Highly Commended Story - The Autobiography Of A Seed

“The Autobiography Of A Seed” by Kritika Tripathy, Global Indian International School Punggol Smart Campus, Singapore, is the Highly Commended story in the junior category of the second biannual Short Story Contest 2020.

Kritika Tripathy studies in grade 7 at Global Indian International School- Punggol Smart Campus, Singapore. She is a very creative student who enjoys various activities from writing prose and poetry to singing and dancing. She is also very imaginative. She loves to meet new people, make new friends as well as volunteer. Her writings are usually inspired by her surroundings.

The Autobiography Of A Seed

Hi! Let me introduce myself as Kritika, the flowering plant. I am overjoyed to share with you my journey as a seed bringing me to what I am today. Though, don’t let my small size fool you. I have been through some wacky adventures lately, and I am relieved that those days will never reoccur, well hopefully! It all started from a day at the jungle...

My flower parents gave birth to a glimmering ray of hope, me! I awoke with a fresh start and was looking forward to my new, adventurous life. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, wandering through the vicinity of the place I called home, bonding with friends and family. I lead a simple life and had a free schedule, as I never went to ‘Nurturing School.’ My friends and I would play all day, no matter what and in every possible way. Though, one day, a day so dark, a farmer took away our glee. The farmer made us feel cursed in an explanatory verse and shoved our poor begging selves into a gloomy basket along with other seeds. Our cries for help and for our families weren’t heard, and in bare moments we were off on a journey which we hadn’t thought of would have occurred.

It was a long trip to a state of doom, a factory which squeezed innocent seeds into packets to be eaten by humans or to be grown. My friends and I prayed to be gently put in a packet to be grown, but our prayers became of no use, because we were wrong! As we nervously hoped for the best, we had visualised that nothing could take a wrong turn from there. Though, the irony happened and we were being shipped to an overseas market to be eaten by humans! The factory had issued us a rocky start, but we were more than determined to find our families and our way home.

It had been a long while in that cramped packet and we really needed some necessities for survival. We were lucky to not be purchased yet by any consumers. No preservatives being added to us was also a great delight. Though, not as delightful as the pleasure of sleeping at home in a cozy flowerbed at night along with my family. Memories were flashing through my head when I felt a slight nudge. A hand was grabbing me to put me in an ‘Expired Seeds’ cart and I shrieked with fear! I wasn’t the only one panic-stricken. My friends were nervous wrecks too! We all made it in the cart safe and sound. Not knowing what was to be done with us, we still never lost hope.

Remembering that I was a seed, I bravely overcame the bumpy journey to and fro undisclosed areas, trying to relax on the way. My friends and I were taken by a mysterious creature, that took us to a science lab for experiments on how natural processes are carried out in seeds. When we were transferred to the lab, a flashback took place in my mind. I remembered that the creature was actually a robot! A robot is a form of Artificial Intelligence that carries out a variety of series programmed by humans. It meant that if someone could somehow tweak the robot, it could help us escape the lab. I had just the plan- the robot would stand at a distance of 2 meters away from the counter in the lab and a scientist would tweak it for further transportations. The tweaking would result in the attention of more scientists, giving us the perfect opportunity for someone to accidentally hit us and make our cart roll out the front door. This plan depended on the probability of an immature accident and the likelihood of it was around one percent. Be it or not, we were gently pushed by a scientist by accident while simply walking, and yet the plan failed a new plan flourished.

I finally got the experience my parents once did-fear. Of what to become and how to live a healthy and satisfied life. I was in such an emotional state that I wished my family was there with me then, protecting me and making sure I would grow to become a healthy plant. Although, I had bigger worries then. A scientist had taken my friends and I to her home and she had given us to her son as a present. Her son took us to school the next day, not to be planted, but instead to be painted for his art class! It was in the nick-of-time when the teacher had dismissed the class, and the scientist’s son sadly hung his head and went back home. The mother had asked the son to give us to the gardening teacher the next day, and I was hoping that the gardening teacher would do us good. It was not long till the gardening teacher found us to be too many, so she planted a few of my friends and I knew they would grow up in a friendly environment, though, sadly.

The rest of us were transported to a place in the middle of a vast jungle. A farmer scattered us around, and I felt that I was set onto a very unfortunate place, which made me feel unstable. I saw some flowers who looked just like my family members, and it was almost like I could hear their voices. Just then, the most unbelievable thing had happened, I found my family! After this long, scary adventure I was glad to be back where I belonged. My seed coverings started to shed and I started to grow. I became a healthy flowering plant, shining and glowing in the sun. This is my autobiography about my adventure from a seed to the flowering plant I currently am.