#and another miniature white one which is not flowering but is also growing a whole new set of leaves!

[b-blushes]

epic orchid news this morning: spotted a flower spike on one of my orchids (this one flowers pink! nice!) (also now there's only one orchid left who's not blooming wow!), and another newly opened flower on a different orchid (:

[step-and-pen-bu]

I tried to translate "Mekurume" (Sublime) by Frog96!! (Idolm@ster Gakuen)

フロクロさんの「メクルメ」の拙訳でございます！

Translated Lyrics:

Leaf through it, Gaze into it, Softly chant it Touch it, It falls apart, It unfurls a bit It falls away, It ever wavers, Something flashes to mind Consciousness revolves, Wondrousness sleeps

That is The Sublime ¹

Ever deluging radio waves ² Preliminary match, Experimentation in a miniature garden (aah…) The repetitive sine wave ³ Is softly lowering the numerals With a worldview that towers over skylines The reverberating cries of a newborn

Lead me out of this puritanical cage!

After all My sweet sweet melted delusions are insoluble This old old ripened instinct won't splay from me But I want to expose my deep deep hidden urges

So it's Bright ⁴ Fervent Painful Faraway

I'm growing sick of waiting and waiting For seasons I'm left wanting something more All alone here Spring, Summer, Autumn I journeyed through them again With growing somnolence, ⁵ another world Waiting for its eclosion, β(beta)! ⁶

Still without seeing, somehow I'd like to commune again Standing up my nails against the window Intoning Even a shattered mirror is precious The world / My self Which one appears to be broken?

It's a lovely exile colony, isn't it? Here is the blank white planet (aah…) My right handed sketch is ⁷ A potential for a new interpretation Even commonplace worldviews The cross-section of their shapes are to be questioned Shed and emerge from within your narrow skin

More distant the body as it moves You blur and cascade and settle but If you became positively vacuous You could still link with your open palms

Y'know

I sang to defy the beat of my heart I danced to defy the beat of my heart I laughed to defy the beat of my heart I screamed to defy the beat of my heart ⁸

Indivisibly Because I want to melt alongside you Trace the lie with your finger Look over your shoulder Whenever you blink The scenery like the rise and fall of breath Is another world I was waiting for my eclosion…

The seasons said They grew tired of waiting Now a drawn out din The unfastening secret of Philosophia ⁹ Spring, Summer, Autumn I journeyed through them again Piercing my retinas, a whole new world Leaving the chrysalis/Unfurling in a flower is a galaxy Scents, forms, light, Everything that touches me echoes Fluttering Even the returning cascades are resplendent The world / My self Sounds like we can have stories left to share

Translation Notes:

A Philosophical or Literary term that implies a kind of overwhelming splendor or dazzling-ness that is beyond normal human means, has been in use since Ancient Greece (See Translators Comments)

Radio Waves, or Denpa, is a style of Japanese Literature but also a characterization term discussing someone who is out of touch with reality, as in, it has a similar affect to "Tinfoil Hat" or someone who believes they hear voices from electromagnetic radiation. The singer, Shinosawa Hiro may be described as "denpa"

Sine waves can be used to describe the frequency of Radio Waves

Literally translates to, Blue, though has a youthful connotation so bright seems to fit better

Somnolence is often a symptom of an underlying condition or a result of someone's physical health. Hiro responds to the question of "How do you spend your off days?" with "Just recovering. I'm doing my best not to die." Her general constitution & sleep nature suggests this sort of underlying need for sleep at all times

Beta, the Greek Letter, is borrowed from the Phonetian word *bayt; meaning, "dwelling, house", the Beta here might suggest an emergence from one's home & perhaps calls upon a sort of Shut-in or cut off from reality imagery

Hiro is left handed, this refers to how she is navigating the idol world, something which she finds herself not apt for which is akin to using one's non-dominant hand to draw. Yet, she sees the potential in practicing what one is not good at.

This stanza may represent each of the potential stats for training in Idolmaster Gakuen; respectively, Vocals, Dance, and Visuals. Shinosawa, the singer, believes she is not particularly talented in any of these fields, though she trains to "defy" that expectation that she is no good at being an idol

The Ancient Greek word that "Philosophy" is derived from; meaning, "The love of wisdom"

Translator's Comments:

This song depicts a sort of interplay between the speaker's dreamlike innerworld & perception in contrast to the strange reality they find themselves in. The song also discusses the great joys & wisdom of experiencing things in the world & the mysteriousness of knowledge. The singer leaves their body & enters, not the real world, but another fantastical world through their daydreaming fantasy. There's a distinct throughline of engaging with Hiro's weak physical condition, & her dissociation from that within this song. "Mekurume" is translated here as The Sublime which is an Ancient Greek philosophic term (Popularized in Modern Literary Criticism by Emanuel Kant) which describes when things are so vast & beyond human perception that they are overwhelmingly dazzling. The name "Mekurume" is a shortening of 目くるめく (mekurumeku) which is a verb which means "To dazzle, to blilnd", though, is a kind of confusion or overwhelming produced by vision or fatigue. Such is a common symptom of Hiro's physical condition. Yet, the Sublime fits this meaning as well, as it is the visual perception of things considered "Sublime"; for example, the vastness of the universe, or the beauty of a mountain range which surpasses the horizon, illicit the same sort of "Mekurumeku" sort of feeling. This in tandem with the Ancient Greek references throughout the text suggest a meaning like "The Sublime".

to speak uncritically, Hiro is such a silly denpa girl i love her this song fits her eerie vibe perfectly !! thank you Furokuro-san!!

in a personal comment! i drew a little fanart for Hiro's birthday on my other account @syaruru so if you're at all interested i'll be reblogging it & the whole nine yards but happy birthday hiro wahoo!!

[rideordieforpride]

Under The Cherry Blossoms

SPOILER WARNING FOR THE DEVILGRAM

Here is a little reimagining of Lucifer’s cherry blossom devilgram I wrote as part of a collaboration for his birthday. You can find all the collaboration pieces over @/luciferbirthday on Twitter. Enjoy ♡ (GN Reader, Length: 2.8k)

Sakura.

A beautiful word, perfectly suited for the flower.

The cherry blossom trees were plentiful and in bloom, creating a lovely blush canopy overhead. The petals, translucent, allowed soft sunlight to come through, creating a glow about the forest. It was… oddly quiet. The brothers’ continuous chatter was nowhere to be found, as you and Lucifer stole away once their bickering had begun. Of course, they were only bickering over a game, but it became tumultuous nonetheless.

The two of you had walked in silence for some time, after agreeing the trees were best observed that way. The breeze would rustle through the brush, creating gentle white noise and casting petals in every direction. After a slight gust, one of the petals flew past right by your cheek and you turned to see where it may land, but Lucifer’s eyes caught yours as you did, having been watching the same petal. You turned your eyes back in front of you quickly, deciding not to comment as you felt your cheeks warm, but heard the quiet chuckle he did not suppress.

Once a ways away, Lucifer surprised you by producing a sizable grey bag, unassuming but still chic.

“What’s that?” You asked, eyes lighting with wonder. “Where was it??” Surely you would have seen it had he been carrying it all along.

A small smile already tugged at the corner of his lips. “Oh, this? I’ve had it with me the whole time. You hadn’t noticed?” A playfulness in his eyes suggested otherwise, and your brow furrowed in response, but you allowed him to play his game.

Lucifer unzipped the bag, slipping his hand inside to pull out a folded sheet. “Here we are. This spot will do.”

He passed off the bag to you and motioned for you to take a step back. Taking a corner in each hand, he effortlessly whipped the sheet to full size, kneeling as it fell flat onto the ground. The slight breeze kicked up one of the corners and you moved, finding a rock with some heft to it to weigh down the sheet. Lucifer repeated your actions, weighing down the two corners he was beside while you covered the last.

“I didn’t know it’d be windy today,” you commented, filling the silence as you offered the bag back to him.

Lucifer accepted the bag, leaning to place it on the middle of the sheet. “It wasn’t mentioned in the forecast,” he acknowledged, kneeling to reach back into the bag, “but it is a pleasant surprise. Paired with the sun, it is the perfect weather for spring in the human world. We don’t have days like this in the Devildom.”

You hummed your agreement, knowing all too well the bleak Devildom sky. You watched as he pulled a bottle of Demonus and two glasses from the bag. The bottle, and even the glasses themselves, began to frost over when exposed to the air, revealing their chill. Lucifer finally sat, placing the glasses on the sheet, unbothered that one may tip, as he had chosen fairly flat earth.

“Sit.” He gestured beside himself, “Have a drink with me.”

And so you did, moving carefully to sit beside him without wrinkling the sheet or disturbing the glasses. Glancing at the bag, you wondered if Lucifer brought anything else, but he caught your attention again by uncorking the bottle. He poured the Demonus into one of the glasses before handing it off to you and pouring himself a glass as well.

“Thank you,” you smiled at him sweetly then looked at your glass, noticing the coolness of it against your fingers. You took a sip, always finding yourself a bit surprised by the taste. No human world drinks could compare. There was a pang from the hellish alcohol, somehow ineffective towards humans, yet forgiving notes of fruit.

The wind picked up again, throwing petals and leaves off the branches and around, almost seemingly with no direction, as they had nearly no weight. You found yourself taking a breath, about to comment on their beauty, but released it, remembering Lucifer’s words that the flowers were best enjoyed in silence. But then, his voice surprised you.

“Cherry blossoms are a truly exquisite flower,” he began and you turned to look at him, though he continued to look out at the forest. “Not only are they beautiful, but they also have a transient quality to them.” Lucifer seemed to watch one petal specifically again and an odd softness came over his features as a sadness reached his eyes. You wondered what he was thinking of and looked out to see if you had missed something, but the scene was the same as it was.

“Whenever I see the petals scatter in the wind, I can’t help but feel a pang of melancholy…” Lucifer’s voice trailed off slightly, causing you to look at him again, only this time to be met with him facing you, smiling. He continued, seemingly content after his moment of thought, “Not to mention that the magic this flower possesses feels pleasant.”

His ease caught you off guard. A genuine smile given freely was not often heard of from the Avatar of Pride, and you wondered for a moment if it was a distraction from the sadness you had just seen. You decided to tread carefully.

“You look peaceful,” you commented, returning a small smile before sipping your demonus.

“I would think so. It’s strange, but I’ve never felt this at peace before.” Lucifer’s smile lingered as he looked away again and noticed a petal dancing close to the glass he held. He did not move, simply watching it, as it teetered over the edge and into the liquid. To your surprise, he was only amused, “Look. One of the flower petals has fallen into my glass of Demonus… How delightful.”

You eyed the drink before looking at him, quizzically, “Are you going to drink it?”

Lucifer’s brow furrowed slightly for a moment, “Don’t look at me like that. There’s no harm in eating cherry blossoms, after all.” But then, his eyebrow quirked up, as if having just thought of something. He carefully set his glass on the picnic sheet and pulled the grey bag closer to him. “Besides...I found something interesting.” You watched as he reached into the bag but then he looked at you, serious for a moment, “Don’t let Beel find out about this.”

Out of the bag, he pulled a small plastic container with what looked like a miniature pink sphere inside. You leaned in for a closer look and Lucifer opened the container, revealing the treat.

“I bought this for you,” he said, smiling again as he passed the container to you. “This is called sakura mochi.”

“I see…” you smiled back and carefully placed your glass beside his before studying the mochi closer. It was a pale pink, dusted over with flour, and wrapped in a cherry blossom leaf.

“I thought you might like it,” he added, awaiting a proper reaction.

You looked back to him, catching his eyes and seeing their expectancy. “It’s pretty.” Carefully, you picked up the mochi and placed the container aside. You held a hand under it to catch any flour that may fall off as you lifted it to your lips for a bite. It was soft and sweet, a bit chewy, and as you swallowed you noticed a hint of a floral accent as well.

“How is it?” Lucifer asked, already seeming pleased with himself as he studied your reaction, convinced you were enjoying his gift.

Not sure how to describe it, you made a simple comment, “It tastes great.” You smiled at him, thankfully. He hummed then, satisfied with your response.

“I’m glad I got to see that smile on your face,” he said, allowing another gentle smile of his own.

Again, you felt a flush sweep across your cheeks and you looked away, back to the treat. Despite being certain that Lucifer knew of your fluster, you didn’t address it and went to take another bite.

“I’m curious to know just how good it tastes,” he suddenly added, causing you to freeze before you bit it again. A hand rose to his chest as he tilted his head slightly, a sincerity. “Let me have a bite,” he requested, though it felt less like a request to you, as you both knew you’d say yes.

Still, you thought about it for a moment before being struck with an idea. You shifted your seating slightly to face him more and held out the mochi, your free hand still under it. “Open wide,” your voice was sweet, as intended, but the playful undertone was not well hidden.

For a moment, Lucifer’s eyes widened, a striking vermillion, before settling back, recomposing himself. “You want to feed me?” He asked, eyebrow quirking up slightly with inquisition. You only nodded in response to which he huffed and you weren’t sure if it was in amusement or defeat. “All right, I’ll allow it just for today.”

Your eyebrows raised then, surprised he went along with your request, but you leaned forward and held the mochi up to his mouth. Leaning in as well, Lucifer took a bite, allowing your hand to catch the flour that fell. You swore you caught him smirking as he pulled away, but his face shifted to one of thought as he chewed.

He hummed lightly and swallowed as his brows began to furrow. “What a peculiar taste… I’ve never had anything like it before.” But then his face softened again and his smile returned as he decided, “I quite like it though.”

Oddly, you felt the urge to chuckle at him, as his actions continued to surprise you, but you withheld it. Popping the last piece of mochi into your mouth, you noticed Lucifer looking back out into the forest. This time, with an air of tranquility.

“I’m starting to feel even calmer than I already was,” he began before closing his eyes and shaking his head in disbelief. “Drowsy, even… I have a feeling that nothing could possibly anger me now.”

Lucifer’s claim piqued your interest and noticing his eyes were still closed, a wicked idea came to you. You felt your smile grow as you began to lean in closer to him again.

“Well… maybe I’ll tickle you then.” You stated simply, so as to not alarm him, and by the time he had processed your words, you had already reached for his sides, pinching and swiftly moving your fingers over the cotton of his turtleneck. You waited for him to snatch your wrists or move away, but for a moment… he just laughed.

A hearty yet melodic laugh as he tried to speak, “Hey, stop!” But his laughing spurred you on, again pinching at his side, except this time you were met with him abruptly leaning back, escaping your touch. “Cut it out!” Lucifer demanded and you pulled back immediately. You held your hands up slightly, signaling he was safe, but he only shook his head. “Don’t get too carried away, or I’ll get you back for this tenfold.” His words carried a promise and his face was stern to match, but he couldn’t hide his reddening cheeks, so you knew it wasn’t so bad. You chuckled lightly and gave an apology before resting your hands back in your lap.

Then, it was quiet for a moment. You began to wonder if you truly had upset him, but his expression turned curious as a full cherry blossom fell quickly in front of him. He reached out, cupping his hand, just in time for it to fall into his palm.

“Hm… I managed to catch one.” Lifting his hand to study the blossom further, Lucifer gave a nod of approval. “Look,” He began, extending his hand towards you, “the petals on this one are all perfectly aligned.” You leaned in but before you could comment, he continued, “Stay still for a bit. I’ll put it in your hair.”

Eyes widening in surprise, you held still as Lucifer reached towards you. He placed a finger under your chin, keeping you steady as his other hand tucked the flower behind your ear.

Withdrawing his hands, his eyes flit across your face and back to the blossom. “Just as I thought,” he said, sitting back, admiring his work with a smile. “It looks good on you.”

His praise touched your heart and you thought you even felt butterflies. “Thank you…” You said quietly, reaching up to touch the flower, but he shook his head to stop you.

“It’s mere coincidence that it fell… but perhaps it fell because it wanted to be in your hair.” Lucifer’s smile turned slightly playful then as his eyes narrowed. “Although we’re on a picnic sheet, you must be tired of sitting on the ground for so long.” He began to lean back, propping himself on his elbow and again rested his hand on his chest, inviting. “Come here, you can lean against me.”

Seeing Lucifer so lax, you couldn’t but feel a bit at peace yourself, despite it surprising you. You glanced over your shoulder towards where you came, but no one was in sight. As you looked back to him, he tapped his chest once and you smiled. “I’ll gladly take you up on that.”

You moved cautiously, trying not to shift the sheet too much as you leaned down, half-laying as you rested your head on his shoulder.

