Using an access road, and breaking into a jog after he parked the car, Jim was able to reach the summit a good half hour before Sharon was likely to arrive. He busied himself in the clearing where she and Tina would have their snack while admiring the view.
Retrieving a trowel from the car, he was able to create a small mound of loose earth that was still large and firm enough to hold the plant's root system in place. In the style of a Christmas tree, Jim placed his present (the bottle of perfume) around the base with a card with large flowery handwriting saying "SHARON."
As Jim did one last check and headed away, he did not notice two important things: firstly, a ground squirrel began dragging the bottle away by the ribbon wrapped around its lid. Secondly, a large red fruit was beginning to emerge from the centre of one of the plant's flowers.
A few minutes later, Sharon and Tina arrived, winded at the clearing. Almost immediately, their eyes were drawn to the unusual-looking plant. "Look at this," Tina said, picking up the card, "it looks like Jim has already been here."
Jim was certainly an odd one -- the strangest boyfriend Sharon had ever had but this time he had really outdone himself. Sharon took the card from Tina and opened it. It read simply, "Happy Birthday, Sharon. Sorry about the gift -- it wasn't meant to smell so much like coke." Sharon rolled her eyes and chuckled aloud. She handed the card to Tina.
"Tina," she asked, "does this plant really smell like coke?"
Tina took a moment to answer, having learned to be circumspect about making overly dismissive or insulting statements about Jim. "Well," she said, "the plant doesn't but the flowers do a little bit."
Leaning forward, Sharon was inclined to agree. "They do, a little, especially this one." Sharon found the flower with the large fruit growing from it.
Mon May 7 23:18:00 2001