Spread: Tales of Deadly Flora, edited by R.A.Clarke (book excerpt)

 

Spread: Tales of Deadly Flora

Green thumbs beware. Plants are beautiful, peaceful, abundant, and life-sustaining. But what if something sinister took root in the soil, awakening to unleash slashing thorns, squeezing vines, or haunting greenery that lured you in? Perhaps blooms on distant planets could claim your heart, hitch a ride to Earth on a meteor, or simply poison you with their essence. Imagine a world where scientists produced our own demise in a lab, set spores free to infect, even bred ferns to be our friends only to witness the privilege perverted. When faced with botanical terror, will humanity fight to survive, or will they curl and wither like leaves in the fall? Read ten speculative tales ripe with dangerous flora to find out.

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An excerpt from Spread: Tales of Deadly Flora (Page Turn Press).

Plant Friends by Jen Mierisch. A pair of well-meaning scientists develop a ground-breaking plant to be a friend for lonely people around the world. But nothing ever goes to plan, does it?

 

April tossed her coat onto a chair, flopped onto her couch, and sighed out the stress of three interminable meetings, two train commutes, and one micromanaging boss. She kicked off her high heels, extended one bare toe, and rubbed the lowest leaf of her Plant Friend, whose pot sat next to the couch.

The leaf wound itself around April’s foot and gently squeezed. “Ahhh,” sighed April, sinking into the cushions. “That’s the stuff.” She wiggled her toe against the leaf, and it squeezed again, massaging the soreness away.

She sat forward a bit and nudged an upper leaf with her elbow. It extended itself across her upper back and kneaded her shoulders. Grip and release, grip and release. “You’re the best, Boo,” April told it.

The people who sold April the plant had mentioned that it would adapt itself to her and might begin to anticipate her requests. A natural element of its design, they’d said. The mechanism, of course, was a trade secret, but the people in the online Plant Friend forums theorized that it had to do with plant estrogens.

April picked up a leaf and kissed it. “Boo,” she said, “you were worth every penny.”

She tucked her throw blanket around her legs and flipped on Disney Plus. A nice cartoon would be a way to forget the day.

The beginning of Up was cute and funny. Then came the montage of Carl and Ellie’s life together, ending in poignant loss and never-realized dreams. April watched, devastated, tears dripping onto her dress. A leaf snaked its way around her shoulders in a comforting embrace.

April’s cell phone rang. Eyes glued to the TV, she fumbled with the device, saw an unknown number on the display, and rejected the call.

A minute later, the phone pinged with a text message.

Hey. I think you left something at the café this morning.

April sat bolt upright, seized the phone, and stared.

That morning, she had ordered her usual hazelnut latte, plus a breakfast sandwich, then lingered at a table in the bookstore’s café. When Thanh left the counter with a spray bottle and a rag, April had stood to leave. Beneath her empty plate, she’d tucked her business card, on the back of which she’d written her cell phone number.

She paused the movie, found the number in her call history, and smashed the callback button.

He answered after the first ring. “Well, hello there, Hazelnut Latte.”

“Hi.”

“Can I call you Hazel?”

The plant stood at attention as April leaped from the couch and paced the living room, talking animatedly. Its leaves seemed to rise a bit taller, invigorated by the kinetic energy of her motion and laughter.

When April hung up the call, she immediately dialed again. “Devora! Guess who just called me!”

Still talking, April walked into the kitchen, disappearing around the doorframe. The plant’s leaves drooped a bit, like the jowls of a bloodhound.