“There’s no need to hold back,” Lucifer reassured, moving his hand from his chest to wrap around you, pulling you in closer and holding your weight. He chuckled slightly as you settled, beginning to blush once more. “You should feel a lot better now.”

You looked up at him, expecting him to be looking at you teasingly, but the wind had picked up again and he looked out. His hold on you tightened for a moment, a short squeeze, before relaxing again and he drew a breath, pausing before he spoke. You thought he may not say what he was thinking after all, but he did.

“Fleeting, graceful, beautiful, delicate, and soothing to the soul…” Lucifer spoke gently and turned his attention back to you, his crimson gaze holding yours in a way that you felt you couldn’t look away. “You and cherry blossoms might have a few things in common.”

Your heart jumped at his praise and you weren’t sure how to respond. What could you say? You took a breath then and his eyebrows raised in curiosity.

“...Can I kiss you?” Your words surprised yourself and you swallowed, questioning your boldness, but the return of his flush with his softening expression soothed your worries.

“As if I’d refuse.” His voice came quiet and though you knew he would allow it, you couldn’t move first.

Seeing this, Lucifer took the lead, taking back his hand from holding you to cup your cheek and you closed your eyes. A moment later, his lips touched yours, gently, testing the waters, until you kissed back. Then, he was certain and kissed you assuredly, soft and sweet, but passionate still. All too soon, he pulled away and your eyes fluttered open. Your cheeks burned and you felt your heart beating, faster than usual, and you knew he was pleased, seeing your reaction as he smiled with content.

“You taste slightly sweet from the sakura mochi,” Lucifer commented and you looked away from him quickly, resting your head back on his chest as you felt the burn on your face rise. And you knew that he knew it, as he silently chuckled.

He did not call for your attention again though, allowing you to relax. Looking out once more at the forest, he proposed a thought, “Maybe we should try planting some cherry blossom trees at the House of Lamentation.”

You thought about it for a moment, liking the idea, but then Lucifer sighed and you felt him shaking his head. “On second thought, scratch that. Mammon would try to hide valuables there, and Satan might try to place a curse on them.”

You hummed in acknowledgement. He made a good point and you might have been upset about it before he made another. “Perhaps these things are more beautiful where they belong. Hm?” Deciding that Lucifer was right, you nodded, and his arm wrapped around you again, holding you as he continued to watch the scenery.

With your head on his chest, you could still see the trees to the side and watched as the petals drifted about. You thought he may continue the conversation, but he remained quiet. In the silence, you noticed you could hear Lucifer’s heart thrumming slowly in his chest and it lulled you gently. You closed your eyes in the peace and before you knew it… you had drifted into sleep.

[kyouxa]

Diabolik lovers Chaos Lineage: Carla Tsukinami (Story 14+CG)

In terms of the gameplay: The black choices lead up to a bad ending, the white choices lead up to a good ending. Please no reposting onto other sites, ask me before translating this into another language too! I’m an amateur translator, but I hope you do enjoy it anyway!♡

Socrates: This certain place, it is completely deviating from the normal flow of time.

In other words, it is the same as the time has stopped for this world.

Yui: The time, it stopped …?

Socrates: Exactly. For example, even diseases that touched the body are stopping it’s progression.

Yui: …Ngh, that’s…

(That means Endzeit— Carla-san’s disease couldn’t continue getting worse because of this space?)

Socrates: That man, was a survivor of the founder. However, he seems to be affected by a certain sickness.

It will only be temporary that his symptoms have settled down. If you leave, you’ll lead him to death.

Yui: Such… !

(Carla-san is suffering from Endzeit which took away his whole family’s life already)

(But, if the time really stops in this space, does that really mean Carla-san is released from this disease…?)

Socrates: Choose it wise, Eve. Do you want to continue to live in this paradise, or do you want to get expelled from here?

I’ll be here, continuing to watch the experiment—

Place: Violet mansion — Carla's bedroom

Yui: (That day, I was in this strange space... and I met Socrates himself who made this certain garden)

(And that marked the moment when I was told that the time has stopped)

(As long as we would remain here, Carla-san’s illness ... Endzeit would not progress. But—)

(If we get out of this miniature garden, the illness will slowly destroy Carla-san's body ...)

Carla: For a long time, you had something you could not tell me about.

Occasionally I thought I knew the true eyes of yours. I told you not to hide anything behind my back.

Choices

1) — Apologize (white) ♡ ♡ ♡

2) — Excuse (black)

— Apologize ♡

Yui: I-I‘m sorry...

Carla: Do you accept your sins?

Yui: Yes... it‘s true that I knew all the time. But I didn‘t want to tell you because...

I knew I would hurt Carla-san if I‘d tell him about it ...

Carla: But now, I am going to listen to your situation.

— Excuse

Yui: I didn't want to hide it. I wanted to talk about it many times ... but

Carla: You couldn't do it?

Yui: Y-Yes...

That was, something I didn‘t want to hide but I was afraid of your reaction...

Carla: I will receive judgement after listening to your explanation.

end Choices

Carla: ... But, before listening. I would start with my side of the story.

Yui: Nn...

Carla: I want to be completely honest with you. I am not going to keep any secrets from you.

Yui: (Carla-san, his eyes are very clear right now)

(It’s almost like, he decided something ...)

Carla: I have noticed one certain thing since my memories came back.

Right here, my disease... Endzeit seems to have stopped progressing.

Yui: ...Ngh! H-How did you exactly notice that?

Carla: Recently, I continued to consume large amounts of magic. It should have put a load on my body.

When I was living with you in the Banmaden, although the symptoms were mild, the illness did not disappear.

Endzeit is an incurable disease. It is impossible to cure my condition in any way.

Yui: That means ... you did realize it? I haven’t been able to notice it until recently...

Carla: That is not all. A flower that never grows or withers... I was also convinced of that.

Yui: Yes... I thought so.

Carla: It looks like... you already knew that the time had stopped continuing.

Yui: (Carla-san‘s eyes... It’s like, he is looking through all of my thoughts)

(But, I can’t hide anything anymore)

(Yeah, I don't want to hide things from him anymore)

Yes... I knew about it. In this case, I was taught about it already.

This place — it was made by a person called Socrates...

Carla: This miniature garden ...? I see, that means you were in contact with the mastermind.

Yui: I’m sorry, I kept silent about that...

Even now ... you still want to hear me out?

Carla: Do not worry. Keep going.

Yui: (I will talk about everything. All that stuff I heard on that day)

*time passed*

Carla: I understand... he was putting me in some sneaky choices here.

Going to spend a long time in this miniature garden or get out of here and be touched by my dying disease again...

Yui: Socrates told me to choose one of these options. But ... I couldn't choose...

It's not just that your disease had stopped. I couldn't say anything because I was feeling lost...

Carla: I see... you finally decided to talk.

Does that mean, you have kept this secret, because you were worried about me?

You heard this story and you started thinking about me only. I want to truly know your feelings.

Yui: My true feelings...

...If we stay in this miniature garden, Carla-san’s disease will not progress. We could live together forever.

Like this, I could be with you.

Carla: ...Therefore, do you want to remain here then?

Yui: It is different! There is just not really a reason to leave this place.

I know that everyone is distorted, also that everyone’s memories are changed and I know we might have to fight ...

All of this, I know it’s wrong. I know we have to immediately get out of here.

But, I just don’t want to lose you Carla-san... !

Carla: That means, you are putting yourself in trouble for me...

Yui: Yes...

Carla: Do not look down. Raise your face and look at mine as well.

Yui: ...Nn

Carla: ...Look at me, Yui.

Yui: (If he calls me gentle like that, I can't turn him down anymore ...)

... Yes

Carla: Yes, as it should be.

Carla: ...

Yui: ...Nn

(Carla-san, his lips...)

Carla: ... I honestly feel happy about your true feelings.

Yui: (Carla-san, right now he is so calm...)

(Even if I betrayed him, he still kisses me so gentle)

Carla: Listen closely, Yui. You are my life and only wife.

My incurable disease, Endzeit — even if it is calm now, death will come anyways.

Roses

Carla's shoulder: I want you to listen to my feelings, with the special thought, that only you can understand me.

Yui's shoulder : You sometimes act beyond anyone’s expectations, in this moment I know you are doing all of this to protect me. Therefore, I appreciate your hard work.

Carla: But, as long as I can be with you, I can feel your love until my very last moment.

That is why, I want to live with you in the flow, not in this distorted miniature garden.

Even if it is a life that might run out someday, my happiness will not be taken away by anyone.

Yui: Carla-san...

Carla: Your sorrow and sadness, if it is just for me—

Now let's not reiterate things here, this is not necessary. I am fully satisfied with this.

But, if you really feel lonely about my future loss.

I will share all the remaining time with you and fill your heart with the desire you aim for.

I promise you unforgettable happiness, even if you are also going away someday.

Yui: Carla-san... Thank you very much...

(Honestly, I still can't imagine losing Carla-san. But, just for now—)

(I want to wipe out the anxiety about our invisible future. For Carla-san's sake...)

Me too, I want to make more precious moments with you. No matter what happens.

...Carla-san, could you please drink my blood?

Carla: Do you want me to engrave myself in your body?

Yui: Yes. I never want you to disappear...

That’s why, my blood, like this I could always be connected to you...

Carla: All right. Come closer.

*Yui comes closer*

Carla: You must be tired of this place already. I don't want to be too rough on you ...

Yui: It's okay. I asked you myself, that means that I want to feel the full strength of Carla-san’s fangs...

Besides, I kept this secret for a long time. It can’t be helped if I‘m getting any punishment.

Carla: There is no wisdom, but if you are jealous, the story is completely different.

For punishment, pull your hands. It is good to be swayed by severe pain and jealousy.

Ahh... Nn... Nn...

Yui: Agh... ! Nn... Ngh

(Everything seems to be taken away... his fangs are deeper in my skin than usually...)

(But, right now this pain isn’t enough for me...)

Carla... san... please

Carla: You really are greedy today. Can’t you be satisfied with this level?

Those thick blood vessels that run through your neck are pulsating... you can feel them by tracing.

Yui: Ah...

Carla: Did the thought of it shake you off already? It seems that the blood in this body is pleased to be sucked by me.

The tip of this hand, arms — shoulders. Everything I touch is pretty hot.

Yui: Ahh... to trace my body with your fingertips ... Nn

Carla: You look pained. But wasn’t it punishment that you truly desired so badly?

Yui: I'm sorry... Carla-san, I’m sorry.

Carla: Hmph... if it is assembled so far, shouldn’t it be impossible for you to respond... ?

All right. I will give you what you wanted... Nn... Nn...

Yui: Ahh... !

Carla-san... let’s get... out of here...

As long as I can be with you... I-I‘m going to be fine... ngh

Carla: It is enough to just hear those words from you. I will definitely make sure, to escape with you from here.

And I will love you until my life runs out, I swear that I will continue to satisfy you.

Yui: Me too... I promise

Carla: Yes... Nn... Nn...

Yui: (Pain spreads throughout my body. Please, carve your fangs more into my skin)

(I don’t want to imagine the day when you leave me completely alone in this world—)

Place: Violet mansion — dungeon

Shin: Shit, they really are going to keep us in such a place.

Ruki: Shin, calm down. The situation doesn't change whether you scream or not.

Shin: I know that. Violet’s members are everything else than polite.

They don’t respect that we are proud members from Orange.

Ayato: Ugh! Shaddup already! I'm in the same prison, so lower your voice!

Kanato: That's right, we got trapped because of you two people. Are you not reflecting on it?

Shin: Says the traitor with the habit of ignoring his big brothers orders.

Ruki: Stop, you guys. It's unsightly.

Ayato: Tch!

Shin: ... Shit...

Monologue

Once my feelings calmed down, Carla-san called Subaru-kun again.

Of course, the story I just told... I needed to tell Subaru-kun about the miniature garden and Socrates as well.

As expected, Subaru-kun had a surprised face, but he believed in everything I said.

And, like Carla-san, he accepted the story without blaming me.

Place: Violet mansion — Carla's bedroom

Subaru: ...Jeez, this entire situation is really messed up.

Yui: Yes... I know

Subaru: I won’t be mad at you, it isn‘t necessary. The important thing is the future now.

Yui: ... Yes

Carla: The thoughts that float in this space has not changed, it must be spread around the church then.

Now that we have determined that this is a space made of magic, we will head to the church... there is no doubt that this is the key of this garden.

Yui: Yes, I think I‘m sure we will find something inside there if we go and check it.

Subaru: What should we find exactly? Something like an exit or escape route?

Yui: We can't say what we could find unless we go and check it out by ourselves...

Besides, it might be that if Socrates is watching us, he might interferes in our plan again ...

Subaru: If he comes out, you shouldn't be too concerned about it.

Yui: I-I wonder if that will dissipate?

Carla: ....

Yui: Carla-san? What‘s wrong?

Carla: — No, I might came up with one way.

Yui: A way ... You mean to get out of here!?

Carla: That's right. I just reflected what you told me.

Socrates: This is a space made of magic. Provided with magic powers through the church.

As long as there is a church, the miniature garden will exist forever.

Carla: There is no doubt that Socrates said that, isn’t that right Yui?

Yui: Y-Yes. There is no doubt.

Carla: Then there is only one thing we can do.

Destroy the entire church.

Yui: Huh!?

Subaru: Huh? Are you being serious?

Carla: Of course, there is no time to fool around. This miniature garden is made up because of enormous magic powers.

If the supply of magical power stops even a little, it will collapse.

This miniature garden can only exist with it‘s church. We can only turn on other side, if the church which is the source of magic power disappears—

Yui: That means this space will collapse and disappear?

Carla: That's how it should be.

Subaru: Hah, I see. We can escape once we destroyed that thing, it’s pretty easy to understand.

Carla: This is our priority. We need to make sure to break the source of magic in it — The church where the traditional Eve was sleeping.

This will be the beginning of everything.

Yui: ... Yes!

(Looks like, we finally decided what to do)

(Whatever happens, we need to know if anything is awaiting us in the church ...!)

[leo-lucid]

Bewitching Which Monster Chapter 10: The Incubus

I've been settling into a routine within the past few days with the monsters. I would wake up and enjoy a wonderful breakfast that Zam prepares every morning, practice some of my magic (without any mishaps), work on some school work online, and enjoy my free time by casually practicing some light magic while watching documentaries. I would visit Mystis in the gardens, explain my magic to Beo, barely see Endrian, deal with Cassi's flirting, wave at Danton silently, and help Zamuel with some chores around the mansion. Life was simple. And I liked it a lot.

But, I knew that I was to get off my butt and start taking my roommates seriously. The first date I had was with Cassius, something that I had been dreading ever since I read his name on the schedule. I was hoping that the days would move slowly so I had more time to think and prepare myself for it. Unfortunately, there are no spells that halted time and there always will be only twenty-four hours in a day.

Before I knew it, the day had come. Tonight was my date with Cassi. I have noticed that he seemed much more flirtatious in the past couple of days. It was probably out of excitement for our date. I really wished that I could be equally as excited, but it was hard for me to overlook the fact that he was an incubus.

What was an incubus doing in Hazelview? I have no clue. Probably seducing some of the bachelorettes around the area. That seemed like the most likely possibility. Then again, I shouldn't make assumptions about why everyone was in this small town. The only thing I was really looking forward to for the date was to learn about how Cassi got cursed if that conversation topic can be brought up. I was curious on how all the monsters got cursed.

I stood in my room in front of a mirror, holding up two different dresses, looking back and forth between them. While I wasn't necessarily looking forward to the date in its entirety, I at least had to make an effort to look good. I had no idea where Cassius was taking me either, so that didn't help. I looked over at the black dress covered in light pink roses and then back over at the purple dress with sheer black sleeves. Eventually, I settled on the purple dress, pairing it with a simple black choker.

As the time to get going was fast approaching, I couldn't help but feel more and more nervous. I haven't been on a date before, and to know that Cassi was going to be my first date was in a way, disheartening. I thought that my first date would be with someone that I was truly interested in. Someone that I genuinely had a crush on. I never imagined that my first date would be with a seductive demon from Hell. A playboy.

I zipped up the back of the dress and stared at myself in the mirror. My hair was in a messy bun, something I should probably straighten out. As I began to fix my bun, there was a knock on the door. Putting in the last bobby pin in my purple hair, I answered the door to find that it was Zamuel. I sighed in relief, thinking that it would be the demon himself, ready for our date. The zombie butler must've noticed my reaction as he gave a small, reassuring smile.

"Someone seems to be quite nervous." He simply commented. I made some room for him to enter and I shook my head, another sigh escaping my lips.

