Blog Chain: Short Story Time!

Elana J threw down today and challenged us to write some short stories based on flowers (hooray for May Day!).

Elana's blog & story: http://elanajohnson.blogspot.com/2009/05/call-for-shorts.html.


I happen to love a challenge, so here we go! Enjoy, my party people:

Plant Life


As Gabby shook coffee grounds into the filter, she noticed that the air smelled different. Moist. Like a storm is coming. The hairs on her arms stood up as she flicked the switch on her Mr. Coffee. She shuddered.

A sound caught her attention, at the edge of her hearing; a slow rip rip, rip rip from outside the window. She pulled aside the yellow curtains and gasped. Her smiley-face coffee mug dropped from her hand and shattered on the tile.

“What? Oh… my…”

Her hand leapt to her mouth. Outside, vines were creeping, wrapping around the drain spout, climbing the shingles like snakes. The lawn was a sea of twitching, seething green; the car a featureless mound of foliage. The kiddie pool lay burst and leaking, vines puncturing and ripping at its seams.

Trembling, she backed away, crunching through the shards of porcelain in her slippers. This isn’t happening. This isn’t happening. Wake up, Gabby! A crash sounded from the living room, the sound of glass breaking.

She rushed through the hallway and screamed as a vines burst through another window, pelting her with glass shards. They were inside now, snaking across the carpet, overturning the coffee and end tables, wrapping around lamps with greedy tendrils. She screamed again as one brushed her ankle.

I need something. Anything. What do you do when your house is being overtaken by plants? A knife glinted from the block. Good for burglars, bad for vines. Not enough to stop them. The oven. Fire! Perfect. I’ll scare them off with a little fire…

She lit the pilot as the kitchen window burst, green fingers groping, shredding the curtains to ribbons. A rolled up Victoria Secret catalog caught her eye, and she thrust it into the flame. Brandishing it like a torch she approached the vines creeping slowly down her sink and over the cupboard.

“ Back!” she said, waving the flame in a wide arch. “Get back! Back to the yard, damn you!”

The vines slowed, then stopped in their tracks, drooping onto the floor at her feet. Gabby let out a sharp laugh that was half a sob. Nothing stirred. She prodded it with her toe. Nothing. All was still.

She sighed, wiping her hand over her brow, and stamped the magazine out. Before she could move, a vine rose like a genie from the bottle and unfurled a pink flower as large as a dinner plate. It looks almost like that fluffy dress I wore to the prom, she thought, and giggled nervously. It inched toward her, leaning in. With a puff like angel’s breath, it misted venom into her open mouth.

When Gabby woke, the light was different, slanting across the floor. The floor was different. It was a writhing mass of green ropes and tendrils twisting up the walls, obscuring everything from view. She realized she couldn’t feel her legs, and looked down. Her body was enshrouded in plant life, coiling around her like a lover’s embrace, squeezing her to numbness. A tendril curled up to wrap gently around her throat, looping and swirling at the edge of her vision.

As pink spots danced before her eyes, she thought of the empty bag in the garage and her best laid plans for her spring garden.

I knew I used too much Miracle Gro. She fell backward into darkness and knew no more.


So.... what YOU got? Please link to your blog if you're participating :). I'd love to read your stories!

Happy Friday!