In the landscaping warehouse Skylar was immediately drawn to flowers arranged in the open middle aisle. Skylar traced the bulbous growths. There were so many colorful blooms and heavy bulbs.
"Your plants announce their future with such confidence." When Skylar didn't hear a quiet admonishment from John warning them to be careful what they said, Skylar turned and realized neither John nor Emily were in sight.
A child's scream echoed through the building and Skylar spun towards the source. A young girl was sitting on the ground, face scrunched up and mouth opened wide.
"What's wrong Nancy?" A woman with frizzy blonde curls appeared from around a shelf, immediately scooping up the child with matching hair. Skylar stared as the adult bounced the child on their hip, interrupting the scream and forcing the child to gasp for air.
"Bulby!" Tiny hands flung past the mother's head, pointing up. Skylar’s gaze followed the fingers, eyes scanning the bags of dirt. Skylar eventually spotted something that was not a bag of soil.
A small plush, mostly blue body and with a big green bulb on its back that was practically the same size as the toy's head was laying on its side on the edge of a shelf nearly nine feet from the ground.
"Did you throw Bulby all the way up there?" The woman admonished, mouth gaping.
"Bulby!" The child started sobbing.
"We'll get it down." The mother looked around with growing eyes.
"What's the commotion?" When John spoke, Skylar flinched and spun to face their friends.
"A child lost their Bulby." Skylar pointed to the toy. They looked at John, then to the toy and crying child. "Are there security cameras?"
"Absolutely not!" John yelled, which made Skylar bounce on their heels. "I mean no you can't climb the shelves." He amended as the woman looked their way. "I'll go find a worker." He waved to the woman and then leaned in close to Skylar.
"Do not, and I repeat do not, shift or stretch to reach the Bulbasaur toy." John left Skylar and Emily standing next to some daisies.
"If we were to take John at his strict telling, grammatically he was telling you do those things."
"Really?" Emily laughed. "Oh. Wait, the kid called the toy Bulby."
"Must be short for Bulbasaur, from Pokemon. We should show you later, you can easily sink hours into the games if John and I are busy and you need something to do."
"Oh." Skylar pursed their lips and looked at the toy again, noting the eyes, the legs, nose, mouth, and the giant bulb on its back. "But is Bulbasaur an animal, or a plant?"
"Both. A fictional plant animal hybrid."
Skylar watched John return with a pair of workers carrying a ladder. Once the toy was returned, Nancy hugged Bulby tight and smiled, showing off the gap between her two front teeth.
Word count: 482
