Welcome To Monsanto Farms pt2

The dusty green flatbed truck squealed to a halt
At the end of some rows of strawberry plants
We all piled out of the truck
Which moved on as soon as we were all off
Leaving us standing there for a moment

But we all knew what to do
As a crew we would be paid as a group
Our total production for the day split equally amongst us
It worked well
Some of us were young
Some of us were old
So the average seemed fair

We all lived as a sort of commune back at the housing
Everything got shared there too
Most of the money didn't stay with us
As it was sent home to our families

I was helping to support my mother and siblings
Others had different priorities
That's just what I did
Someday I'd return home
Maybe

For now though
I walked over to the pile of containers
Identical blue plastic baskets
Hundreds of them
Stacked neatly at the end of the rows in this area
Everyone else came over too

We all set our lunches down
Next to the water barrel
We all picked up a few baskets
We all faced the days work
Rows of strawberry plants
Stretching to the horizon
Or so it seemed

I walked off a few rows and got started
Bending low to gently grasp a ripe berry
Plucking it from it's plant
Turning it in my hand for a quick inspection
Placing it in the basket
Soon joined by another
And another

I soon found my rhythm
Before I knew it I had several baskets full
A younger person in our group ran a short stack of empties to me
He picked up the full baskets as well
Depositing them neatly at the end of the row
To be picked up by a company tractor as it made it's rounds
Towing a trailer with special racks
That would handle all the blue baskets
Without letting them squash the fruit

I started to get a little thirsty
And I eyed the fruit I was picking
Imagining how good it would taste
How JUICY
But it wasn't hard to resist the temptation
This fruit wasn't natural

As a matter of fact
I had no idea how unnatural it was
This was genetically modified fruit
Made to resist pests
Made to last longer after picking
And actually allow us to pick it when it was riper than the usual
More flavor from the vine and all that jazz

I knew of the past Monsanto Farms strawberries
Modified with some fish genes
Of all things
I hadn't liked the taste of those

This particular batch was a new variety
And I had no idea what it was
It wasn't approved for human consumption yet
As we'd all been lectured
So like I said
It wasn't hard to resist the temptation

I would wait for the young girl to come around with the water

In my dreams I had imagined the previous modified strawberries
They had been aquatic berries
At least there in my dreams
They had swum around like fish
When washed off in a sink of water
And had to be plucked back out of with little nets
Like minnows at a bait shop

But that was just a dream
The typical kinds of dreams
That I had these days
While working on Monsanto Farms