"You have no idea. I don't even know where we are going. I don't even know how to act around him. All he's done is flirt since we've met. I'm afraid that that's all he's going to do throughout the date. . ." I admitted. Zam's smiled died down as he listened to my miniature rant, his silver eye clearly conveying what I guessed was sympathy.

"Mr. Faren can seem like nothing but a playboy, but there are different sides to him. He helped your grandmother a lot back when she was still alive. Well, perhaps 'help' isn't the right word. He more or less kept her company lending the occasional hand when she asked. He was sweet towards your grandmother, and not in a flirtatious way." Zam revealed.

My grandmother seemed to not only be a grandmother to me, but to everyone in the house. Everyone respected her and missed her as much as I did. It did surprise me to hear that Cassius was of some help though. I expected Zam to tell me that he spent his time chasing girls around town. "Thank you, Zamuel. That piece of information does make me feel a little bit better."

"I'm sure you'll find something in common with him. I don't doubt that his nature won't be toned down, but I'm confident that you'll gain something from the date. Anyways, I came to wish you luck and to help your nerves. I take it that my mission was successful?" Zam inquired.

I gave a soft smile and looked up at him, grateful for his words of comfort. I actually felt my cheeks heat up a little. "It was. Thank you again, Zam."

"No trouble at all, Ms. Devane. I'll leave you to finish getting ready. If you need anything, I'll just be cleaning in the foyer." He bowed and left the room. Zam always seemed to know just what to say to help me. As he left, I took a deep breath and finished getting ready by putting on some light makeup and black kitten heels.

Moments later, there was another knock on my door. The knock was musical in a sense, signaling that it was Cassius this time. When I opened the door, I expected to see the familiar demon in just a blazer and dress pants. He usually walked around shirtless with just a blazer. Instead though, we wore a white button down and black tie along with his midnight blue blazer and pants. In his arms was a bouquet of purple roses.

"Ah, My Angel. You look lovely this evening. Are you ready to go?" He smiled his signature, seductive smile and handed the roses over. I was surprised that he was acting a little gentlemanly now. Being gifted a present at the beginning of the date was really old-school. But, I really appreciated it. I especially appreciated that he was wearing a shirt.

Putting the bouquet of roses in a vase in my bathroom, replacing an older bouquet that I made from the flowers growing in the garden, I answered his question. "Ready as I ever will be. Where are we going?"

Cassi chuckled and put a finger to his lips. "That's still a secret, my dear Ani. Come along now. I don't want everything to end up getting ruined."

I quirked a brow and followed. Besides the nicknames, it was almost refreshing to carry on our conversation without any banter from him. I followed along, my nerves starting to come back as we made our way out of my room and soon enough, out of the mansion. A taxi was waiting for us outside in the driveway, the taxi driver that had dropped me off when I first moved into town. She smiled at me through the window and Cassi opened the door for me to hop in.

I got in the taxi and watched as Cassi gently closed the door behind me. While I waited for him to walk around the other side to get in, the taxi driver spoke to me. "I take it that you settled in nicely considering that you're going on a date with Cassius. But I must warn you, you aren't the first girl he's called a taxi for. He's a bit of a playboy. But who knows? Maybe you can change him."

He finally opened the door and settled into the seat next to me, buckling up and signaling for the driver to start going. I stared out the window and watched all the trees pass us by, more and more leaves falling off the branches as Fall became more prominent. The car ride did feel a bit awkward, at least from my perspective. I didn't know what to say. It took me some time to figure out how to get a conversation going. "Thank you for the flowers, by the way. They were lovely."

"Of course. I want your first date to be the one you would never forget. Speaking of our date, we're here." Cassius casually replied. The car slowed to a stop in front of a nice Italian restaurant, a safe and classic choice considering that he didn't know too much about me. You could never go wrong with pasta.

The door was opened for me and I was helped out of the car. After tipping the driver, Cassi looked towards me and smirked. "We won't be dining on the main floor with everyone else. I have a special place set up just for us."

He began walking down a dark alley to which I followed cautiously. A small flight of stairs that led to the roof were located further down the alleyway to which the incubus began to climb up. Once I got to the roof, I saw a little table for two decorated with a white tablecloth, rose petals, and candles. Along the ground were rose petals and candles illuminating the area around us. The view of the town as also something to marvel at.

Seeing Cassius among the flower petals and candles, standing by a chair, pulled out and waiting for me to sit down, it made my cheeks burn up. It looked like he put in a lot of effort into this date. The look in his eyes wasn't the usual look of desire either. It was sincere and inviting. Another incubus trick?

"Won't you sit down and share a meal with me, My Angel?" He called over. My heart skipped a beat as he said this, his tone still flirty but much more welcoming. I hesitantly took a step forward until I ended up near the table. I took the seat and he helped push me closer to the table. He took the empty seat across from me and scooted in. His face seemed much more gentle above all the candles.

A waiter ascended the stairs and met us on the rooftop, filling our glasses with water first before asking about appetizers. I took a quick look at the menu and ordered a Caesar salad to start. Cassi ordered some escargot and the waiter nodded before going back down to the kitchen. There was a moment of silence between us as I looked around, admiring the stars, the town lights from above, and the petals that littered the table and ground.

The incubus smirked and settled his chin in his hand, his elbow propped up on the table. "Like what you see? Although, I would prefer it if you were looking at me."

"Cassius, this whole setup, it's gorgeous. Thank you for the effort. I really do appreciate it." I responded, trying to ignore his last line. I knew that some lines like that were going to slip sooner or later.

He went a little wide-eyed and grinned at my thanks, clearly grateful for it. "It's no big deal. The only trouble I had was making sure that this scene was as perfect as you."

Before I could reply, out appetizers were delivered to the table. My salad looked great on my plate while Cassi's looked equally as appetizing. The waiter asked us about our main courses to which Cassi ordered for the both of us. A chicken Alfredo for me and a carbonara for himself. I was shocked that he ordered my favorite pasta dish. I wondered how he knew that it was my favorite. He must've noticed my expression since he smirked at me.

"Your grandmother made a fantastic chicken Alfredo. It was her favorite, so I guessed that it was your favorite pasta dish as well." He explained. Once again, I was proven that my grandmother was close with all of the monsters. I relaxed in my seat and felt like I could carry on with the conversation.

"How close were you with my grandmother?" I asked. Cassi's expression only became much more gentle as he reminisces about the times he had with my grandmother.

"Rosemary was a kind and strong lady. I would lend her a hand sometimes while she worked in that magical room. I would clean and organize things for her, fetch her things from the top shelves. In return, she would make me homemade cologne and give me life advice. She was truly a heavenly being. You take after her, you know?" He stared deep into my eyes as he spoke.

I listened carefully as I munched on my salad. Knowing my grandmother, she probably scolded him for being a bit of a playboy too. Her appreciation for his help would've trumped over her disgust though. "I see. Thank you for helping my grandmother when she needed it. Can you tell me more about your relationship with her? She never spoke about any of you guys, so I'm curious to know more."

"Of course, Ani. She really tried her best to get to know us and to help us all escape our curses. Opening up to her wasn't easy for everyone, but since I'm a pretty open man, it was easy for me to explain my situation to her right off the bat. She always seemed to like my honesty at the very least. She was able to give it to me straight too, something I liked about her as well. We both shared that trait, I believe. Honesty." He continued, finishing off the last of his escargot and taking a sip of water.

It was no shocker that he was an open and honest monster. It wasn't a surprise that grandmother liked that about him. "If I may ask, how did you end up getting cursed and confined to this town?"

"That's an easy one. Simply, I broke the wrong heart a long time ago. I was courting what I learned later was a powerful witch from this town and being an incubus, I moved on to another bachelorette. It was part of a job that I was doing. She found out and cursed me to stay within this town forever. I still found it to be an odd curse. She could've cursed me to be ugly or to always stay with her instead."

"Nope. I just simply can't leave Hazelview. It's an inconvenient thing too since as an incubus, I don't age. I come across the same people I use to court sometimes and I have to hide myself to avoid suspicion. I was lucky enough to find the mansion and hide out there. It's been about nine years now since I've been cursed." He carefully described to me.

I couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Whether he deserved the curse or not, no one should be forced to stay in town. Being a witch myself, along with being a woman, I could better explain to him why he may have been forced to stay in town. "Well, I think that the witch you met long ago wanted you to have to face the women you also left heartbroken everyday. To face the people that remember you as the playboy that broke their hearts must be tough. Unless. . . you don't feel remorse?"

At that, Cassi's face fell and he appeared slightly embarrassed. "That does make sense. Rosemary said something similar not too long ago, but I was a little too frustrated with the curse to hear her properly. As for the whole remorse thing, I suppose I do feel sorry. It's part of my nature, it was my job. I. . ."

He trailed off, seeming to now look right past me and out into the scene of the town behind me. I looked behind me to see if he was looking at something important, but I found nothing behind me. "Cassius?"

He snapped out of it, blinking and shaking his head. "Sorry, My Angel. As I was saying, I suppose that I do feel a sense of regret in breaking the hearts of so many women, even the cheaters. Some things you can just never get over."

I was going to ask him what he meant by that, but then our food was delivered to our table and the conversation topic changed. "I know that you are still in college. What does an educated and growing lady like you want to do with her life after graduating?"

Above all else, I wanted to become a witch like my grandmother and mothers, but I knew that that wouldn't help me make too much cash. Not enough to support myself at least. So, I explained that I wanted to go into botany and possibly double major in crystallography, both subjects that I could relate back to my witchy practices. Cassi seemed genuinely interested in my studies and offered his assistance in anything I needed like he did for my grandmother.

After a while, I couldn't help myself but ask about his past relationships. He was still an incubus after all. Even if he seemed very human moments ago, I had to remind myself that he was a demon. "So, how many women have you brought here?"

"I just knew you were going to ask me that question at some point. I'll be honest with you, you're the first person I brought up here. I usually come to this restaurant and dine on the roof when I need some alone time. A nice meal with a great view always cheers me up. I'm just glad that I can share it with you now, Ani." He laughed before he took on a much more sincere tone. My cheeks turned red. I didn't expect to be the first lady he's brought here. Cassi was actually full of surprises.

We finished up our meals and continued to chat. Soon enough, the waiter came by and inquired about dessert. Cassius ordered a chocolate lava cake to split and the conversation continued. I found myself becoming more and more relaxed by the minute. We talked like regular people did, asking about future dreams and hobbies. We were genuinely getting to know each other and I was starting to see Cassi was not just an incubus, but a man with other interests. There was the occasional flirty remarks here and there, but other than that, he was acting like a gentleman.

The chocolate lava cake was split, the outside soft and moist while the inside was hot and rich. It was absolutely delicious. As I swallowed a bit of cake, Cassi cut a small piece with his dessert fork and held it up near my mouth. The look in his eyes were seductive again, though there was a mixture of something else within them. Adoration? Admiration? "Here. Say 'ah'. . ."

A heavy blush swept over my cheeks at the gesture. Normally, I would have refused. This time though, I went along with it. I don't know why or even how I managed to to it, but I did. I opened my mouth and let the incubus feed me some chocolate cake. It reminded me that we were on a date, making my heart skip a beat. The way that he smirked at me made my heart picked up in pace as well. There was a lot more to Cassi than I initially thought.

Dessert was finished and Cassi paid for the bill. I shivered as I stood up, forgetting my jacket back at home. Continuing to impress, my date took off his blazer and draped it over my shoulders. "Here you go, My Angel. Don't want you to catch a cold."

"Th-Thank you. . ." I stuttered, growing that much more conscious of his actions. It no longer seemed that he was being flirty to just seduce like an incubus did. It seemed that his actions were genuine, like he was actually interested in me.

We walked down the stairs and began to walk home, Cassius' hand grazing against mine every once in a while. My blush continued to grace my face as we walked, Cassi stepping closer to my side. "If you had to rate this date on a scale of one to ten, what would you give it?" ' ". . . I would give it a solid eight. I have no frame of reference, but I thought that this was a great date." I gave it some thought before revealing my answer. It really was a nice date. I was uncomfortable and skeptical at first, but I was amazed at all the effort he put into it. He looked at me, pride written all over his face along with an adorable smile. Another aspect about him that startled me, Cassi could also appear to be a little cute along with being handsome.

"I'll take an eight! I would rate this date a solid nine myself. There's only one thing that would make it a ten out of ten. . ." He hinted.

Being a little oblivious, I tilted my head, trying to think of what would make this date better for him. As we approached the house and stood outside the large doors, I suddenly felt my hand being taken up in a gentle grip. It was soft and warm, something that I didn't want to let go of anytime soon.

I couldn't believe what I was thinking. Just as I pushed the thought out of my head, I felt a pair of warm lips meet my freckled cheek, the smell of his cologne just now hitting my senses. It wasn't too strong and it smelled nice. It must have been a cologne my grandmother crafted for him.

My heart skipped a beat as he pulled away, his pink eyes meeting mine. For a second, I could've sworn that his gaze went down to my lips. His face moved an inch closer to mine, causing me to shut my eyes tight. I expected to receive my first kiss, but I only felt a peck on my other cheek instead. I opened my eyes to see Cassi smirking and looking pretty smug. "Anticipating a kiss, Ani?"

My face blushed hard and I began to stammer once again. "I-I. . ."

"It's okay. Perhaps soon. I don't want to steal your first kiss like this. I want you to give it to me instead. When you absolutely fallen head over heels for me that it. I know that that will be soon. For now, why don't you clean up and get some rest, yes?" He teased a little, his lines now affecting me.

He opened the door for me and I headed inside. As I ascended the stairs, I paused and looked back down at Cassi. He was smiling up at me, flipping some of his long, dark purple hair back over his shoulder. "Hm? Miss me already?"

"Th-That's not it. Your jacket. . ." I shrugged off his blazer and handed it over to him before dashing up the stairs. I could hear him chuckle behind me and throw his jacket over his shoulder.

"Good night, My Angel. I'll see you in the morning." He said his final words before heading to his own room for the night.

I closed the door to my room and plopped down onto the bed. My heart was still pounding from earlier and I couldn't help but imagine what it may have been like to actually share a kiss with the incubus. Just thinking about it made my heart pick up in pace. Trying to get it out of my head, I headed into the bathroom to wash up before bed. I started the waters and waited for the tub to fill up. As I waited, I noticed the purple flowers sitting on my white, marble bathroom counter.

And I couldn't help but smile.

[365daysofsasuhina]

[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day Fifty: Apple Tree ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata ] [ SasuHina ] [ Verse: A Light Amongst Shadows ] [ AO3 Link ]

“...what is that?”

“My new project!” With a soft clack, Hinata sets a pair of pots atop the front porch, alongside a bag of potting soil, and a small envelope.

“...some...plants?”

“Mhm!” Unburdened of her supplies, Hinata stands upright with a soft sigh, hands at the small of her back. “I’m going to try raising two bonsai trees.”

Sasuke perks a brow. “...like, the miniature trees?”

A nod.

“...what brought this on?”

After a small pause, Hinata’s expression sobers. “...I had one back when I lived with my father and sister. It had been one my mother had raised from a seed before she married my father. It was a wisteria tree...and it was beautiful. But…”

Shoulders wilt, and Sasuke glances to her carefully. “...when Konoha was attacked by Pein, the entire village was destroyed, including the Hyūga grounds.”

He knows that much. It’s why their current home - one of only three in the entire Uchiha compound - sits mostly in a large field of grass. The village had been kind enough to level the ground bequeathed to the clan, but none of the prior structures had been spared...nor rebuilt. Now all that takes up space thus far is his brother’s home, Shisui’s, and his own.

Which...is also Hinata’s.

“So, when we cleared through the rubble, o-obviously it didn’t survive. It was crushed, and the trunk snapped...the last living part of my mother was just...g-gone.” For a moment, it almost seems like she’s going to cry. “...b-but I promised myself, when I got married, and had a home of my own...then I would make a new tree. One for myself, and...to pass on to one of my children, if they wanted it.”

“...I see…”

They sit in silence for a few moments before Hinata looks back up, trying her best to smile. “...so! That’s what this is all for.”

“Will they be the same type?”

“No, I thought I’d try something different. Ino-chan talked me into it…” She reaches for and holds up the little package of seeds. “It’s for a-apple trees!”

“...apple…? Can a tree that small really make a fruit?”

