{"id":2335,"date":"2021-06-03T11:11:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-03T10:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-uk.mindquest.io\/?p=2335"},"modified":"2021-10-20T16:28:23","modified_gmt":"2021-10-20T15:28:23","slug":"ednas-garden-chapter-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-uk.mindquest.io\/?p=2335","title":{"rendered":"Edna’s Garden – Chapter 4"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Enter Edna’s Garden and discover how an 8-year-old girl with a passion for nature will turn the world upside down with her data models <\/em><\/p>\n

A story by Miquel Morales<\/a>. <\/em> <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Jumping in just now? Check out all previous chapters<\/a><\/em> of Edna’s Garden<\/em>.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Edna’s Garden – Chapter 4<\/h2>\n

Once the bell that\u00a0signalled\u00a0the end of the school day rang, Edna waited for her classmates to leave the room while pretending to review some notes\u00a0from what\u00a0had been a seemingly never-ending lecture about\u00a0early Internet era social networks. She didn\u2019t have to wait for long;\u00a0it had been a particularly\u00a0boring one, and the other kids\u00a0rushed out through the door.\u00a0Boring not because of the topic \u2013Edna found it fascinating that people back then would go around posting\u00a0photos of their faces with\u00a0dog ear filters on\u2013 it was more a problem with Mr. Barnum\u2019s teaching methods. The aging history teacher\u00a0had a\u00a0correspondingly\u00a0aging way of presenting information. He barely touched the holo-node\u00a0at the centre of the classroom. Instead, he\u00a0insisted on bringing\u00a0from home\u00a0one of those old screen projectors\u00a0to illustrate his lectures.<\/p>\n

It was so unpractical, being able to show only one image at a time on\u00a0one of the classroom walls as opposed to the holo-node,\u00a0which displayed a\u00a0personalised, interactive set of screens for every single student. But\u00a0Mr. Barnum loved his gadgets, and the school loved Mr. Barnum.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When the last classmate\u00a0had\u00a0left, Edna opened\u00a0her bag and took out her sister\u2019s old wristband.\u00a0The\u00a0unassuming\u00a0bracelet\u00a0displayed\u00a0a holographic\u00a0menu when Edna touched it. She scrolled down\u00a0the various items\u00a0and made sure\u00a0that\u00a0everything was set.\u00a0Perfect.\u00a0<\/em>She\u00a0hid\u00a0the\u00a0bracelet under the sweater\u2019s sleeve and started making her way out the school\u2019s premises.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

It had been nice of her sister to let her borrow her old band. It was way clunkier than the latest model Dad had bought her for her birthday, but it would still do the trick. As an 8-year-old, Edna was not supposed to have a wristband. After early-21st\u00a0century research had proven\u00a0that\u00a0too many screens could negatively affect children\u2019s development, official guidelines\u00a0had been put in place to limit tech use to the essentials for kids under 10.<\/p>\n

It was\u00a0also\u00a0a great way\u00a0for parents to control their kids, as almost nothing could be done these days without a wristband. All\u00a0serious\u00a0payments\u00a0required one. It also stored official identification documents and worked as the main point of contact for services ranging\u00a0from\u00a0cars to file exchange. Underage kids carried\u00a0instead\u00a0a physical\u00a0ID\u00a0card with\u00a0very limited capabilities. As limited as their parents wanted them to be, which, in Edna\u2019s case, was completely.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWell,\u00a0hello, young lady. How did the day unfold, learned much?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Peter the butler had been waiting for\u00a0Edna just outside the school gates to escort her back to the apartment. Edna could tell in his eyes that he didn\u2019t enjoy too\u00a0much\u00a0his prison guard\u00a0role, but he was a man of principles who did what had to be done.\u00a0Thankfully, that often included not telling\u00a0her\u00a0Dad\u00a0and Bianca\u00a0about Edna\u2019s little adventures.\u00a0Unfortunately,\u00a0he would not be convinced\u00a0this time around. Edna\u2019s behaviour had \u201ccrossed a line,\u201d\u00a0as\u00a0Bianca\u00a0had\u00a0said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cJust that old\u00a0habits never\u00a0die, Peter.\u201d Edna strolled down the street without making eye contact. Peter\u00a0was good at reading her face, and she was nervous about what she was about to do.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, if you are talking about your stubbornness, young lady, I can tell\u00a0you\u00a0that much is true.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\"Sign<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

