Old Friends Are the Best

"Old Friends Are the Best" by Jack Sharkey unfolds a tale of unforeseen ecological consequences when a seemingly harmless plant, christened the Peter W. Merrill Moonplant, journeys from the lunar surface to Earth. After being discovered on the Moon by a curious engineer, the Moonplant is cultivated by a botanist, and quickly flourishes, spreading a hidden network of roots below the surface, and creating disruptive gravity-altering magnetic fields. These anomalies create global chaos, forcing humanity to initiate a mass migration to seek refuge on the very place where it all began, the Moon. The narrative crescendos with the unnerving revelation that the plant's actions may attract meteors threatening the Earth, which forces the characters to grapple with the irony of their once-beloved natural friend transforming into a destructive force.