“Mhm! She has one that grows cherries - it had so many! She said you can either let it have multiple blossoms, o-or just trim it down to one. The more blossoms, the smaller the fruit will be. But you have to have two, so they can pollinate each other.” She gives a shy little shrug. “...as much as I like flowers, and as beautiful as wisteria is...I thought something different might be fun to t-try. And I can always do more. They take longer to grow from a seed, so...I might get saplings if I try to do some other ones. But I wanted the first to be mine from the beginning, you know?”

“Mm.”

Curious, Sasuke stays and watches as she goes about setting up the pots. But to his surprise, she doesn’t plant them yet. “Do you have to wait?”

“I’m going to sprout them outside the pot first. Once they’ve grown a little, I’ll plant them! It takes between two and three months, because you keep them cold to simulate wintering! Here, I’ll show you.” Taking the seeds inside, she goes about carefully dampening a light cloth, wrapping the seeds, and sealing them in a container before putting them in the fridge. “In about...oh, eighty days or so, I-I can plant them!”

“Talk about a slow payoff.”

That earns a laugh. “Well, then they have to grow. And it’ll be several years before they can grow any fruit. But that’s part of the fun - over time, you help prune and shape the trees with w-wires.”

“...wires?”

“Mhm! You wrap them around the branches -” she even mimes the motion “- and use that to carefully bend and shape them. It’s why bonsai have such unique shapes! You have to be diligent with them. Yes, it takes a long time, and effort...but it’s something you put all that energy into, and then get rewarded for your patience, and diligence.” Just to tease him, Hinata gives Sasuke a small, sly smile. “...just like people take time to change a-and grow. Like when we met - well, met again - when you came back. It took time, and patience. And now look at us.”

In spite of himself, he gives a soft snort of amusement. “...I guess I understand. I’ve never been one much for plants is all.”

“It definitely has to be something you care about. Kāsan loved flowers, so...she passed that love on to me. Hanabi...well, she’s not really ‘for plants’ either.” Hinata giggles into the cuff of her sleeve. “She prefers more...timely rewards for her efforts.”

“Hm...maybe I’ll get myself a cactus.”

“Oh, that would be so cute!”

...well, he was mostly joking, but...maybe that way he can pseudo-participate. Plants might not be his thing, but they are hers. Why not give it a try, at least in some capacity?

Only a few days later, she does indeed get him a tiny little cactus: round, plump, and plenty spiny. “See? Isn’t it cute?”

“...sure,” he replies, unable to help a grin. “...I’ll call it Hari.”

That just makes her snort. A cactus named needle...that works.

More than two months later, Hari finds itself joined in the sunniest window ledge by two pots: each containing a newly-sprouted seed. While the little cactus isn’t watered nearly as often (which is good, because Sasuke forgets he even has the thing half the time), Hinata still gives it a cheerful good morning when she waters her own plants.

Slowly, oh so slowly, they begin to grow.

From there, progress is marked more around the plants than upon them. Three years after their marriage (and about two and a half since Hinata started her little project), a new little growth joins the family: a son, Tenkai. He sits in his mother’s lap when she carefully prunes and arranges the branches each Spring, and trims them every so often throughout the year. Two years later, little sister Chikyū is born. Little hands reach for the growing limbs, carefully guided aside by Hinata. Once she’s older, she’s taught to help.

Tenkai joins the Academy. And still no flowers. No fruit. Over eight years have passed now, and Sasuke begins to wonder if it will ever happen.

“It can take quite a while,” Hinata assures him. “I haven’t given up yet!”

Another two go by, and it’s nearly time for Chikyū to join her brother. And as the Spring approaches...little buds form along the branches. They grow to bursting...and then unravel into pretty white blooms.

A decade later, and Hinata’s patience has paid off.

It’s such a milestone, the little family goes so far as to have a celebratory dinner. “Well, in a few months, maybe we’ll have some apples to eat, hm?” Hinata laughs.

“We better, after all that work.”

“Hari’s going to be jealous.”

“Hari doesn’t need flowers or fruit. Hari just does what Hari does.”

“And what’s that?”

“...prick my finger whenever I try to say hello.”

The whole table laughs, three pots in the window silent in the evening shadows.

     And late again. Though this time mostly due to a handful of family emergencies ^^; Excusable I hope, ahaha~ But we HAVE hit a milestone: fifty entries! And all without any late days! Well...late as in skipping and sleeping. I think y'all know by now most of mine happen after midnight, whoops...      Anyway, this prompt was...rather random, but I happened to recall a picture of an apple bonsai, and just...went from there! From what I read, it CAN take almost a decade for them to finally start to make fruit. Good thing Hinata's so patient!      Anyway, I'm...exhausted, so time to call it a night. We'll see about getting things done more timely tomorrow now that some of the worry has passed. Thanks guys for all your support, and thanks for reading!

[insomniac-dot-ink]

Universe Falling

genre: sci-fi fantasy, wlw

words: 7k

summary: A young scientist starts communicating with the night sky, a love story across the universe

So it looked like I was going crazy. Actually, legitimately crazy.

Not the fun kind of crazy when your great aunt takes off her wig and dips it in the stew at family dinner in order to make your uncle shut up about his problem with bell-bottom jeans. Not evil crazy like your math teacher making everyone re-do their multiplication tables eighty times in a row after one kid swore.

It was crazy crazy.

My name is Francine Wesley.

And this is how I started talking to the night sky.

————————————–

When I was twelve years old I had a transfer student ask me if I was a pirate. I’m not sure if she meant it in a bad way or not, she hadn’t learned the pecking order yet- which was me and then everyone else up ahead. She asked me if the bandage over my left eye meant I was going to get a parrot and sail the seven seas.

I wish.

It was the year of the second surgery on my left eye, trying to correct it before the smudges at the edge of my vision started to devour everything else. My glasses were -25 and took up 55% of my small face at that age.

I was 12 and playing pirates and princesses with people who didn’t know why I couldn’t catch the ball when they threw it at me.

My father bought me my first official telescope that year, the year my grandpa passed away and left me all of his star charts and a broken down radio. I fixed the radio, I built the ladder up the tallest tree in my yard.

I traced the charts he left with my fingers, taking out a magnifying glass and looking and looking.

————–

They say math is the handwriting of God, that it breaks the world down into patterns and sense and definable movements.

I wasn’t sure about that, it felt more like God’s bad treasure map, one he put a lot of effort into making particularly unreadable sometimes. My mom was a math teacher, so it both helped and didn’t help at all. I hated most my other math teachers, they taught it wrong, I wasn’t fond of imaginary numbers, I never liked pi more than the average person, infinities were a headache. That didn’t stop me from beating all the boys at pop quizzes by the time I was in algebra one.

It was easier for me I think, smoother, faster, they said I was the quickest girl this side of the Cherry Creek. I didn’t know how to respond.

I didn’t like math, but I did like being told I was good at something, I did like what I could do with it, numbers and movements and the whole universe laid out. It got easier every time I did it.

That was the year that Cindy Claire took me to her birthday party, lifting me from the depths of social rejection, she said I was too pretty for the boys to be that mean. She wove flowers into my hair and asked if I liked anyone. I told her I didn’t know and we watched a movie with the captions on right in front of the screen.

That was the nicest thing anyone had done for me and Ratatouille is a beautiful movie when you’re barely looking.

She had a button nose and a splattering of freckles that curled and crawled around her body like paint flecks. I wanted to lick it up and watch her eyes light up, green as green fields and as wild as the western sky.

I entered a math tournament, she came and got asked out by every boy there, she laughed and said she already came with someone. I might have burst from joy if everything else inside me didn’t ache.

She grabbed my hand and said we were best friends and by that time next year she was dating the man she was going to marry and I was staring at the constellations in the sky like they were freckles. It’s easy to be in love with the sky and it’s easy to feel like breaking.

My dad was teaching me how to read his books under bright lights and a giant magnifying glass, my family always said I was like him- for better and worse.

———————-

I was seventeen when I had my license taken away, I only had it for one year but my mom told me she wouldn’t risk it. Not with a -30 prescriptions.

I was my father’s daughter and she wouldn’t see me driving myself off the side of the road when a blizzard rolled in. I lived in Northern Massachusetts, it snowed a lot that year.

I went to prom with Billy Eccleston, he didn’t know my middle name and I didn’t know his, but we sat in the back of his van and made out until my mouth went numb. I told myself this was probably how it was supposed to feel.

He tried to push my dress down and I wrinkled my nose and told him I was waiting for the right moment (and this wasn’t it), he rolled his eyes and reached for my glasses next, I bat his hand away. Now I was waiting for marriage.

He snorts and asked if I was still ‘actually getting out of this town soon?’ I nodded because this is why I accepted his prom invitation in the first place. We both wanted out- we could almost relate.

We both sigh at nothing and he kisses me again as I look over his left shoulder and watch the lights dance behind the cityscape.

I applied to 8 colleges and go into 6, my mom cried and my dad patted my head and I asked if I needed anything else- anything at all. He told me to get a dorm on the first floor and that he’d be there every weekend.

I cry, just a little bit.

———————————-

Everyone thinks it’s black, black like a setting sun or black like an airtight empty room. That it’s the night, the moment when you close your eyes and every color in the world is snuffed out.

A dark curtain, the thickest shadow over the world. But it’s not. It’s white.

Bright terrible light that floods and fleets into my vision, wavering colors and streaks of pure white, distracting as it is nonsense. I grit my teeth, it’s my sophomore year of college and I am squinting at the board and screeching in my head.

I was in the front row of the lecture and the professor was writing formulas on the board like his hand was on fire. I had a growing headache in my frontal lobe, I tell myself as I narrow my eyes at the board that I just needed to go to sleep, that it would be better in the morning.

My lip trembles and I take out my phone to get a close up of the board with my camera, trying to write and zoom at the same time.

“Any questions?” The professor asks as he turns around sternly, “this last one will be on the test.”

I flinch, was it too much to ask the world to iron itself out into a flat surface instead of a series of smudges and blurs? I see the professor turn in my direction and my stomach drops as I try to fix my expression.

Professor Chadwick was the ‘hardest bitch’ in the department as they called him and I couldn’t keep asking to come closer to the board in the middle of class. Soon I would just be licking the ink off of it to figure out what he had just written.

‘WRITE BIGGER’ is always on the tip of my tongue, but I just take another picture and wait.

“Got that?” He lets out a slew of theory before pointing at the clock as class comes to a close.

I’m almost up and out of my chair faster than a snap, I hurry to the board and finish taking pictures.

“Miss Wesley,” I jump at his voice. I barely turn my head as the five foot eleven man comes up to me, portly and round with a heavy dent in his forehead. He pats me on the back, “I saw your last test.”

I gulp and my lips pinch together, “uh, is this about Mrs. Dubois contacting you? Because I promise it won’t be distracting, I’ll just keep it on my desk.”

“I don’t care if you need five enhancers miss Wesley, that was some damn fine math.”

I raise my eyebrows, “thank you. I… studied?”

He chuckles, “you’re quick.” He pats my shoulder again, “and Mrs. Gregor says she likes the way you think. How would you like to intern for the department this summer?”

I blink only a couple times, “really?”

He nods with a sniff, “I see bright things in your future.”

My mouth was a little open and resist making the joke that I would be seeing a lot of bright things in my future too. I just nod instead, “thank you! Yes, I’d love to.”

That is the year I start working for Professor Chadwick and the university, it’s also the year that the government declares me legally blind.

—————————–

I had seven coworkers, two interns, and one sandwich place next to the observatory.

I was turning 28 in March and I hadn’t had a boyfriend since the last disaster of 2021. I was with sitting my back to the computers and a sandwich in my hand dripping mustard onto my lap.

The radio was on, playing ‘Winds of Fire’ as loud as it possibly could as I hear Sai Bhatia tapping her foot like she wanted to start a miniature cockroach band on the floor with it.

I moan loudly into my sandwich to let her know that it was both alright to take a break and hopefully expected. I had a feeling she resented me, but I also had a feeling that my next door neighbor was trying to summon ghosts in my driveway, so I wasn’t always a great judge of circumstance.

I was 27 and that still felt like it meant something.

“Woah,” both me and Sai pause as we hear a voice gasp from the other room. “Woah!” I sit up straight, “Dr. Wesley,” he says shrilly, “oh man, Dr. Bhatia!”

My skin was prickly as I stand up straight, “Rory, my boy, use your words.”

I hear some stumbling and chair screeching from the other room, “come look at this!”

I navigate my way into the next lab room, Rory, our grad student intern was standing next to the ROSTA computer and gesturing. I squint my eyes down and look both ways.

“Can you read it to me?”

“Yes, but you’re going to have to take a seat for this.”

I shake my head, “let’s get to the reading first, then we can see if any chairs need to be involved.”

“Let me see,” Dr. Bhatia clicks her heels over in a few strides, “did you locate the nearest asteroid cluster wavelengths?”

“No, but this electromagnetic field is enormous, and… weird? Really read. Listen to this,” he starts reading off the numbers and I perk up.

I only start leaning forward and my thoughts start racing, “This is saying it’s only a couple light years away, how the hell is that so close?” I turn to him, “Have we ever seen this before?”

He makes a couple non-committed gestures and points, “I’ve recorded it, we have to send this immediately.”

I nod quickly, “I’m going to scan some journals to see if this has ever been recorded before, how fast is it moving?”

“Dunno,” he shrugs, “but the camera picked up on some objects in it too.”

“Comets?” Dr. Bhatia was glancing over the numbers too.

“Dunno.”

I ruffle Rory’s bright red head, “hang in there kid.”

“Promise I’ll keep looking!”

I laugh and crack my knuckles, “let’s get to work.”

That was the first night, and it was a very long one at that.

—————–

Rory left around 3am, he said he needed to get back to his girlfriend, but even I could tell there were bags weighing his eyes down and a slump to his shoulders. And that was saying something.

Dr. Bhatia left just before dawn, not because she wanted to but because she hated the only donut place that delivered to our facility and someone had to eat a proper meal she said.

I was waiting expectantly for my Krispy Kremes when it hit six in the morning on a chilly fall day. I heard it first.

A radio buzz, bursting and calling as if this was a 1950s spy movie and the Russians were trying to jam our equipment, my eyebrows spike. I go to turn on the audio function to read the recent findings and digital images.

I pause when I start hearing the same repeating numbers: 01101000 01100101 01101100 01101100

I furrow my brow, “what the hell?”

I bend down and try to squint at one of the digital pictures from our probe, I make a face. It was a very pink, a very large and pink blur.

Our mother university had called and told us to keep on an eye on the phenomena, it might be just a series of comets with some odd readings, but I was staring at something entirely different now. I couldn’t quite make sense of it, or make it out. But it was pink and bright.

01101000 01100101 01101100 01101100

I shouldn’t be getting numbers in this way.

“Okay computer,” I say stiffly, “but why?”

I sit down to start looking for the main patterns in the data as the numbers keep repeating and repeating.

—————————

I was going crazy, legitimately crazy.

There was only one pattern in the repeating readings of the magnetic field that made any sense, it was binary, of course it was binary. And it didn’t make any sense, why would our computer translate coordinates into binary?

Why would it read it out over and over? Our stuff was either breaking OR, unfortunately, the sky was somehow writing ‘hello’ to me.

Which was either first alien contact or a very sad local news article: bravely differently-abled scientist makes her way to the nut house.

Sky’s. Didn’t. Say. Hello.

Especially comets, what even lived in comets? There was a lot about the universe we didn’t know and the sudden small chance this was it sent a giddiness through my veins like no other.

It was new. It was never seen before. I don’t go home that night.

————–

I wake up on my desk the next morning in a puddle of my own drool and in front of a whole slew of numbers and a binary-language program open on my computer. Alongside a whole box of Krispy Kremes as the site of a tragic graveyard massacre of crumbs.

“What are these?” I hear a new voice enter and I wipe at the crust in my eyes.

“We’re being visited by aliens, haven’t you heard?” I yawn, “they’re very pink.”

“No, I mean, really, what am I looking at?” Dr. Chadwick had returned to the facility.

I crack my neck and stand up, “hell if I know.”

“Haha.”

“Just a little joke for your morning doctor.”

He sniffs loudly, “please come in here.”

I find my glasses and lurch my way to the room that I had just spent the last eleven hours in. I clear my throat, “Did you see the readings? It’s like the computer is possessed or something.”

“And by that you mean possessed by an angry ghost that erases our equipment?”

My eyebrows shoot up, “what?”

“Tell me what you see? And no, that isn’t a joke invitation.”

I lower my face into the paper and see nothing but an empty blackness. It was empty, a nothing, a black picture.

My head falls down, “what.. What?”

I was going crazy.

——————————-

I try not to be at the office the next day. Or the next.

