Inspired by ‘Attenborough’s Ark’, this tiny piece was shortlisted in the annual Micro Madness contest. One selected micro was published each day during June 2022; this one appeared on 17 June.
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After the cameras leave, the Venus Flower Basket begins to grow.
Attenborough waxed breathless, describing how the sponge’s delicate latticework becomes a lifelong prison for monogamous pairs of shrimp. How in Japan, it’s given as a symbol of love.
Scientists speculate that this new exponential growth was triggered by submarine hydrothermals, or extreme concentrations of CO2 in the oceans. Believers call it conscious evolution, a response to humans despoiling the land. They say the creature has a plan.
Vast glimmering forests, unearthly white skyscrapers reach up from Pacific deeps, towards the light. They have yet to break surface.
Fiction Writing by Patience Mackarness 