It was a dark, rainy Sunday evening. Lyn—looking as pretty as ever with her neat bangs and long light brown hair—was standing on her terrace. She was rocking a bright yellow ruffled blouse and casual maong pants, sipping warm cocoa, when she spotted something bizarre. Deep in the garden, a neon-green light was pulsing.
"What in the sci-fi movie is that?" Lyn muttered.
Naturally, she needed backup. She called out to her trusty crew: Star, her fluffy Akita Inu, and Pinkysan, her sassy calico cat. Both pets trotted out onto the terrace wearing matching, incredibly stylish light brown polka-dot house dresses.
"Team, we have a mystery," Lyn declared, pointing to the grass.
They marched into the drizzle, heading straight toward an old, decaying tree stump. What they found looked like a fairy-tale rave: a cluster of brilliant, bioluminescent mushrooms glowing violently green in the dark.
Star immediately leaned in, her big dog eyes switching back and forth between the glowing fungi and Lyn's face. Her expression clearly screamed: “Is this a neon snack? Please tell me it’s a neon snack.”
"Absolutely not, Star!" Lyn laughed, sliding into full science-teacher mode. "Those are bioluminescent mushrooms. They glow because of a chemical reaction involving a substance called luciferin and an enzyme called luciferase. When they mix with oxygen, boom—organic glow-stick!"
Star tilted her head, thoroughly unimpressed by chemistry, still smelling them with a wet twitching nose.
"They don't do it for fun, either," Lyn continued, wagging a finger. "Scientists think they glow to attract nocturnal insects. The bugs land on them, get covered in mushroom spores, crawl away, and help the fungus reproduce! But to answer your real question, Star: bioluminescent mushrooms are usually highly toxic. If you eat that, your stomach will do a chemical reaction you won't like."
Just then, Linda poked her head out of the back door, wearing her kitchen apron. "Hey! Dinner is ready! What are you all doing out in the rain?"
Curious, Linda walked over to the stump. Seeing the bright green fungus, she immediately nodded in agreement with Lyn. "Oh, wow! But Lyn is right. Those mushrooms cannot be eaten under any circumstances. Just enjoy their beauty in the dark from a safe distance!"
While Star was busy being disappointed by the lack of toxic snacks, Pinkysan the calico cat was having the time of her life. She stood up on her hind legs on Star's back, her little paws raised, completely hypnotized by the magical green light.
"Hold still, Pinkysan!" Lyn giggled, pulling out her phone. Click!
Lyn captured the perfect photo of Pinkysan posing elegantly with the glowing mushrooms. When Lyn showed her the screen, Pinkysan was so delighted with her spectacular model shot that she literally began clapping her paws together in pure happiness.
Star, feeling left out of the photoshoot, sneaked her snout right back toward the stump for another sniff.
"Ah! Don't go near and don't eat them, Star!" Lyn yelled, pulling the greedy Akita back by her frilly house dress. "Let's go inside before Star tries to turn science into supper!"
With Pinkysan still celebrating her modeling career and Star dreaming of glowing kibble, the crew headed inside for a non-bioluminescent, completely safe Sunday dinner.