Free The Speaker for the Trees by Sean DeLauder

seemed the
voice originated, but saw nothing. An acolyte stood nearby, silent and still.
    There was a
creaking sound as of an old, oaken door straining on its hinges. The great
Plant was straightening. It had his answer.
    You ask what you must do. the answer
is, you must do nothing
    "What?
Why?"
    You must do as you are fated. As I
gaze into your future I see your fate is to do nothing. Doing other than
nothing will only get in the way of fate, which cannot be gotten in the way of,
and thus you would exhaust yourself needlessly. Nothing is all that you can do
because it is all that you shall accomplish
    "But if we
are all pulled along by fate and no one acts, how does anything happen?"
    No one acts unless they are fated to
act, thus fate acts through them. You must only act if you are fated to do so
    Hedge's mind
spun as he tried to follow the tangle of words.
    "How am I
supposed to know if I'm fated to act?"
    You will simply act
    "But how
do I know that's fate, and not my decision? How do I distinguish when I am
complying with fate from when I am getting in its way?"
    There are no decisions in fate. Only
actions which are fated
    It was
possible, being this was a Plant of Ultimate Knowing, that this logic made
perfect sense to all-knowing plants who spent all their time in deep and
important thought. At the same time, were a plant so all-knowing, it would seem
obvious to such an intelligent plant that Hedge had no idea what the Plant was
trying to tell him and would attempt to explain in much simpler terms.
    Since this did
not appear to be the case, Hedge felt compelled to express his confusion in the
way most humans expressed themselves when they did not understand something.
    "What?"
    There is no more I need say
    With that the
Plant of Ultimate Knowing began to sag, retreating into thought or slumber, and
it was clear the Plant would have no more to do with him.
    Hedge felt
heavy on the inside, though he'd not eaten anything but the mouthful of dirt
outside the Council chamber in the past two days. The Plant had not met any of
his hopes, neither posing a different plan to save humanity, nor justifying the
Council's decision. Suffice to say, Hedge was extremely disappointed and
distraught to discover the most ancient Plant in all the cosmos, known for its
wisdom and knowledge, was either unwilling to help, or more worrisome still,
did not know how.
    "Hey!"
    Again the voice
came from the bushes, more insistent this time, so Hedge made his way toward
them through the soft dirt of the clearing. He searched about for the source of
the voice, pulling apart branches, glancing up at the stoic acolyte in
suspicion, then turning in place to scan his surroundings. All he saw was more
acolytes, flitting black specks of bees and the useless Plant of Ultimate
Knowing.
    "I know
why the decision disturbs you."
    This time Hedge
was certain the voice came from the bushes, but still couldn't see where.
    "Down
here."
    Below the
bushes, hidden beneath thick, scratchy branches and thumbnail leaves, was a
small, rudimentary plant no larger than Hedge's outstretched hand. Two small
red leaves stood at the acme of a threadlike stem—a simple weed. Was this the
plant speaking to him? He lay down on his stomach and poked the weed with a
finger.
    "Stop
that," said the weed, annoyed.
    "Why does
the decision disturb me?" asked Hedge.
    "Because
you know it is fundamentally wrong," the weed explained. "You know it
is wrong to decide the fate of an entire species, to cast a verdict of doom
upon that which does not meet your approval, yet you have been brainwashed into
obeying every command given you by the Council and endorsed by the Plant of Ultimate
Knowing. Duped by a governing body who has manipulated the truth with the
singular purpose of maintaining its iron grip upon the universe."
    There was
something greatly amiss with this weed. Very simple in appearance when compared
the to far more complex plants and organisms growing around it, such as