[ en-DAH-jən-əs ]
Adjective
- Having an internal cause or origin.
- Confined within a group or society.
Let’s Create!
** Either a story beginning, a story ending, a piece of flash fiction, a poem, painting, dance move—inspired by the word, endogenous, where does it take me? Where does it take you? Learn more about “The Word” here.
Brin felt… odd. She sipped her fresh-squeezed orange juice and eyed her half-eaten plate of eggs and toast with suspicion. Yet, with a little thought, it was quickly apparent that this wasn’t some stomach ache.
“Brin, honey?” her mom said while she fried up more eggs in the cast iron skillet. “Not hungry?”
“No,” said Brin, yet that wasn’t true. In fact, she realized that she was famished. “No, I am,” she continued. “I just… I’m just tired.”
Brin dug back into her breakfast and cleared the plate in a minute. Then, asked for more. Her mother gave Brin the eggs she fried for herself and a couple more pieces of toast. Brin ate those too.
“Wow, honey,” her mom said. “Did you run a marathon this morning or something?”
Brin smiled as she worked to swallow her last bite. “Just… really hungry, I guess…”
“Alright, well, off you go. Don’t want to be late for school.”
She threw her knapsack over her shoulder, grabbed another piece of toast with a smirk to her mom, and left the cottage. The dirt path to the schoolhouse wound through a forest with tall trees with thick trunks. Sunlight peaked through the leaves and branches at certain points like tiny beams.
One of those beams was a bit larger due to some fallen branches, and it lit the dirt path like a spotlight on a stage. Brin stepped through it as anyone would but then froze in place.
Wow! she thought. That feels… amazing!
Brin’s eyes closed as she basked in the sunlight. The weird feeling inside of her grew but also felt more normal too. She couldn’t make sense of it, but it didn’t matter at that moment. That sunlight just felt so nourishing.
“Ow!” Brin exclaimed, as a bee stung her shoulder. She rubbed the spot where the bee attacked and then froze; her heart began to race. Brin quickly pulled back on the collar of her sweater and undershirt to reveal her shoulder.
“What is that?!”
It was no bee sting as she first thought. Something poked through the skin on her shoulder—something small, pointed, and tan in color. Then, suddenly, it moved.
“Ow!” It now poked out from her shoulder a good half inch. At that moment, with this thing growing out of her shoulder, she understood. Impossible though it seemed, only the impossible made sense at this time.
She quickly stepped out of the sunlight and ran. Brin followed the path, and soon the trees thinned, revealing the image of a quaint town ahead. Buildings with thatched roofs and walls of white stucco. She turned to the side, running along the edge of the village, sticking to the shade of the trees.
Soon, there he was. Exactly where he’d been yesterday. Sitting, legs dangling over the side of a vegetable cart, was a short man wearing suspenders and a straw hat.
“Ah!” he said, seeing her approach. “I guess I’m not surprised to see you back here so soon.”
“Explain this!” Brin shouted, and she pulled her shirt down over her shoulder to show him the thing jutting out. It was now an inch tall.
“I believe,” he said, “that I explained myself yesterday, and the results make perfect sense. Otherwise, why would you be back here?”
“But… it can’t be.”
“It clearly is.”
“I didn’t believe you… how could you let me…?”
“Well, I admit that when I gave you those magic beans—as a gift—mind you—I did not think you would scoff at me and swallow them!”
Notes/Thoughts/Ideas
Now, there’s a different twist on Jack and the beanstalk! What if the magic beans were swallowed in a wild act of disbelief? I mean, who would believe in magic beans?
This ends with many questions and almost has a horror-esque feel to it. Is this beanstalk going to just grow inside Brin and kill her? Or, is it going to give her powers of some kind, becoming Plant Lady or something?
I like the ending as is, or ending it right here. Going further, I feel, would ruin the shock-value and surprise of finding out why Brin felt weird at breakfast. Something endogenous was brewing!
What do you think of Endogenous?
What would you do if someone gave you beans they said were magic? Whatever it is… don’t eat them! Lol.
Leave your thoughts, ideas, your own story beginning/ending, flash-fiction, or whatever in the comments! Where did endogenous or my story take you?
If you liked this story, check out my podcast of short stories, More Than A Story.
Today’s word is from Word Genius.
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