This is the debut co-written ten/YA novelette that was self-published by Steven Bowman and inspired by his cousin, Katie Christy, as the first part of The Greenhouse Duology book series.
Excerpt:
Early in the summer of 1950, in the town of London, England, lived a man named Mr. Pryce. When he was settling into his greenhouse, a boy named Forrester Cahill came into his greenhouse. Forrester was born in 1942, English, short, only the height of 4 feet 2 inches, weighed 92.4 pounds, and was chubby.
And Forrester was pale, had numerous freckles, and his hair was short but reddish. He asked Mr. Pryce if he’s opening his greenhouse, and Mr. Pryce told him it would be opening soon, and Forrester was the rightful age of eight. In the past, he visited Mr. Pryce’s greenhouse ever since he was five.
Then, Mr. Pryce opened his greenhouse, and Forrester went in. Now, Forrester was carrying a plant of the name Field-rose, and he placed it into the hole that was about a foot deep in the ground. Mr. Pryce taught Forrester how to water plants and how to give it pure sunlight.
Forrester liked how Mr. Pryce taught him the plants and their growth patterns. Once Forrester got finished, he went off in the distance and came back with a friend. Now, this friend was a girl who was the age of twelve, born in 1938. She was a beautiful girl, and her name was Poppy Reed. And she didn’t know about this greenhouse.
Poppy was mid-sized, only the height of 5 feet 1 inch, weighed 111.3 pounds, was normal, and she was from the Mediterranean. She also had light blonde hair and green eyes. Now, Poppy wanted to become a part of this greenhouse, so she asked Mr. Pryce if she could come into his greenhouse, and Mr. Pryce then let her in.
Mr. Pryce is seventy-years-old, born in 1880, and he was normal, only the height of 6 feet, weighed 132.8 pounds, and he was scrawny, but muscular, who was English. You may say he has trouble seeing, but with Mr. Pryce’s Glaucoma, he could feel his way throughout the greenhouse, and Mr. Pryce has white hair. Poppy came in and out of his greenhouse with dirt on her arms, and that made Mr. Pryce snarl towards her.
Poppy noticed it, and then she stopped. Meanwhile, later in the day came along the afternoon, the Forrester, and Poppy were hungry from planting throughout this morning, and Mr. Pryce had nothing to give them. So, Poppy came up to call her mother, Vivienne, and that’s what she did.
Vivienne is the age of thirty-one, born in 1919, and the height of 5 feet 7 inches, weighed 127.9 pounds, muscular, and came from the Mediterranean. Vivienne has strawberry blonde hair and has hazel eyes. After a while, Poppy’s mother came with their food, and then Vivienne stayed awhile.
Mr. Pryce asked, “Who’s there?” And Vivienne answered back, “Hello, sir. My name is Vivienne Reed. I’m Poppy’s mother.” Mr. Pryce tried to say anything, but had nothing to say in response to this because he couldn’t see Vivienne.
“Good God!” yelled Forrester. “What is it, dear?” wondered Vivienne. Forrester then pointed to the animal-shaped hole in the ground and panicked with astonishment. Then, Vivienne went over to Forrester, who was stressed, and tried to calm him down while she sang a lullaby called “Hushing the Little One”. Somehow, that worked on Forrester.
Poppy by that time wanted to help out, but Vivienne shoved her aside, and she stopped her in her tracks. Yet, Poppy wanted to question her mother, but Vivienne refused to listen to her child. Forrester then was calm, and he walked away from the area and told Mr. Pryce what was happening.
Mr. Pryce finally understood. However, Mr. Pryce at the time, was over at his bedroom, and he didn’t want to be bothered. And Mr. Pryce began by scratching his head and yelling out loud, “Why are you bothering me, Master!” Yet, Forrester wanted to cry, but didn’t.
So, Forrester softly answered back, “There’s an animal-shaped hole in your greenhouse, sir.” And Mr. Pryce finally understood, and he was taken by Forrester by his hand, and he led him to the place.
Of course, Mr. Pryce was well-known about the area, and knew the places where the animals like to dig. And he told them that the animal is a rabbit, and that his name was Mr. Bonney, and he’s a nice rabbit. They noticed that it was a rabbit too, and they all were thankful for it.
Just as they all relaxed after the whole thing, they all went into Mr. Pryce’s home. Mr. Pryce began to talk about the subject of wartime. “In June 1948, England entered into a guerrilla war that was known as the Malayan Emergency.” says Mr. Pryce.
And Poppy became fascinated by what Mr. Pryce just told them. And Mr. Pryce, too, became fascinated. Then, Forrester and Poppy were excited about going off tomorrow and finding some new friends. So, they all sat by the fireplace where it rained until dawn and got warmed up by its glow.
Until the day ended, they all told some fascinating stories of what it’s like to learn about gardening and other gardening techniques, as the children remembered telling them like it’s never told before.
As Forrester recalled, “It’s like this,” he said, “good things come from planting the seed firmly into the ground.” “Firmly,” Mr. Pryce started wondering, “what do you mean, Master?” “Like this, I’ll show you,” replies Forrester, “let me give you a demonstration.”
Then, Forrester grabbed pieces of blank sheets of paper and began to draw the seeds planted firmly into the ground. “I see, Master,” Mr. Pryce says, “is that all?” “Now you get it,” Forrester replied, “if you’d closed your eyes and imagine this diorama.”
Yet, the day came to an end, and Mr. Pryce told everyone to go to their homes. After a while, after everyone went home, he felt his way to his bedroom and laid in his bed to go to sleep. The next morning came, as he awoke from a deep slumber, then woke up to an alarm.
“What’s that noise!” yells Mr. Pryce, “who’s there?” But there was no noise, and Mr. Pryce thought that he was crazy. He had a scared look on his face as it turned his skin to a white-palish color. “Seriously,” Mr. Pryce says, “whoever you are, you better stop pulling pranks on me!”
However, nothing appeared to be there, and the room was completely silent. Mr. Pryce then got out of his bed, then sat on his bedside, wondering what that noise was that he heard. “No,” Mr. Pryce said, “that’s crazy, I’ve heard the noise.”
