The next day, Cindy comes back to see me with Epiphany. They’ve teamed up to do some research about Apocalypse Fields, because Cindy knows that Epiphany is always a great source of information and insight. He is one smart guppy!

They found out that Apocalypse Fields is fertilizer company down the street from my lake.

“What in the world is a fertilizer company doing here at my lake?” I asked. “In fact, what IS a fertilizer company?

“We’re not sure what a fertilizer company wants with your lake,” Cindy said. “What we DO know is that they manufacture fertilizer for plants at their factory nearby.”

“Fertilizer for plants? Don’t plants get what they need from the sun, water and soil?” I asked.

“Well, in general, yes. That’s all plants need to grow,” Epiphany piped up with his little guppy head peeking out of the water. “But people use artificial fertilizers to make their plants grow bigger and faster than nature can do on her own.”

“There are plenty of natural fertilizers too, like cow manure,” he said.

“People put POOP on their plants???” I asked. That sounds really gross to me!

“Yes!” Cindy chimed in. “Manure is nature’s way of taking what’s left behind and using it for the next part of the growth cycle. Just like old rotten trees make a great home for bugs, manure is what’s left over that a cow’s body doesn’t need … but that plants DO!”

So gross. But it sounds like she’s right.

After I recovered from my disgust at thinking about people putting poop on their gardens, I asked “So, is it a bad thing, that a fertilizer company is sniffing around at my lake?” (Get it? Sniffing – because poop is stinky? I’m hilarious.)

“We don’t know yet,” Cindy said. “That’s what we’re going to find out!”

Is Bass Louie’s lake in danger? Stay tuned to find out more in A Stinky Situation: Part 4!