Central Park West was packed with school\u00a0kids\u00a0returning home. As they\u00a0made their way down the avenue, Peter and Edna had to sort through the groups of\u00a0frenetic\u00a0children\u00a0unleashing their wildest side after a\u00a0full\u00a0day indoors. Edna watched how one of the\u00a0groups\u00a0passed a ball above\u00a0the park\u2019s wall, one half on each side of it.\u00a0She saw a\u00a0red-headed\u00a0woodpecker resting on one\u00a0the still\u00a0leafless branches\u00a0of one of the trees right across the fence.\u00a0A rather\u00a0big male for the species, or so Edna thought.<\/p>\n

She wondered what\u00a0The\u00a0Pond would\u00a0look like\u00a0right now. Surely the\u00a0flower buds had started\u00a0insinuating themselves in between the plant stems. It would be Spring soon, and the ducklings were probably just about to hatch. Edna thought of her favourite\u00a0duck family, a curious group made up of an older matriarch and three younger males who she had to\u00a0police more often than she probably would had liked.\u00a0Maybe\u00a0she would have to\u00a0handle a few new additions in the coming weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest, Ms. Edna, I\u00a0must say I am\u00a0surprised of how\u00a0well\u00a0you have taken this whole being grounded scenario. At first,\u00a0I thought\u00a0you\u00a0it\u00a0would\u00a0take you less\u00a0than a day to\u00a0run away or put up some sort of\u00a0fit.\u00a0But I must apologise for jumping to conclusions too quick.\u00a0After all, you will soon be a\u00a0grownup, and you are\u00a0clearly\u00a0becoming more responsible and\u00a0focused. In fact, I…\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Edna was gone. She had taken advantage of the crowds that formed at the traffic\u00a0lights in Columbus Square and\u00a0vanished as soon as Peter\u00a0directed\u00a0a\u00a0confused look\u00a0at\u00a0a young couple dressed in matching neon-lit outfits. She\u00a0was now descending into the subway station, feeling a wave of excitement and anticipation as she jumped down the stairs looking over the shoulder for any signs of the butler.\u00a0With no pursuer in sight, Edna crossed the station\u2019s hall and used her sister\u2019s wristband to\u00a0access the boarding area. She tried to remember what\u00a0her sister had told her.\u00a0Just hold it close to the\u00a0screen on top of the turnstile, on the\u00a0left-hand\u00a0side.\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n

As strange as it\u00a0sounded\u00a0to\u00a0people\u00a0whose family was of more\u00a0humble\u00a0means, the subway was an alien place for someone like Edna.\u00a0The\u00a0only\u00a0subways she\u00a0had\u00a0ever\u00a0seen\u00a0were\u00a0those\u00a0that appeared\u00a0in holo-movies and shows. Peter often said how fine and efficient the subway was, a marvel compared to the rusty, rattling subway system that was\u00a0held together with scotch tape\u00a0until\u00a0the late\u00a02030s.\u00a0But, as far as her memory went, Edna\u2019s\u00a0only\u00a0ways of transportation had been the family\u2019s car, taxi cabs and the occasional bicycle ride around the park.\u00a0No wonder she was desperate to run among the trees and get her clothes dirty with mud. She had spent her entire life in a very fancy and expensive cage.\u00a0But thankfully, that\u00a0cage\u00a0had a little garden\u00a0in it\u00a0called Central Park.\u00a0Or at least until Bianca got her\u00a0grounded.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Edna got herself into the first train bound for downtown and looked at the screen displaying all\u00a0the\u00a0stops in the line.\u00a0Chinatown:\u00a07 stops<\/em>.\u00a0It shouldn\u2019t take too long. Or maybe it would take\u00a0that\u00a0long; Edna had no idea\u00a0of\u00a0how much\u00a0time\u00a0it took\u00a0the train\u00a0to go between stops.\u00a0But wait.<\/em>\u00a0She\u00a0had a\u00a0wristband of her own\u00a0now. She\u00a0manipulated the menu until she found the answer.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Estimated arrival time: 10 minutes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

To be continued…<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Edna’s Garden.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Discover our previous story: Nadia \u2013 Chapter I<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Need tips on how to find a job in IT? Check out our\u00a0IT job hunting guide.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chapter 4. Enter Edna’s Garden to discover how an 8-year-old girl with a passion for nature turns the world upside down with her data experiments. By Horizon 2050.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2008,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[485,483,484,187,75,274],"class_list":["post-2335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-horizon-2050","tag-edna","tag-ednas-garden","tag-h-2050","tag-horizon-2050","tag-sci-fi","tag-short-stories"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-uk.mindquest.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-uk.mindquest.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-uk.mindquest.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-uk.mindquest.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-uk.mindquest.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2335"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/wp-uk.mindquest.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3907,"href":"https:\/\/wp-uk.mindquest.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2335\/revisions\/3907"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-uk.mindquest.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-uk.mindquest.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-uk.mindquest.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-uk.mindquest.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}