poured himself some cereal, and got ready for work.  By 8:00 A.M. he had pedaled his bike down to the nursery for work.  His boss had some big news for him today and Mike was feeling good about it.  "Ahh there you are Mike", said Julie.  Julie was the owner of several nurseries around the state.  She was tall, with green eyes and brown hair.  Julie had always been a good boss to Mike, and he was a great employee to her.  Mike absolutely loved caring for plants, although he wasn't compensated very well for it.  "Please, come into my office." Julie said.  Now this was unusual, Julie had just given Mike a review the previous month, and he hadn't been sick or anything lately. 

    "How would you like to be the new manager of this nursery?", asked Julie.  "I, well uhhm, I don't know what to say, I mean I have never had that kind of responsibility before." replied Mike.  "Nonsense, I have seen how you love your job Mike, You practically live here with the plants.  The pay is $42,000 per year, and you will have 4 weeks paid vacation, so what do you say?" "I'll do it" replied Mike, "but on one condition."  "Anything" said Julie. "I still get to be out here with the guys caring for the plants."  The previous manager was always stuck to his chair and had a poor work ethic.  He would come to work late, or leave early and say he had a "meeting" to go to, or make some other lame excuse.  "The job is your's then", said Julie.  "Maybe one day I can trust you with all of my nurseries."

    Mike exited the office with a new llittle bounce in his step.  He was brimming with excitement from his new promotion.  After spending most of the day with Julie going over ordering new product, payroll, policies, and the like, Mike was exhausted.  With the sun to his right he pedaled home to get ready for tomorrow.  Because tomorrow would be another big day.


----Hope you enjoyed this short chapter there will be more to come soon!----