Lunar Genesis

Jace Marlowe discovers a mysterious grove of bioluminescent plants. Daily Flash Winner!

When Commander Jace Marlowe first stepped into the shadowed basin of Tycho Crater, he expected only rock and silence. Instead, he found life.

Nestled between jagged lunar ridges was a grove of strange plants pale silver leaves swaying ever so slightly, though there was no wind on the moon. They pulsed faintly, as if breathing. Jace approached carefully, his suit sensors buzzing. The team later named them Lunaris Vitae the Moon’s Living Gift.

Samples returned to Earth changed everything. The plant’s properties were nothing short of miraculous. Cancers reversed. Viral outbreaks collapsed. Even degenerative diseases faded within days. People called it “the lost cure,” like Earth had once owned it.

But Jace couldn’t forget how the plant felt like it was aware. Like it had watched him.

A year later, he returned. The grove had expanded into a vast field, glowing like ghostfire in the dark. As he ventured deeper, drawn by a whisper he couldn’t explain, he radioed in:

“This is Marlowe. The grove’s...different. It’s like it remembers me.”

Then silence.

No one ever found him. No sign of distress, no malfunction. Just moon dust... and more plants, blooming where he last stood.

The world moved on, praising the miracle plant that saved millions. But some recipients of the cure dreamed vividly of the moon, the grove, and a man with a quiet voice saying:

“Be careful what you take.”

The grove still grows.

And perhaps...it waits.


Word Count: 238
Prompt: Write a story that includes the words: moon, lost, plant
Written for: "Daily Flash Fiction Challenge"