T: So wait. I cannot believe... you let me sit in front of that worthless plant for nearly five hours, knowing full well it would not, could not speak?

B: Yes. That is correct.

T: Why would you do that to me?

B: If you could not accept this orchid's silence it is unlikely you could grasp what others of its species have to say. I needed to know if you were a keeper.

T: Well, now that we know I am not a 'keeper', you can refrain from subjecting me to such pranks.

B: I think you are a keeper.

T: What do you mean?

B: The silent one has never allowed me to sit before it for five hours.

21 December 1917 --
(Seven days since posting to journal.)
I have found the Whispering Orchid. I always felt I would. It seems as if it has been calling me ever since I can remember. The plant is as wonderful and mysterious as I had imagined. I sat before it for nearly three days and nights. The rest of the expedition feared the worse - I regret that I caused them grief.