J.J. Drew’s story “Clod-Shodden” was published in Metaphorosis on Friday, 10 April 2020. 
I was participating in a holiday story swap event, and my assigned prompt requested a story containing a sentient basil plant and an evil penguin.
The prompter probably expected something much sillier than what I delivered, but as I pondered basil gardening and how a sentient creature would react to such treatment, it struck me as less “silly” and more “existentially horrific.” Thus “Clod-Shodden” was conceived.
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