I take some time off to scroll through my tinder notifications and visit the nearest pool to just sort of stick my feet in and sit in the sauna room until I melt. It was funny I left my small town in Massachusetts just enter another smaller town in Maine.

Who even went to Maine?

Scientists and bad decisions.

All of the data from the night before had been scrambled, we had still sent off the original points of magnetic radiation, but we were told it was just a phenomenon. An off reading.

I still had a couple handwritten notes, sloppy, large, and with one word in the middle: HELLO.

Fuck, hello. I tried that one on a few of my tinder matches and it didn’t quite feel the same after hearing it from the sky. Aliens existed and so did English binary in space apparently.

Or ghosts that knew computer binary and possessed equipment. Stars that could speak. The end of the world? And I was that one scientist who had to warn everyone about the danger and yet no one would believe me.

The film tagline: The Blind Girl Saw it All! But No one Could believe their eyes. The stars were speaking now, and they were pissed. Disaster movie 2028.

I lie on my belly in the sun and listen to an audio book about magic and intrigue. It was my second time trying to finish the Wheel of Time series and I was halfway asleep in the grass.

Something buzzes inside me: I should send something back, I blink a couple times. I should definitely try and send something.

Said every normal person right before they are eaten by space monsters.

I roll over and crawl over to my porch, it was time to break out my old CB radio that my grandfather left me. I take my time arranging the frequency and sitting on my roof that night, thinking, writing.

I tap out one clear, dotted message: hello.

I knew it wouldn’t carry very far, but somehow that wasn’t the point for me. I wait.

————————

It was the next day when I hear Dr. Bhatia in the next room. “I’m leaving.” She says loudly, “I’m not doing this again.”

I lift my eyebrows and turn around toward the computer room. “More weird numbers?”

Her heels click as she walks in, “it’s getting closer. I emailed the data points away quickly this time, but the second time I looked they all came up blank.”

I wrinkle my nose, “we’re being haunted.”

She sniffs, “And I’m not going to be the first brown person eaten in the movie.”

I laugh, “it’s okay. I’ll be the blind girl that tragically stumbles into the queens nest first and gets fed to her young.”

Dr. Bhatia snickers to herself, “yeah. And then Rory saves the day, it’s a blockbuster.”

We laugh together and I’m hoping the passive aggressive PhD comparisons fades. Even if I did get magna cum laude a year ahead of her- just for the record.

She pats me on the back, “go home too.”

“No way,” I stand up and crack my back, “finding new and unusual things is why I’m in the field. I’m like Velma from scooby doo, but sexier.”

“Sure,” she leans over my chair and points at my glasses, “an appropriate comparison.”

I grin, “extra hours never hurt.” I sing and I can make out her shaking head.

“I’m calling maintenance tomorrow to check for pigeons in the observatory dish again.”

I laugh, “I love talking to pigeons you know.”

She pats me on the back and the only thing left to do was hurry over to the next room, I turn on the audio readings and take out a pen. I jot down the numbers faster than the computer can speak.

It reverted once again from its usual numeral coordinates back into ones and zeroes. It was happening again.

But it was different.

Night number two: ‘can you hear me? Can you hear me? Can you hear me?’

I use the lab radio this time: yes, yes, yes. Yes.

The hard drive is all blank in the morning. Everything from the emails to outdoor cameras in the parking lot were left blank.

Maintenance was sent in twice, Rory jokes that the FBI was coming next with Scully and Mulder.

I tell him he’s Mulder already and that apparently makes his week and he makes coffee for me first for the rest of the night. But my skin is crawling, I wait for them to leave again.

Our equipment was breaking or I was talking to something, I consider bringing in more experts, new pairs of eyes to watch me contact it. But I have feeling it wouldn’t speak then, and I have a deeper fear that I didn’t want anyone else to see it anyway.

I wait until 3am, tapping, looking, waiting, the computer starts reading binary again, I translate quickly through my other computer.

‘I’ve seen you before, I’ve seen you before, I’ve seen you before.’

The hairs on the back of my neck stand up. So this is the part of the movie where the alien comes down and uses me as it’s first meat puppet.

But it was also the part of the movie where every part of my being lights up.

‘Where? Why are you deleting our files? What are you doing? Who are you?’ I had prepared all of these binary questions the day before.

I only get back one word: ‘again. Again. Again.’

I hold my breath and write down as much as I can with pen and paper. The equipment is blank as a newborn baby the next day but I have the one word: again.

——————————-

November 10th 2028: the messages start. And it’s not possible, it should not be quick or easy or fast.

I knew something was wrong. But the binary in the sky comes back just as I type out a new message on the lab radio.

‘It’s been so long.’

‘How long?’ I ask, ‘Where are you?’

‘Too long.’

‘What do you see?’

‘You. It’s been so long.’

‘That’s kind of freaking me out.’ I finally tell whatever it is the truth.

‘Haha.’ I get back some sort of strange binary laugh. ‘I don’t mean to. You’re so small this time.’

‘Now you are really freaking me out. Why are you deleting the data?’

‘Goodnight my love.’

I don’t sleep that night or the next day or wonder why ‘my love’ was written in my notes as if my fingers were going through an earthquake. Of course, I could finally add: ‘at least the sky loves me’ on my next dating profile.

——————

November 11th 2028:

I ask first this time.

‘Do you have a name?’

‘Of course.’

‘Can you tell me?’

‘You may call me Heaven’

I sit up in my chair and my mouth hangs up, “Oh fuck,” I swear up and down and suddenly stop being an atheist for a second.

‘Heaven?’

‘Haha.’ I get back the same metallic laugh.

‘Heaven?’ I send again.

‘No.’

‘You made a joke.’

‘You are very funny when you are surprised.’

‘Can you see me?’ I write first.

‘Can you see me?’ Is the return.

I send a very short message, ‘let’s just say ‘no.’

‘You may call me ‘Texca’ until we meet again.” I translate the name over and over again until it looks like I got it right.

‘Texca?’ I send out quickly, some part of me knows it shouldn’t be this quick. It was light years away.

‘Yes. What is yours?’

‘What do you mean by ‘until we meet again?’ It was a long message to get out, it was almost five in the morning now.

‘That is a very long name.’

‘Haha. My name is Francine.’ I tell her quickly and the response is immediate.

‘Francine, Francine, Francine.’

‘Please,’ I type, hoping that weird ghost/deities/aliens knew begging. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Francine.’ Is written back, ‘goodnight my love.’

I lie on the floor and trace lines in the ceiling. I was surely losing it, but they would have to come shut me down before I stop.

——————-

November 12th 2028.

‘Francine.’ She (I now call it she) messages first.

‘Good morning!’

‘It really is.’

‘Is it morning where you are?’ I try to decipher where she is.

‘It’s always morning when I see you.’

‘Oh.’ My hands hover over the ‘dot dot’ button. ‘Are you making more jokes?’

‘No.’ Texca writes.

‘Can you really see me?’ I write again.

‘Yes,’ it says, ‘yes, yes, yes.’

‘How?’

‘You are very much a scientist.’

‘You know what a scientist is?’

‘I know what you are.’

‘Where are you?’

‘Up above.’

‘Okay?’

‘You’re confused.’

‘Yes!’

‘Haha,’ it said again and I sigh heavily, ‘give it time my love.’

‘I am frowning. Do you know what a frown is?’

It took a good ten minutes for me to translate the next couple messages, I groan when I find the right combination.

‘:)’

‘An alien with a sense of humor,’ I write back and stretch out as I savor my time in the ethers of nonsense. Of the impossible.

‘A human with one too.’

‘How are you doing this?’

‘Keep looking.’

‘Where?’ I sit up completely, ‘where?’

‘Goodnight my love.’

I put my head in my hands, hunch over and then groan so loudly I think it echoes off the lab walls.

I’m looking for something in a forest of weeds it feels like, no up, no down, just roots and questions.

———————

“So,” Sai Bhakti was sitting with her back up straight a pastry in her hand, “I hear you’ve been keeping long nights.”

I put my elbows on the table and lean forward, “can’t we talk about Game of the Thrones or something? We’re out of work for once.”

She cracks a smile, “I just hear you’re talking to ghosts.”

I sniff, “The ghost of the second monitor? I guess so.”

She pushes a pastry over to me, “God. We really did need to be kicked out of that office. Thank God for maintenance days.”

I bat a pastry back and forth in my hands, “do you think there’s a chance… I dunno, it’s not broken?”

She makes a face at me, “how? It’s erasing data points.”

“Well,” I frown, “there’s a lot in this universe we don’t understand.”

She leans forward, “like ghosts.”

“And aliens.”

“And bigfoot.”

I snort, “bigfoot is definitely involved.”

“You know,” she tucks a piece of long dark hair behind her ear, “you’re right. We don’t have to talk about work.”

We both stare at each other for a second and she leans back, I clear my throat, “how’s your husband?”

She shrugs, “the usual burden.” I raise my eyebrows and open my mouth, she puts her hand up, “lovable burden.”

I listen to her describe the problems of laundry day and having to share a bathroom with a man who cuts his toenails on the counter. But he made her dinner every night even on the nights she didn’t come home, so she assures me it’s working.

I nod, she starts eyeing me, “and you?” She narrows her eyes, “you’ve been more… chipper.”

“I’m always chipper,” I defend, “like a cheap socialite at an invite-only event.”

She smiles, “how’s the love life doctor?”

I stick my tongue out, “I can be chipper without another person involved.” It surely wasn’t a person anyway.

She studies me, “eat your pastry then.”

I take a bite and sigh into the sky, “okay. I mean. Something is… going on.”

“Something?”

“Something. But not like, dating something. Just something.”

“Ooh,” her features get sharp, “one that rhymes with one night hand?”

I couch on my own spit, “oh my God.”

“I’m not that young Fran.”

I crack a smile, “I mean. There have been a couple long nights,” I say mysteriously, “but nothing happens. And I think… I mean, I don’t know much about her.” Like if she had a body or ate or walked or breathed air.

I take a deep breath, “But she seems to like me? A lot?”

Sai hums loudly and sits up, “and how do you feel?”

I pause for the moment and stare up at nothing, “good?” I say slowly, “confused.”

“Ah, does she like you more than you like her?” She taps her chin again.

I tilt my head to the side, “I don’t know her.”

She shrugs, “then give it a chance.”

I smile down at my hands, “I’m not sure you’d say that if you knew her.”

Sai laughs softly, “is she odd?”

“The oddest.”

“Good,” Sai slaps her hands on the table, “you’ll match.”

I blow a stray piece of hair away from my face, “local pirate falls in love with the sky.”

She gives me a strange look, “come again?”

“Nothing.”

I wait for maintenance to check our equipment and I hope nothing changes.

————

November 15th 2028

‘How are you Texca?’ It’s the first night I have alone again.

The response is immediate, ‘where have you been?’

‘I thought you could see me?’

‘I was so worried.’

‘I’m here now. They were checking our observatory. You’ve caused quite a stir.’

‘I’m close.’

I sit up completely straight in my seat, ‘oh?’

‘I’m so close my love.’

‘Where? Where are you?’

‘Above,’ it says again and again, ‘I have something to tell you.’

‘Please,’ I say quickly, ‘yes, I am listening.’

‘I know you don’t remember.’

‘Remember what?’

‘But I am Texca,’ there is a long pause between those words, a buzz that comes across the speaker as the computer seems to almost fritz. ‘I have always loved you.’

My mouth is hanging open and I feel like the world will become completely white and empty after that second. ‘Why?’

‘Always,’ ‘always, ‘always.’

A screech comes over the speakers, the two programs working together to translate the binary into words starts showing numbers, symbols, nonsense, gibberish.

‘Always, always.’ It forms a simple elegant formation. And one last word, in English, no filter. ‘SOON.’

I hold my breath and wonder if this is when I walk into the alien queen’s lair and get eaten. I knew then that I would go willingly.

“Soon,” I whisper the word to myself like an electric thrill, something was happening, something I could never explain.

I fall asleep sitting against the cool wall of the observatory and try to make sense of things I see in the telescope, blurry shapes. Something pink.

———————

I wake up the next morning and the computer was smoking, Rory was dancing from foot to foot and trying to explain it to Dr. Chadwick.

“I didn’t do it!” He says shrilly, “I promise, I promise professor, please don’t fail me.”

Bob just sighs, “someone get maintenance in here again. And figure out what these damn numbers mean.”

“Wait,” I limp back up and feel the bruises on my body from spending the night against the wall.

Bob turns around, “and if it isn’t our favorite Cinderella. You do own a bed, don’t you? God knows I pay you enough.”

I shake my head, “wait.”

“Dr. Wesley didn’t do it either!” Rory defends quickly, “in fact, I did do it.”

“That’s very kind kid,” I make my way over and fumble for the audio button, “let me hear the numbers.”

“64.2008, 149.4937.”

I wipe at my face and stand up straight, I knew it in my gut. “Oh.” I blink, “someone get a map.”

“You think the numbers are for here?” The doctor asks and I nod.

“How do you know?”

I turn around, “I have to go.”

“Doctor?” Bob Chadwick turns to me, “are you alright, wait, Fran.”

I wave listlessly, “I’m taking a few days off.”

I don’t stop as they call after me, I knew it then. There was no going back.

I leave them a long note and all my coupons for the local restaurants.

————————–

The plane ride was $200 for one way since I was buying at last minute, I choose first class because why the hell not. I was treating myself as I chased strangers that were either playing the longest game prank ever. Or something else.

I was going to Nome Alaska on a Tuesday night.

The trip over is a dreamless hush of sleep that leaves me feeling empty and anxious in every crevice of my body. I was chasing something that erased data points and communicated in binary and had been watching me.

Which might say more about my mental state of being rather than things in the actual realms of possibility. But I had to go, I had to find out.

I get off at Anchorage in a wobbly daydream of consciousness and board a second tiny plane.

I sit between an old man with his cat under the seat and a teenager who talked on the phone with his mom before we took off. He was visiting his dad and she was worried about the spider bite he got last time he was there.

I almost start crying after we take off, I don’t know why.

We arrive at seven in the morning, the old man shakes me gently awake as we land and there are tear stains dripping down my cheeks again, I wipe my face and don’t say anything as I enter Nome Alaska.

It was another world if I had ever seen one, small colorful houses and empty streets. It was the middle of the winter so no one was out of their houses and very few visitors made it this far out.

I was lucky it was warmer than usual, but it still numbed my cheeks and shook my teeth to their roots as I stepped outside. I hurry to get inside the airport and pick up my simple bag- a large radio inside.

I took a long look out the airport window before tugging a hat further down on my ears and finding the nearest tourism desk.

A smiling yet surprised looking woman greets me, “Welcome to Nome Alaska! What can I do for you?”

I lift my chin up, “just a little help.”

“Will you be needing lodging miss?”

I just nod before taking a deep breath, “Yeah. Also, I have a question.”

She leans over the desk, “go right ahead.”

“Where is the best place to the see the sky around here?”

———————————–

I booked a room at a motel named ‘Linda’s’ met Linda and took a very long walk until my toes went number, which wasn’t very hard at all. I was living in Maine so I wasn’t not used to the cold.

But Nome Alaska was a different type of cold altogether. It wanted to eat you alive and leave the bones to freeze.

I kept walking.

The tour guide gave me some helpful tips: there’s a lot of great places with natural beauty around Nome! The snow and trees and little squat rural houses.

And snow.

I didn’t mind the snow and there were more stars here in this tiny chunk of the world than in all of Massachusetts combined. Nome had a glittering sky that went on in all directions, it was mostly all a big blur to me, but a beautiful one nonetheless.

I use my camera and magnify and magnify, following the path as far as it will go.

I follow it until I find a low hill with a view of the city just behind me, I sit down. I wait.

———————

November 20th.

Nothing on the radio, I call Dr. Bhatia, she says the equipment has returned to normal, though they had to throw out monitor two.

A woman at the local dinner refills my coffee five times and someone buys me a piece of cherry pie.

I pet someone’s Husky malamute in the street and wait.

———————

November 21st.

The sky is so big sometimes I’m afraid it’ll swallow me whole when I look up into it. I start shaking at night, the tear stains pepper down my cheek each morning I wake up.

There is silence at the other end of my radio and I wait. Perhaps there was a lead leak into my local water back in Maine. I dream of mad kings and beautiful pink princesses that never wake up from their enchanted slumber.

————————–

November 22nd.

Someone takes me out snowshoeing and the first winter storm rolls in that night, I don’t see any sky for days.

