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Klausner & His Belief
The story is about a man called Klausner who passionately believes in the communication between non-human living beings especially plants. He believes that plants like humans speak to each other but in much higher frequencies which are beyond human limits of hearing.
He is certain that he if can build the technology sensitive to high frequencies, he will be able to listen to what the plants and other animals speak and also prove his theory to others.
He Builds A Machine
Even though he is adamant about his theory he does not find many believers and struggles to convince them. In order to prove his theory is not a wild one, Klausener builds a machine that can register and help hear sounds made by plants. It can translate the sounds and pitches into coherent and recognizable patterns.
He starts his trial with his next-door neighbour Mrs Saunders who maintains a beautiful garden with roses and daisies. He installs his machine and when she cuts a rose in her garden, he is able to listen to its shriek on his machine.
Klaussner is convinced it is the cry of the cut rose. He requests her to cut another flower. The result is the same and Klausener believes he has finally unlocked the mystery that he was always fascinated with.
When Mrs Saunders returns to her house, he cuts another daisy to verify his results. He observes the same sound though it was different from a normal cry of a human being. He opines that may be planted have different emotions to humans and their cries are also different from them.
More Experiments
Next day, Klausener attempts to gather even more and substantial evidence for his theory. He goes to a park and attaches his machine to a tree. He wields his axe and rips into the trunk of the tree.
Suddenly, he hears a cry of pain and fear. He is convinced it is from the tree. He asks his friend Dr Scott to rush to the park. When the doctor arrives he asks him to listen to the machine and wields the axe again.
Machine Destroyed
The tree screams again but the doctor denies hearing any noise or screaming. Klaussner is frustrated and rips into the tree again. This time a log falls of the tree and destroys the machine itself.
Klaussner is left shocked and devastated. He is completely obsessed and deluded and only wants to prove his theory. He is sad that his machine and hard work have gone in vain but suggests that the tree had destroyed the machine in self-defence.
Dr Scott empathizes with Klausner and grabs his hand. He tries to co sole him and takes him to his facility. The ending might suggest that Klausner had suffered from mental disorientation. The destruction of the machine was too much for his mind and heart to endure.
Moral of the Story
In the end, we do not learn if there were real cries from the plants or was it just Klausener’s mind playing tricks with his senses. Maybe he heard them because he wanted to hear them so earnestly. Maybe that is the reason the doctor could not hear them. The story ends on this ambiguous note.
