text: cw: gore, blood, language Finally made it to the flower shop. It took a few wrong turns to finally arrive. I step out of my car and look at the sign, "Bonnies Flower Shop". It was a bit difficult to find since I am new to this small town. I close the door to my car and make my way up to the store. I'm not sure what I am looking for today, just something for my wife Nemy. She is a plant fanatic, our new house is already covered in all kinds of plants and flowers. Her birthday is coming up so I figured I would try and get a plant she doesn't have. I open the door to the flower shop; the earthy smell hits my nose right away. I look around at all the flowers, all ranging from different heights, colors, smells, looks. This is going to be harder than I thought it would be. I start walking down the aisles looking at all the plants. I want to find the perfect one. I really just don't know which one would be a perfect pick. I hear footstep come my way. "Anything I can help you with dear?" I look over at a small elderly lady and smile, "I'm not really sure what I'm looking for." She comes closer, "Looking for anyone specific?" "My wife. Turns out trying to find a flower she doesn't have is quite troublesome." Her eyes light up, "You're the couple that moved into that old cottage just outside the city, right?" Guess the word travels fast in small towns. I nod my head "Yes Ma'am we are." "Come I have the perfect thing. She wouldn't happen to have any Cherry Blossoms Trees, would she?" Cherry blossoms? Those didn't even cross my mind. I start to follow her, "No I don't think she does actually." We walk into a different room; this one is closed off from the rest of the shop. I look at the beautiful arrange of small cherry blossom trees. "What do you think?" These would be perfect for Nemy. I smile at her, "I will take one." "Alright remember what I told you?" "Keep it in doors for a few weeks, water it and give it sunlight. Then transfer it outside where we would like and watch it grow." I repeated the conversation we had while she was checking me out. She gives me a rather creepy smile. I'm not one to judge others but that smile but a little bit of fear into me. I let out a small huff and grabbed the plant. "Well, I appreciate the help! I'll let you know how it goes." "Oh, I know how it will turn out." I let out an awkward laugh, "Bye!" I put the tree in the front seat and figured out my way home. What a strange lady, I shouldn't worry about it. She did help me get the perfect plant. I finally get home, "Honey I'm home." "In the kitchen." I put the plant behind my back and make my way to the kitchen. I turn the corner and see her cooking something on the stove. She finally turns around and gives me a skeptical look, "What's behind your back?" "Close your eyes." She closes them and I pull round the tree, "Open them." She opens them and they immediately light up, "Happy Birthday Love." "Oh Kit!" She walks over to me and touches the plant. "It's absolutely beautiful." "Good because I wasn't sure until the lady showed it to me." She gives me a tight hug and a peck on the lips. "I love it, Thank you so much. You're the best husband a woman could ask for!" She grabs the tree and puts it on the middle of the dining room table. "We shall eat with it tonight and I’ll put it in the window tomorrow.” She makes both of our plates as we sit down and talk. “Did you find the shop alright?” I finish my bite, “You already know that answer.” She giggles and looks at the tree, “It really is beautiful dear.” As soon as she said it my mind flashed to that elderly lady. Something was off at the end of our interaction. I can’t quite put my finger on it. I open my eyes as soon as I hear that sound. It’s a horrible screeching noise that spreads through the house. It’s been going on for a few weeks and we can’t figure out what it is. I swear it happened over 100 times, especially at night. Nemy thinks it is just because our house is old but there is no way that’s the reason. I’ve tried convincing myself it’s no big deal but when it goes on for this long something has to be up. I pull the blankets from my body and swing my feet over the bed. They hit the cold hard floor and the sound stops. What the heck! I get up quietly making sure I don’t wake Nemy. I make my way through the house to make sure everything seems alright. I make my way into the kitchen not having found anything. It’s strange the noise stopped as soon as I was about to check it out. I pull out a cup from the cabinet and fill it up with water. I lean against the counter and look out the window. Oh god, we’re going