Linda’s says she’s going to stoke a fire in the common room if I want some strong whiskey and a game of poker. I lose thirty-two bucks that night and any sense of purpose.

“What are you doing here miss?” The man at the poker table asks twice.

I just shrug twice, “I dunno.”

They hum at that and then I lose thirty-three bucks that night.

——————–

November 25th.

The storm clears up and I don’t know how to tell the local residents that I am both Jewish and not here for Christmas. They are having a small parade in the city center nonetheless and every other person I meet tells me to come. I watch a tiny girl bundled up to her neck sing a Christmas carol as high pitched as a silver bell.

I clap, and I wait.

The sky is so large I’m afraid if I don’t hold onto something then it will suck me up into the vast cold above, sometimes I try to let go though and let it happen.

I’m afraid I really have lost my mind.

———————

December 2nd.

“They’ll be an aurora tonight,” Linda tells me that morning and I perk up, just a little bit.

“Oh,” I blink a little bit, “really?”

“I feel it. Yeah, will you still be around for that young lady?”

I hum, “I’ll try. I’ve booked a flight home on Thursday.”

She gives an old wizened smile, “shame. My son really liked your singing voice.”

I wipe my face and adjust my thick glasses, “that’s why I don’t drink whiskey anymore.”

“It’s always nice to have more people out this way!” She wipes the counter down and watches me, “for whatever reason they arrive for.”

I shrug listlessly and give an almost-smile, “early mid-life crisis.”

She chuckles, “hope it was a good one!”

I laugh, “it was.”

I wander around the city all day and hug the first loose dog I see, “do you know where you’re going sir?” I ask the dog as I pet his ears and he laps up my face.

Neither of us has much of an answer.

—————–

December 3rd.

I hear it before I see it. A buzz, a whistle, something like a whisper and a clanking sound all at once. “Told you, stranger!”

A crowd is pointing and picking up cameras, it’s night and I had missed my flight home, I start walking in the opposite direction of the crowd.

The buzzing and chiming increases like a soft caress eating away at me. I look up.

“Texca?” I call out into nothing as I hear it, the something. “Texca.”

There is something pink on the horizon, I start running, my eyes are prickling. I see the same hill I had found the first night I had arrived here.

I stumble and hobble through the snow, climbing and clawing my way to the top as I keep the colors of the night just in front of me. I can see their smears of greens and blues kissing the earth.

I squint and call, my voice rising in the wind. “Are you here!?” I raise my arms up, “were you real…?”

Maybe I already knew the answer. The greens shift to blue and yellow before my eyes, and pink, pink like flowers, pink like cats noses, pink like the universe.

I gasp and see something morph and shape above me, large enough so even I could make it out, large enough to steal my breath away. The night sky was alive with one word: my love.

The tears start freezing on my cheeks as they won’t stop flowing, “it’s been so long.”

I reach my shaking, hungry fingers up and grasp at the light. I see it, a figure, a being, something I couldn’t describe. Maybe we all were made of souls and stardust and perhaps soulmates exist in feral untamed universes.

Even if they must cross the galaxy to meet again.

My fingertips grace over something warm and I am overcome with something morphing out of the nothing. “My love,” a whisper, like a wish and a prayer and the rev of a car engine. “You came.”

I am enveloped in warmth and something drips down my body like melting candle wax, I close my arms and wrap my arms around the light.

“Hello, my love.”

And the sky devours me whole.

------------------------

Support me on Patreon!

WordPress ⭐Ko-Fi ⭐Patreon

[poppibranchlover]

The Queen and the Butterfly II: The Witch’s Curse - Part 6

This story is a sequel to “The Queen and the Butterfly”.

The story: Poppy offers Branch some cupcakes with butterflies in it which turns out to be mysterious. When the two Trolls eat them, they got transformed into butterflies themselves and realize that the cupcakes were actually cursed by an evil witch! Now they must try to find the witch who made those cupcakes and get a cure to get themselves back to normal, while encountering obstacles in the process along the way.

You already seen what had happened in Part 5. Now get ready for Part 6!:

“Bzzzzzzzz! Bzzzz! Bzzzzzzz!”

Poppy and Branch were still sleeping on the plant when two yellow hands emerged from the darkness just above them. They wiggled their finger-like claws as they reached for them and-

SNATCH!!!

“Mmmmmmf! Mmmmmmf!!”

The hands forcefully covered Poppy and Branch’s mouths, instantly waking them up. They tried to realize what is going on until the next thing they knew was that big muscular yellow and black creatures grab them by their hair and force them into two individual sacks!

Poppy and Branch screamed as they try to wriggle free but it didn’t help. The grip on those big guys felt tight! Once they were forced into the sacks, they swung from side to side and scream for help. But their voices were muffled so nobody can hear them scream.

Oh dear! Who has captured them?

Before Poppy and Branch know what is happening, they peeked from the sacks and saw two giant muscular-looking bees looming over them! They force them back inside with their strong big hands, leaving only their little hair sticking out.

“Hey, ya think these cute little pests are what Big B needs?” one bee asked.

“Of course! Like I told you!” the other one said, grinning as he held the sack holding Poppy inside. “These were perfect! Let’s take them back!”

His friend nodded and the two of them flew away from the flower patch and into the distance, holding their sacks containing Poppy and Branch along the way.

The next morning, when Poppy and Branch regained consciousness, they were not in the pink flower field, not in the woods , nor were they at Branch’s underground bunker! When they open their eyes, they were staring at some gooey yellow liquid right in front of them!

Seeing this made them scream! But then they realize they are unable to open their mouths because someone has covered them with white handkerchiefs! Their body and wings are also tied up and there was no chance for both Branch and Poppy to escape!

They struggled to break free but the ropes that held them were too tight! They struggled and struggled until they were completely out of breath. What would they do? Were they tied up here in this miniature roasting spit and forced to stare at the yellow goo puddle for a long time? They stared at one another and exchanged confused glances until they heard buzzing noises around them.

“Bzzzzzzzz! Bzzzz! Bzzzzzzz!”

This time these noises were more louder and fiercer than before! Poppy and Branch cowered in fear as they see a large, fierce wasp coming towards them.

“Bzzzzzzzz! Bzzzz! Bzzzzzzz! BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!”

The wasp wore a wicked smile on his face, laughing at them and talking to them with buzzes. His name was Big B and he was the king of this beehive that his colony lives in and where Poppy and Branch are held captive.

Once again, the two frightened butterflies tried to break free of the ropes as Big B flew closer to them. He looked closer at Poppy and sneered wickedly “Well, aren’t you adorable?”

Poppy whimpered with fright. This is bad...

“Hey, Big B! Sire!” someone called out. The wasp turned away from her and flew to see who was speaking to him, sighing with frustration.

“Can’t you see I’m busy, Dr. Bii?!” he complained.

Dr. Bii was one of the doctor bees of the colony working for the king. He noticed Poppy and Branch tied up in the roasting spit and asked while pointing at them “What are you doing with those creatures?”

“Oh, uh, this is a little project I was doing,” Big B explained. “I was wondering if I can coat colorful insects like those two with honey so we can have them devoured for the colony. Wouldn’t that be great?”

Poppy and Branch made faces. Coat us with honey?

“I...thought so,” Dr. Bii said, nodding. “Not going to lie but it seems like these poor creatures look so scared! Let me try to help comfort them!” He hovered his way to them but Big B leaped in front of him, glaring angrily with his big rear end  right in front of the scared butterflies.

“Are you mad?!” he growled. “Just look at all those colors - you think that's natural? They're infected with ‘Pastelis Coloritis’!”

Dr. Bii gasped in horror, even though he has no idea what that was. It just sounded quite serious.

Branch couldn’t abide the implication that he and Poppy were sick. Why - they were healthy as butterflies! He swung around the metal he was dangling on and struggled. Poppy even did that too, trying to get the ropes off her wings.

Meanwhile, Big B and Dr. Bii are trying to figure out why do bees can get the dreaded “Pastelis Colorities” as the doctor looked into his record pad, searching for clues.

“But this kind of disease doesn’t seem to exist!” he protested. “The colony will be fine!”

“No, they’re not!” the king shouted. “If they eat butterflies, I know they won’t die! But they will if they eat them whole!”

“Why, you’re not going to kill them, aren’t you?” Dr. Bii cried, straightening his glasses.

“I would. But I’ll have them ready once I finish the job!” Big B hovered next to the roasting spit and held the edge of it with his claw. Poppy and Branch frantically shook their heads and screamed through the handkerchiefs. But Big B smirked at them and told them gently “Don’t worry, this would never hurt you...”

Then with a massive push, he pushed the spit down a little, causing Poppy and Branch to descend closer to the rippling puddle of honey! Thinking that they are certainly going to die, they screamed for help as Big B snarled at them “You like it?! Want more?!”

Branch and Poppy shook their heads with fright, refusing to let him make them sink into the bubbling liquid. But all their efforts were in vain. Not a single person heard their voices from inside the hive! Tears rolled down their cheeks and they barely sobbed.

As soon as Branch and Poppy have no strength to shout anymore, Dr. Bii floated to him and protested “Wait! Don’t kill those poor things, sire! Shouldn’t we just focus on examining the honey products instead?”

“Yeah, of course,” Big B replied, his claw still clutching on to the stick of the spit. “But this experiment is one of the products yet to have been made recently.”

Dr. Bii was not pleased at all. It looked as if he was hurting the other bugs. He knew he has to do something.

He floated forward and demanded “Listen here, according to these results on your experiment, it looks like these creatures weren’t infected with "Pastelis Coloritis" at all!” He held up his notepad and showed a chart graph examining the results on the roasting honey spit project Big B is working on.

“Don’t be silly,” he told him. “I’m quite certain they were edible enough for the colony to chow down on.”

“Okay, but it’s not that good.”

Branch and Poppy didn’t like the sound of how they look edible. After all, Bergens used to think Trolls are initially edible as well! They exchanged glances as Poppy asked Branch what to do now. And he mumbled through his handkerchief to tell her to make a fuss and cry for help as loudly as she can. Poppy was afraid this might catch the bees’ attention but he told her to do it so anyway. 

She nodded numbly and took a deep breath. Then, without even thinking, she began wriggling around the spit and struggling to break the ropes again, screaming for help at the top of her voice!

Her cries made Big B and Dr. Bii stop chatting. They stared at the squirming pink butterfly in shock. Big B, now getting more angrier than ever, flew closer to her and shouted “What are you doing?! Trying to escape?!”

Poppy whined through her handkerchief, shaking her head and looking up at him with her eyes growing big. But the giant bee slapped her face hard enough for his claw print to appear on her face! She winced in pain.

Big B pulled her by the hair and said “How can I trust you! If you do this again, you’ll die immediately!”

Poppy had no choice but to keep still for a minute. She mumbled sadly.

“Get everything ready for the banquet!” Big B growled at his doctor servant. “I need to have as many of the honey produced here!”

Branch stared at Poppy. Well, that didn’t work...

Soon another bee barged in. He smiled angrily, exposing his sickly yellow teeth! Poppy and Branch cried out in disgust. This bee looks as ugly as the others in the colony! Eww!

“Thank goodness you’re here, Stinger,” Big B said gratefully.

Stinger leaned in and met the big bee’s eyes. "These butterflies better shoot rainbow lasers out their eyes if they're gonna settle your hive, Big B!” He gestured to a cage behind him. “Let’s load these fellas up!”

Branch and Poppy gasped in horror! Big B and Dr. Bii are going to sell them?! Branch shook his head in disappointment and Poppy has to fan herself with her antenna to get over the shock of it all. What a double-crossing, good-for-nothing tough bee they’ve met in their entire life! That confirmed the next level of distress they were in.

Stinger scrambled over to Poppy. Awestruck at how pretty she was, he puts a hand to her wing. Poppy grimaced.

“Why, aren’t you the most beautiful insect ever? Let me kiss you!” He puckered his lips to bring her face closer for a kiss.

Now this literally drove Branch jealous! Poppy was enraged that she punched Stinger hard using her hair! KA-POW!!!

The force of her long hair knocked Stinger to the ground, unconscious. It was now or never. Poppy had to make sure nobody but Branch would want to kiss her.

Once Stinger was done for good, Big B and Dr. Bii looked in shock. They have no idea this butterfly can do that!

As they rushed over to console him, Poppy reached for her handkerchief using her hair and tore it out of her mouth. She dropped it into the honey puddle and reached for the ropes, using her hair like a pair of scissors. She snipped them one by one very carefully, muttering “Come on, come on...”

Finally, there were no more ropes that were holding her. She was free! She fluttered out of the spit, glad to have escaped!

As she tried to release Branch, Big B saw her escaping and shouted at her “Hey! How did you get out-”

WHAM!!!

Poppy punched him really hard with her hair, knocking him down! Dr. Bii worriedly flew over to console him as well! Now he has two bees to treat!

Branch was amazed. He couldn’t believe this cute little butterfly has suddenly became a ferocious warrior. Then Poppy flew to Branch and took out his handkerchief with her mouth while using her hair to cut out his ropes.

After the ropes were cut out, Branch flapped his wings and spun a bit. Not until he would realize he was spinning like a butterfly too which he was always not fond of but he was happy that Poppy had saved him. The two of them smiled at each other and fluttered away from the chaos.

Meanwhile, Dr. Bii was frantically consoling Big B. He clutched his forehead and asked anxiously “A-are you okay? Any bruises, sire?”

“I’m fine!” Big B said, standing up and groaning. He went to check on Poppy and Branch suspended in the spit once more when he noticed their handkerchiefs and ropes spilled all over the honey puddle!

“They’re GONE?!” he screeched. “How?!”

He glared at Dr. Bii for any answers on how they got out. But he quivered his lip nervously, stating “I guess insects are very smart to get out.”

“Ugh! We can’t let these creatures get away this time!” snarled Big B, looming over the scared doctor bee, who begged him not to do this again this time.

But he wouldn’t listen. He turned to a corner and ordered:

“Assemble the guard troops!”

Dr. Bii panicked and flew off. Big B grinned evilly as he watched an army of muscular bees marching to the opening of the hive. He pointed at where Poppy and Branch were flying at and they saluted and prepare to fly off, giving chase to them.

“Bzzzzzzzz! Bzzzz! Bzzzzzzz! BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!! BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!! BZZZZZZZZ!!”

The angry bee soldiers buzzed angrily as they chase Poppy and Branch around the forest. They tried to get away as fast as they could, flapping their wings and panting. They looked back and screamed as they see them flying closer. This was their one chance to escape! They had to get back to Branch’s bunker as quickly as possible so they can find evidence from the magic cupcakes!

It seems like Branch and Poppy were unable to get through it much longer. They gasped for breath and continued to fly away. Then Poppy noticed a large log below them!

“Quick!” she shouted. “Hide in here!”

She fluttered down to the log and went through a hole under it. Branch followed and they both kept still just as the swarm of bee soldiers flew past the log, buzzing.

“Bzzzzzzzz! Bzzzz! Bzzzzzzz! BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!! BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!! BZZZZZZZZ!!”

“Where did they go?!” cried one of the soldiers.

“Well, they’d better gone off somewhere!” another barked. “Let’s keep looking!”

Finally, the bees flew out of sight. Under the log, Poppy and Branch were trying to catch their breath and breaking down in cold sweat. It was very dark inside the log that only their little eyes are showing inside.

“I think we lost them, Branch,” Poppy panted.

“Yeah, I think so...” he replied, exhausted.

HIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSS!!!!! HIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSS!!!!! HIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSS!!!!!

From around them, harsh raspy hisses echo around the dark. Poppy and Branch jumped back. Were those spiders again?

“Um...Branch,” Poppy told him with a worried look on her face. “Can I hold your wing?”

“Sure...” he murmured. But the hissing kept going on and on. What is happening?

HIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSS!!!!! HIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSS!!!!! HIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSS!!!!!

Branch and Poppy wanted to find out why. So Poppy emitted a pink sparkling light from her hair to reveal who is making those sounds. The light nearly blinded Branch as well but he managed to see where he and Poppy are hiding in.

HIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSS!!!!! HIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSS!!!!! HIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSS!!!!!

Uh oh. Now Poppy and Branch can see where they are surrounded by!

HIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSS!!!!! HIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSS!!!!!

They were surrounded by A SWARM OF SCORPIONS!!!

Poppy and Branch screamed! Then they fluttered out of the log in terror and Poppy turned off her hair torch.

As they kept going, they desperately tried looking for places to hide from deadly predators! It was a nightmare for them! How will they ever find a way to get themselves back to normal in time?

                                                 To Be Continued...

                                              Stay tuned for Part 7!

Quick feedback: Are you glad Poppy and Branch managed to escape those nasty bees in this part?

[rixxy8173571m3w1p3]

September Song (2/3)

I’m sorry @kitten-wrath that this took so long, but I do hope you like it. @hoodoo12 @xerxezra thanks for brainstorming with me. Also, Ice Cream Rick belongs @porkchop-ao3. References to the flowers can be found here (The Language Of Flowers) and pizza rolls here (Sick Day)

Also, special thanks go to @her-victori for reading a majority of my fics in a short span of time. You Rock! As well to random anons who leave me sweet words in my ask box.

If you haven't read the first part of this fic then here's the link. (Read Part1 Here)

In this fic the reader tries to be more reserved and mature for Rick, but what will he think?

______

Chapter 2: These Precious Days

The mom and pop ice cream parlor which could be found at the edge of town offered over twenty flavors and twice as many topping options. Rick thought you'd prefer this quiet atmosphere over the crowd that would've surrounded Ice Cream Ricks truck in the Citadel; he was right. Though it really was a shame since Ice Cream Rick was actually pretty nice. After ordering, you two sat by the window with the best view of a lonely backroad and a white GMC truck.

“I-I-I like that you went for the rainbow jimmies.” Rick commented as he popped a mini gummy bear into his mouth.

“Hmm? Yeah, I like the texture.”

Which was true, but it wasn't the whole truth. You loved sprinkles on just about any dessert they could be placed on. They were fun, colorful, and your dad's favorite topping. They reminded you of good times. You continued. “And they're a classic. Wouldn't you agree?”

“I-I do. Would you say that y-your favorite flavor?”

Savoring the flavor of your chocolate ice cream, you nodded. “Yeah.”

Smiling softly, he seemed to be ruminating on this information, before storing it away and eating a spoonful of his pistachio ice cream. After a little while, he managed to get a bit of it on the side of his mouth, which made you giggle. And because old habits die hard, you picked up a napkin and wiped his face clean. Under your fingertips, his skin had that masculine roughness that came from constant shaving. Of course, you were familiar with it, but these slight reminders that came about by chance never failed to amaze you.

However, you were quick to pull your hand back because he wasn't a fan of public displays of affection, though it seemed to have the opposite effect, with him reaching out and placing your hand back on his cheek, and leaning into it. “I'm glad y-you were able to come with me today.”

Seeing as the shop owner was in the back room, you relaxed a little. “I am too.”

Rick was always a little funny when he got sentimental, which was why it didn't surprise you too much when his eyes bore through you as he said. “Me encanta estar c-contigo.”

“Rick,” you began, wanting to let this facade go and declare every single word of affection your heart felt inclined to say, but just as soon as you thought you were going to crack, you restrained yourself, and simply said. “your ice cream is going to melt.”

Several beats of silence passed, and he acknowledged what you had said, but he went on. “You - I-I sometimes wish I could carry you in my pocket, and have you look after me all the time, but th-that's silly isn't it? It's not realistic, and that w-would be selfish.”

“If it's you, then I don't think it is. While it wouldn't necessarily be practical to miniaturize me and carry me around, isn't the beauty of a relationship knowing that you're always on someone's mind and that they are out there somewhere caring and thinking about you?”

“Certainly, but what I-I meant to say is that it'd be nice if this was our life. If I could keep y-you and if you and me ugh - all th-the time…we - if we….” he faltered, fixing his eyes on something else in the room.

“You don't mean eating ice cream do you?”

With a sigh, he relinquished the hold he had on your hand, “N-no.” and continued to eat his ice cream; resigned, and slightly embarrassed. You couldn't help but feel a slight disappointment. It's not like he wanted to say the magic words. Right?

________

After ice cream, you two visited the bookstore on the corner of Kinder St and Lavue Ave; which had not only a coffee shop but a toy store connected to it. As soon as one entered into it, you were met with the latest best sellers, books on travel and wellness, as well as souvenirs; it was one of few places that didn't bother you if it was cramped. To your left next to the window were those mint boxes which said Adventure Awaits, and it filled you with gladness as picked one up; thinking of little things you'd put in it after all the mints were gone. For his part, Zeta-7 seemed to know exactly what he was going for, disappearing in the back where all the used books were. Not knowing whether to follow or look around, you just did as you pleased.

Past the Keychain holder, above the box of mini hands, you found a Mister Rogers mug. You loved that wholesome old man who used to teach lessons and play with puppets on PBS; Rick reminded you of him too. On the label, it said that when you added hot water to the mug, Mister Rogers would change from a suit jacket into his cardigan. Seeing as Zeta-7 hadn't returned yet, you decided to buy it and continued to look around until he soon returned with an older book in hand. “I-I-I hope I hadn't kept you waiting long.”

Facing the bookshelf, pulling out books that you were mildly interested in, you answered. “I knew you would show up eventually.”

Noticing the stack of books you had, he asked sweetly. “M-m-mi corazón, do you want me t-to hold those books for you? They look a-a little heavy.”

You weren't sure how long you could keep up this facade of being mature and not melting into a puddle everytime he said things like that, with him being as darling as he was. Nonetheless, you nodded and he lightened the burden on your arms.

“Wow,” he brightened. “I-I didn't know you liked Alexandre Dumas.” And picking out another book, he wondered. “Have y-you ever read this?”

“The Man In the Iron Mask? No,” you admitted sadly. “but when I was in high school I did read about a third of The Count of Monte Cristo. I even have a postcard that my old English teacher sent me from Europe that had a picture of one of the buildings that was used in the movie.”

“That's s-s-so cool. Do - do you enjoy classic literature?”

Wholeheartedly, you replied. “Isn't it the best kind?”

“I-I-I don't know,” he softened. “but I don't know what I'd do without them.”

You thought of his home library then, with its eclectic mixture of languages, colors, and topics, and it made you feel warm in your soul. “If your home library tells me anything, it's that you have a healthy appetite for books.”

He glanced at your lips after you said this, but made no attempt to follow whatever thought which might've come to mind. Instead, you two carried on a lengthy discussion on books, how many were a social commentary of the time period, and how they influenced the world you lived in. For once you didn't have to pretend you knew something you didn't, cause you did know. Quite intimately in fact. And within the small spaces between shelves and bodies, where you'd normally feel claustrophobic, you were safe amongst all the friends you had yet to meet amongst the pages, and with Zeta-7 whose warm words and tall body shielded you from the curious eyes of the cashier.

_______________

A stack of books sat quietly in the back seat of his car. Crickets chirped, and there were random feral cats here and there, but there was only you and him as far as you were concerned. September Song by Willie Nelson played on the car radio as he led you into a natural waltz next to the town lake, and moonlight reflected in his eyes. If you hadn't been so afraid of drowning, maybe you would've preferred to dance on the dock, but like this, it felt right.

Oh, it's a long long while

From May to December

But the days grow short

When you reach September

When the autumn weather

Turns leaves to flame

One hasn't got time

For the waiting game

With your head resting on his chest, he hummed along to the melody. More than once you heard a sniffle but assumed it was just Zeta-7 caught up in the moment again.

Oh the days dwindle down

To a precious few. ..

September, November. ..

And these few precious days

I'll spend with you.

These precious days

I'll spend with you.

You thought every day spent with him was precious, and you had to admit that you weren't sure at the beginning of your relationship if it would've worked out, but you were glad that the both of you took a chance, and had been pleasantly surprised ever since. And after all this time, now that it was the fall again, you wondered what the next year and the year after that would be like; the possibilities are endless. However, your train of thought was broken when Zeta-7 stopped dancing and stood there; covering his face, wanting to disappear.

“Rick?”

“I'm - I'm sorry, but I-I-I-I can't do this.”

“Can't do what?”

“I-I-I can't pretend that everything's o-okay. Something's th-the matter isn't it?”

“No there isn't.” you denied.

“Then why are y-y-you so quiet? Are w-we breaking up? Are you - are you leaving me?”

You literally wanted to smack yourself for being such an idiot. “No! Why would you think that?”

Using his phone, he paused the music and passed a hand through his hair in an attempt to calm himself. “Y-y-you haven't been yourself all evening. I thought for a moment that maybe th-things were alright back in the bookstore, but you - I know y-you were holding back. I know how much you love books, and writing is y-y-y-your passion, but you were hesitant in sharing your opinions on either subject. M-mi corazón,” he pleaded, the lines about his forehead and mouth deepening. “please b-be honest with me. Is this it?”

“No, it's not.”

Your plan, which you thought has been working went horribly wrong. So much for trying to act like an adult for once. Man, you only wanted to entice him, which you somewhat succeeded, but because of your stupid games, you'd led him to believe that you were unsatisfied with your relationship. If anything, you were unsatisfied with how you handled this. “Believe me Ricky, you haven't done anything wrong. In fact,” you sighed, your chest aching from the bloom of anxiety. “you've only been sweet and charming. But I….oh, I was only trying to impress you.”

“Huh? Wh-what?”

“Exactly. Whatever I thought I'd accomplish, it…..I only managed to mess it up. Again. You probably wouldn't get it,” Or maybe he would, but you weren't feeling like yourself. “but sometimes I feel like all you did was pull me out of my little bubble so I could wreak havoc. I'm not any different from hundreds of other versions of me, am I? Cause, if I'm like them, then how did I end up with you? How did I get so lucky to be with someone so wonderful? I hope they are happy because I am with you.”

With a hand pressed over his heart, a single tear made its way down his cheek. “M-me too. I'm so happy with you.”

“Somehow, despite all my inadequacies, you want me. I mean, is it stupid to believe that I just wanted to be different from all those other copies? That I just wanted you to think I was mature?”

Zeta-7 looked at you with a wistful hope in his eyes.“No, it's - it's not stupid. You - you did that f-for me?”

“Who else dear honey man of mine? Maybe it can't be helped and I'll just be what I am,” you confessed. “but for a moment I wanted to be different. So I gave myself the look and didn't overreact. And most of all, kept my mouth shut so you wouldn't get bored of my rambling. I know I talk too much.”

“N-no, that's not - have I led you t-to believe you weren't good enough?”

“Not on purpose, but I can't help but feel that way sometimes. We both know I'm not that special. I mean, the only impressive thing I've ever done is eat 37 pizza rolls, and not kill the flowers you gave me. I'm so sorry,” you cried, “I'm sorry you got stuck with an idiot.”

He pulled you in for a tight embrace, smoothing out your hair. “D-don't ever say that.” he cooed. “You're - you're clever, lovely, and always give me something t-t-to smile about.”

“Anyone can do that.”

Pulling back a little, he gave your shoulder a squeeze and softened. “N-no, not at all. Y-you give away dreams, smiles, and kindness. You're reliable, and I-I can trust you. And there is no one in the universe th-that could compare t-to you when it comes to being the perfect woman. If anything, I'm th-the defect here.”

“No, you're perfect Ricky.”

Placing a lock of hair behind your ear, he continued. “I'm glad y-you think so, but this isn't a-about me. You - you dressed up today, in a-a elegant dress that I'd n-never seen before,” and pressing a kiss behind your ear, he whispered with a little gleam of pride in his eyes.. “wearing the perfume I-I-I made you. Smelling like a-a dream.”

Again, how anyone considered this charmer a doofus you'd never know. “I had been saving it for a special occasion.”

“Everyday with you is - is special.”

“Oh Rick. That's…thank you.”

Pointing at your feet, “And I noticed that you're closer t-t-to my height today, but your feet must be hurting by now. Would y-you like to take them off?”

Oh, your feet were screaming. And now that you weren't pretending, you slipped out of your shoes which made you lose about four inches. Picking up your shoes and shoes and dusting them off, he continued. “That must feel better. I-I-I had to wear heels for a case once. It ugh - it's not practical when y-y-you have to run.”

“Right? I don't see how other women do it, cause I can't. I'm not even sure why I own them. I should just burn those things.”

You'd say it was half relief, half joy that made him laugh wholeheartedly at this, and you didn't see how it could be so funny. You poked him and pouted, and he delighted in this. “See?” he chuckled, looking at you in that funny way he did from time to time.

“See what?”

“This. This is th-the girl I fell in love with,” he stated matter of factly. “the one who likes t-to be comfortable, speaks her mind and prefers those jeans with th-the rip on the side. Not to mention those graphic t-shirts. Or cute pj's.”

Your breath caught a little at this confession. How could the smartest man in the universe adore an impertinent person like you? Maybe the same way you could love the smartest man; you just do. In your girlish voice, you said. “I only wanted you to be proud of me.”

Holding you a fraction tighter, he pressed a light kiss to your temple and chuckled sweetly. “Y-you already do princess. Today y-you made an effort for me, and that's impressive, but honestly, I want you t-t-to be comfortable and dress up how y-you like. You as yourself is what impresses me, because you have s-s-so much spirit, and I - that's what makes y-you gorgeous.”

This time you didn't even try to hide your blush.

“Oh Rick, hearing you say that really does make me feel silly. Why did I do this to myself? What was I thinking?”

“I believe y-you're still trying to figure it all out like the rest of us, and I can't get mad at you for th-that because you're wonderfully human. You had good intentions, and th-that's what counts.”

“Can you forgive me?”

“I al-already have.”

TBC

[theboldplant-blog]

10 Hard-to-Kill Houseplants!

Houseplants are awesome, but some are just more difficult to take care of than others. Below is a list of 10 of some of the easiest plants to care for indoors.

Snake Plant (Sansevieria):

Lighting: Snake plants grow in a variety of lighting conditions. They prefer bright, indirect light but can withstand low light levels.

Soil Conditions: They prefer good, well-drained soil but can handle dry and poor soil.

Watering: Snake plants are sensitive to overwatering, so make sure to let the soil dry out between waterings.

Fertilizer: Lightly fertilize during the growing season with an all-purpose plant food.

-Snake plants have distinct stiff, upright foliage. The leaves are flat and can grow anywhere from 1 to 8 feet tall, depending on the variety. This plant is one of the hardest plants to kill. Not only are they so easy to care for, but they also purify the air in your house! According to NASA’s recent study, snake plants remove benzene, formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, and xylene from the air. In the right conditions, snake plants will even bloom!

Jade Plant (Crassula Ovata):

Lighting: Jade plants need full sun to grow properly. If they receive too little sun, they can become stunted and leggy.

Soil Conditions: Do not let the soil dry out completely between waterings.

Watering: Do not overwater, instead water when the first inch to two inches of the soil is dry.

Fertilizer: Fertilize about every six months with a water soluble fertilizer. Only use fertilizer when the soil is wet; fertilize after watering as normal.

-Jade plants are a branched, succulent shrub. They have thick, woody stems and glossy green leaves. Not only are jade plants easy to care for, they are easy to propagate. From one jade plant, you can grow multiple. They can look like miniature trees as they age, but some pruning may be required.

Pothos (Epipremnum Aureum):

Lighting: Pothos are very tolerant and will do well in bright and indirect light as well as low light.

Soil Conditions: They can grow in soil or a jar of water. Just remember that they don’t do well when transferring from one medium to the other.

Watering: If growing in soil, they prefer that the soil dries out between waterings.

Fertilizer: The plants can be fertilized every three months, but they still grow quickly without being fertilized. If grown in water, liquid fertilizer should be added to supply the plant with the necessary nutrients they typically absorb from soil.

-Pothos have large, thick leaves and grooved stems. They are a vining plant and are beautiful when hung or placed on a high shelf. They grow different types of roots depending on the medium they are planted in. That’s why they don’t do very well when transferred from one medium to another.

Rubber Plant (Ficus Elastica):

Lighting: Rubber plants need lots of bright, indirect sunlight.

Soil Conditions: They do best in well-draining and aerated soil. They should be planted in a pot with drainage holes.

Watering: In summer, rubber plants should be kept moist. The leaves should be wiped down with a damp cloth or misted regularly. In winter, they need less water and may only require to be watered once or twice a month.

Fertilizer: Fertilize the plant during the growing season.

-Rubber plants, or rubber trees, can be kept medium sized or allowed to become full indoor trees. They are a tropical plant, and therefore should be kept inside in colder climates. The plant has shiny and thick oval shaped leaves. Rubber plants hold a milky white sap in its stems and leaves. This sap is irritating when eaten or allowed to sit on skin or get in a cut. Not only is it poisonous, but it can stain fabric and furniture. 

Aloe (Aloe Barbadensis/Aloe Vera):

Lighting: Aloe needs bright, indirect sunlight.

Soil Conditions: It should be planted in cactus potting soil or a similar well-draining soil. It should be planted in a pot with drainage holes.