to have to move that Cherry Blossom Tree out tomorrow, it is growing onto our walls. I told Nemy a week ago to move it outside and she insisted it was fine. Said “I’m the plant expert right?” I roll my eyes remembering what she said. I get it but like it’s growing on our wall it shouldn’t do that. I finish my cup of water and wash the cup and head back to bed. I snuggle up next to Nemy and close my eyes. “eerrrreee” I groan, I swear someone or something is just messing with me. I stare out the window as Nemy is planting the tree. I finally convinced her to do it. I don’t know why she was so against it. I’m literally following what the lady said to do. I will admit the tree looks beautiful out there. Fits in more than I expected with all her other plants. I go back to making some Chicken Alfredo for dinner. I finished it about 45 minutes later. Nemy hasn’t come back yet. Which isn’t weird, I swear she spends more time with her plants than her own husband. I walk to the window again and see her still by the tree. I open the back door and call for her, “Honey dinner is ready.” No response. I make my way over to her and look down at her. Oh god, “Honey!” I say kneeling beside her and grabbing her arm. It’s covered in blood, “What the hell happened?” She doesn’t respond to me, “Nemy!” I raise my voice a bit louder. She slowly looks at me, “What?” “What happened?” I ask, nodding my head towards her arm. She looks at her arm and gasp, “Oh my god.” I look at her confused. I sigh and stand up, “come in, Ill clean you up.” I get her inside and start to clean her cut, luckily it’s not that deep. I wrap it up and look at her. “What happened?” She shakes her head, “I don’t know.” “You don’t know how you got a big cut on your arm?” “No Kit I don’t.” She says with a bit of an attitude. “I’m just asking Nemy, it’s weird for someone to not know how they cut themselves that’s big.” “Well I fucking don’t.” I back up, throwing my hands up. “Dinners done anyways come on before it gets too cold.” She shakes her head, “I’m not hungry, I'm going to lay down.” I guess I'm eating by myself tonight. Nemy has been acting weird lately. Like she’s avoiding me by staying with her plants. I caught her talking to herself, which is totally normal, but she was mumbling in like different language. Maybe I’m just losing my mind. I plan on talking to her tonight to see what the deal is. I walk outside to where she is. Swear she is always out here by this dang tree. If i knew the cherry blossom would be such a perfect plant that it takes my wife from me I would have never gotten it. I take a seat by her on the ground and look at her. She doesn’t even acknowledge that I am here. I sit here a bit before I speak, “Wanna tell me what’s going on?” “Nothing.” She tells me in a soft voice. “You’ve been acting differently lately. I'm getting worried about you. You're always out here.” “Is that such a bad thing? She needs me.” I look at her confused “Who?” She doesn’t respond to me but instead points towards the tree. I shake my head, “honey it’s a plant, it thrives outside. It doesn’t need supervision 24/7.” “She needs me.” She keeps repeating. What the hell is she on about? I look at the tree, it looks a bit darker, like a reddish color. Aren’t they supposed to be mainly pink and white? “I don’t understand Nemy.” She slowly turns her head towards me, “you will know soon.” She suddenly pushes me down onto the ground. I start to panic, “Nemy what the hell?” “She needs us.” I start to panic, when did she get so damn strong. I start to feel something crawl up my limbs. I turn my head to see vines wrapping around my arms. This isn’t happening right? No, there's no way this can happen. I have to be dreaming. I look back at Nemy and her eyes are red. I squeeze my eyes closed in hope of waking up from this dream. I start to hear her laughing. I open my eyes back up. This is not a dream, it’s a nightmare. I start to realize what is happening. I try to fight my way out of the vines grip that have me. “Don’t fight dear.” I feel Nemy's hands on me. “She needs you to survive. She needs your blood to create so much more.” “It’s a fucking plant Nemy. Please listen to me. Cut me out of these vines.” She shakes her head, “It’s for the better.” She leans down and pecks my lips. “It will be over soon.” I start to feel a stinging pain all over. I look over at one of my arms and see a bunch of little thorns piercing my skin. “NEMY! STOP THIS!” She just smiles at me, “for the better darling, remember.” I start to feel dizzy, “please Nemy.” I see a single tear run down her face. “I have to Kit. New beginnings.”