Watering: Aloe cannot tolerate standing water. Therefore, it should be watered when the soil is completely dry. When watering, the soil should be completely drenched, and the excess water should be allowed to drain out of the pot.

Fertilizer: You can fertilize the plant once a year in the spring, but it is not typically necessary.

-Aloe has thick, pointed and fleshy green leaves which are full of slimy tissue. It is a popular medicinal plant. It is best known for treating skin injuries, but it also has many other benefits. The gel contains vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and antioxidants. It has antibacterial properties, and it accelerates the healing of burns. It can reduce dental plaque, help treat canker sores, reduce constipation, may prevent wrinkles, lowers blood sugar levels, and much more.

Spider Plant (Chlorophytum Comosum):

Lighting: Spider plants prefer bright, indirect light, but will also do fine in low light.

Soil Conditions: They are not fussy when it comes to soil, as long as it is well-draining.

Watering: Allow the soil to dry out between waterings. Spider plants are sensitive to overwatering and susceptible to root rot.

Fertilizer: Fertilize the plant three to four times a year during the growing season.

-Spider plants are also known as the airplane plant. They have long, grass-like foliage, and often have a white stripe down the edges or middle of the leaves. In response to increasing daylight, they produce small white flowers. They grow well in containers or hanging baskets. Just like the snake plant, spider plants are also good as purifying toxins out of the air. They can filter formaldehyde, xylene, and toluene.

English Ivy (Hedera Helix):

Lighting: English ivy likes bright, indirect light. If it doesn’t receive enough light, the leaves grow smaller and further apart. If it receives too much direct sunlight, the leaves can get sunburned.

Soil Conditions: Ivy needs rich, well-drained soil.

Watering: Let the top couple inches of soil dry out before watering. If you are noticing crispy leaves, that is a sign of overwatering.

Fertilizer: It doesn’t typically need fertilizer, but you can fertilize it twice a year during the growing season.

-Ivy is a climbing plant. It can be used as a screen to cover unsightly views behind a fence. It can also be used to cover an unattractive wall or structure. English Ivy is another plant named by NASA to be useful at filtering the air. It can absorb toxins such as formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, and benzene.

Mass Cane (Dracaena Massangeana):

Lighting: Mass cane grows best in bright, indirect light. It can stand low light, but the growth will be slower.

Soil Conditions: It should be planted in well-draining soil.

Watering: Mass canes should remain relatively dry between waterings. When watering, make sure soil is thoroughly soaked with excess water allowed to drain from the pot.

Fertilizer: Fertilize with an all-purpose plant food about once a month during the growing season.

-Mass cane is also known as the “Corn plant.” It is a slow-growing, slow-reacting plant. This means that it may take weeks for signs of over or under watering to show. Mass cane plants are characteristically sold as staggered canes with multiple heads sprouting on each cane. The leaves typically have a bright yellow stripe running down the center of them.

ZZ Plant (Zamioculcas Zamiifolia): 

Lighting: ZZ plants do best in moderate to bright, indirect light, but they will also do just fine in very low light conditions. Be careful because direct sunlight can easily burn its leaves.

Soil Conditions: Plant them in pots with drainage holes and well-draining soil.

Watering: Less is more with this plant. Water only when the soil has dried out. They can survive months without water, but grow faster when watered regularly.

Fertilizer: ZZ plants don’t need to be fertilized, but if you want, you can give them half-strength fertilizer once to twice a year during the growing season. 

-ZZ plant stems start at a thick and bulbous base and grow upward in a wand-like shape. Their leaves are dark green and oval shaped. The whole plant has a waxy coating, making it resemble that of an artificial plant. ZZ plants are nearly indestructible. They are ideal for those people who tend to forget about their plants for long-periods of time. Because they do well in extremely low light levels, they are perfect for windowless offices or bathrooms with only small amounts of fluorescent light.

Succulents:

Lighting: Succulents love light, and need at least a half day to a full day of direct sunlight. Place them near a window or in the room of your house that receives the most light.

Soil Conditions: They should be planted in pots with drainage holes and well-draining soil. Typically, a cactus potting soil mix will do the trick.

Watering: Succulents are sensitive to overwatering. Because they store water in their leaves, they only need to be watered once every week to a couple of weeks. The soil should be allowed to dry out between waterings. When watered, the soil should be thoroughly soaked, with excess water allowed to drain from the pot.

Fertilizer: They don’t need regular fertilizing, but they will grow fuller and with brighter colors if fertilized regularly. Low strength fertilizer can be used every few months. Be sure not to use a fertilizer that is too strong because it can burn your succulents.

-Succulents have thick, fleshy leaves. They come in a variety of colors and shapes depending on the species. They originate from areas with arid climates. Because of this, they love light and have adapted to store water in their leaves. Succulents are another type of plant that love to be left alone. Not only are they easy to care for, but they are also beautiful and, in the right conditions, many of them bloom!

 *If you have kids or pets be sure to keep them safe and double check which plants are poisonous when ingested! If you have fallen in love with a poisonous plant, make sure to keep it up high and away from those who may try and eat it.

[biophytopharm]

Information on Herbs: Medicinal, Culinary, and Homeopathic Uses

Information on Herbs: Medicinal, Culinary, and Homeopathic Uses

All of us know what oregano, parsley, garlic, and coriander are....right? They are herbs. But what many people do not know is that herbs are also used for healing. Just 20 years ago, growing herbs was the exclusive province of a few dedicated herbal connoisseurs who often had to order plants by mail from specialists in places as far away as Europe. Given the vagaries of international mail, it is well that herbs are now much more widely available locally, assuming as they do their rightful place amongst the petunias, marigolds, and tomatoes on the annual spring shopping list for the garden. The emphasis today is on the fresh use of herbs. in the freshly picked state, many herbs such as parsley, tarragon, rosemary, basil, and chives are vastly superior to the dried stuff from your neighborhood grocer. Tod aym no self-respecting chef at any of Toronto's best restaurants would dream of being without a regular fresh supply, and some even go to the extreme of installing their own rooftop garden or indoor hydroponic garden. Mystique of herbs Despite the mystique of herbs that lingers from the days when peppercorns were more valuable than gold or when basil was associated with the demons and witches, herbs are remarkably uncomplicated and undemanding as garden subjects go. For one thing, they are often weedy in their natural habitats, and although none of the most popular herbs are natives of Canada, they will grow quite happily in most places where there are at least four hours of exposure to the sun and where the soil drains well. The more sun, however, the better, for the natural essential oils in the leaves become more pronounced in strong light, and it is these oils that give many herbs their exquisite aromas and flavors. If your soil is s heavy clay, then dig in plenty of sand and peat moss to improve drainage and friability. The garden should be dug and prepared for planting when all risk of frost has passed. Some thought should be invested in the placement of a new herb garden, for although it could be treated as a vegetable garden - dug up and planted wholesale each year - many herbs are hardy perennials in the Toronto area and easily become permanent fixtures if encouraged. Close proximity to the kitchen is an important consideration so that fresh herbs are always near at hand whenever the culinary creative juices flow. Not much space is needed: In just a few square feet near the back door, a half a dozen different kinds of herbs could grow. Even apartment dwellers have no excuse for alack of fresh herbs because herbs are quite content to grow in planters on balconies. When you go shopping for herb plants there is one thing to keep in mind: Many plants sold in the Toronto area are mass-produced from seeds. Starting herbs indiscriminately from seeds is a convenience for the commercial grower, but the practice is not always int he best interest of the consumer since several important herbs such as tarragon and mint are better grown from cuttings. Seed-grown tarragon and mint are completely devoid of the aromas and flavors we have come to associate with those herbs. when in doubt, don't be afraid to squeeze a leaf or two (even surreptitiously!) and if they don't smell right, don't buy. Here is a shortlist of herbs to get for your back door her garden: Basil: There are dozens of varieties, but the most popular are the large-leaved and the Italian miniature bush varieties. Absolutely essential for pesto and tomato dishes of all kinds. Chives: Of two kinds: the regular onion-like variety and the very popular flat-leaved garlic chives. Both are hardy perennials. Coriander: Fresh leave coriander is a keynote flavor in Latin American and Oriental cuisines. The common variety is best seeded directly in the garden and harvested at an early stage, with repeat sowings as is necessary to maintain supply. Annual. Dill: For fresh leaves, it needs to be seeded directly in the garden at regular intervals and cut early like coriander. For pickling, use flowers and seed-heads of older plants. Annual. Oregano: Most oregano sold is grown from the wrong seeds. Be sure you get the Greek variety with the strong, spicy aroma. Beware of oregano that has little flavor, and watch out for savory (a lovely herb in its own right) masquerading as oregano in some places. With protection, it survives as a perennial. Parsley: The curled-leaf type is well known for garnishing, but those in the know much prefer the flat-leaved Italian variety, which has more flavor. Treat as an annual. Tarragon: The only true French variety has the characteristic sweet flavor reminiscent of licorice, and it cannot be grown from seeds. With good soil drainage, it survives our winters quite well. Thyme: The common spice-rack thyme is either the English or French cultivar. Both are perennials, but English is a little harder. Lemon thyme is a radical, but an irresistible departure from the common types, terrific on baked seafood and in tea. Herbs and Healing First off, I issue a warning. As with all health matters, PLEASE consult a doctor before undergoing any medical treatments prescribing herbal products. Some herbal products do not mix with each other and some do not mix with pharmecuticals. The Importance of Proper Diagnosis Lately, there has been a renewed interest in one of the world's oldest systems of healing, herbal or botanical medicine, a.k.a. phytomedicine. With the advent of modern technology and the information superhighway, people from all walks of life have been looking for and finding more and more proof that there is really something to "holistic" healing. The modern pharmacy has been in existence for only 1% of the time that man has been preparing medicines. During this brief period, man has redefined these things we call drugs as a refined or synthetic chemical, concentrated and identified. But there is plenty of evidence to show that this purification method is the inevitable prequel to deriving a pure toxic drug from a harmless medicinal plant. As a matter of fact, at this point in time, approximately 25%-40% of all prescription drugs are derived from plants. The word "drug" comes from the medieval German word "rogue," which means a dry herb. Many of you may have taken an herb or vitamin recommended by a friend or retail store clerk, and felt that nothing happened, nothing changed or improved. At this point, you possibly dismissed the whole field of holistic or natural medicine as a hoax. On the other hand, some of you have probably taken the recommended natural product and have had amazing results. The practice of herbal medicine is not simply a matter of going to a store and choosing some remedy that some company tells you to buy. This may be safe and effective in some cases, but when it comes to the majority of health problems seen in practice today one should ideally be properly trained and qualified to make correct diagnoses first, then prescribe the appropriate herbal combination for that specific condition. So how do you make herbs work for you? What are the proper procedures for using these medicinal plants and getting the maximum effect in the shortest amount of time? And what criteria should you use to know when treatment is clinically effective? If you need something for your depression that is natural and herbal, the typical knee jerk - reflex would be to reach for some St. John's Wort. This would be analogous to taking an aspirin for your headache. St. John's Wort may temporarily alleviate the symptom of depression but may have to be taken on a continual basis and still may not necessarily address the "root" of the problem. This example illustrates how important it is to recognize the accuracy of proper diagnosis for the treatment of disease. Importance of Herb Quality

The practice of herbal medicine is not simply a matter of going to the store and choosing a product off a shelf of 200 brand names. This may be safe and effective in some cases, but when it comes to choosing what will work best for you, you must question the quality of the herbal product you are buying. Quality has always been of paramount importance. The source or origin of the herbs used will frequently be the deciding factors as to whether an herb is effective or not. Taste is one method of determining quality since high-quality herbs are often strong-testing and hard on the palate. But you can't sample them off the shelf, and additives can mask the taste of many herbs. Quality today is quite another story. There are many unscrupulous companies out there selling vitamin and herbal supplements, manufactures misidentified and/or adulterated botanical raw materials for distribution and sale. It is not uncommon to see among poor quality herbs, adulteration of a root, seed, leaf, or flower with a stem of the plant, the stem has no medicinal qualities and dilutes the beneficial efforts of the herb. These features can be examined under the microscope and the quality of a medicinal plant can be determined by the microscope plant structures with the plant part in question. Fifteen years ago in America, there were two options if you wanted to use herbs to enhance your health available to you. The first was to grow your own herb garden and make teas. The other was to locate a trustworthy supplier of herbal tinctures or capsules, In either case, you were using the whole herb to obtain a "balancing effect" within your body. In other words, the herbs weren't just treating a symptom, they were correcting the underlying imbalance in the body that was causing the symptom. It represented the ultimate in holistic medicine. This was also herbal medicine the way nature had intended. Whole herbs contain hundreds of different components that work synergistically to achieve positive effects and minimize negative ones. A good example is white willow bark, the whole herb source from which aspirin is derived. White willow bark does not cause the gastrointestinal bleeding and other problems that aspirin does because it contains other compounds that temper these effects. Because herbs were actually correcting problems, not just suppressing symptoms, it was generally understood that treating a problem with herbs might take a little longer than treating it with drugs. The drug companies knew that this was the "Achille's heel" of many herbal treatments. People wanted instant results, and in this regard whole herbs just couldn't compete with powerful drugs. Things began to change around the early 1980s, when there seemed to be an increase in public awareness of natural medicines, for the first time, people could easily research health problems on their own. They were no longer relying on doctors to prescribe drugs, many of which had proven to be ineffective and riddled with side effects. By the end of the 80s, there was overwhelming public demand for things like vitamins and herbal products. Sterilization When plants or other forms of natural ingredients are harvested they are naturally contaminated with all sorts of microorganisms including E-Coli and Salmonella. Both are pathogens, they cause disease. Most manufacturers insist that the final blend be sterilized prior to use to eliminate or lower the Bio-Burden. Sterilization even-though necessary creates a major problem. The two most common methods of sterilization are Ethylene Oxide and Radiation. Ethylene Oxide is a known carcinogen and residues are likely to be left in the product. Radiation appears to violate the principle of "all-natural," and would disturb many who turn to these products to get away from conventional chemical drugs and all their side effects. The consumer has been kept in the dark, and the companies continue to promote their products as all-natural. The Use of Toxic Solvents The ingredients in this discussion are derived from plants, herbs, spices, either the leaves, root or some part of the plant or tree, that come from various sources where there are no controls over the soil, air or the pesticides used. Due to these factors, there needs to be a test done to ensure that a particular dose does not contain more toxic residues or harmful contaminants than the active ingredient. For example, Antioxidants are for the purpose of ridding the body of free radical and harmful toxins. These products are derived from grape seed or pine bark and must go through a purification and reduction process. Those processes use chemicals to accomplish these tasks. The chemicals used are Acetone, Ethyl Acetate, Methylene Chloride, Ethyl Alcohol, and Buty; Alcohol. Throughout these sterilization processes, the product is exposing you to more toxic chemicals than it is purposed to remove. Bioavailability When you examine a label of a product, the ingredients such as Magnesium, selenium, Manganese, Zinc, Chromium, and iron, adjacent to this list, the % of U.S. Recommended Daily Allowances are listed. If the amount of Chromium listed was 35 milligrams and the RDA was 35 milligrams, the consumer would assume that they are getting 100% of the RDA by using the product. Upon closer examination, when the iron is listed, for example, in parenthesis there is a small "Fe" which doesn't mean a lot to the consumer, but this indicates that the iron in the product is actually Ferrous Oxide, a chemical substitute for iron. Iron as "Fe" is not bio-available as natural iron. "Fe" has only 1% bio-availability. This means that the body can only absorb 1% of the required daily allowance. Chromium is listed as "chromium/chromium polysilicon", once a chemical substitute for Chromium and its bio-availability is less than 5%. Selenium is listed as "Sodium Selenate" a chemical substitute for Selenium. Zinc is listed as "Glutconate" another chemical substitute for the real thing. Bio-availability of these chemicals are virtually nonexistent. The Issue of Standardization (The Drug Version of Herbs) The rationale currently being used for standardizing herbs is that it will "correct" the slight chemical variations that occur in each plant due to soil composition, the amount of rainfall they receive, their age, the time of day or season of the year they are harvested, how they are stored, etc... The general assumption is that by using various techniques to ensure that each product has the same amount of active ingredients, the therapeutic results will be more consistent. In theory, standardization sounds plausible and perhaps even preferred, but in reality, it opens up a whole new can of worms. Standardization does not necessarily mean consistency across products. At present, there are no universally accepted methods or legal definition of standardizing herbal products. Ten different manufacturers can (and do) "standardize" the same herb using totally different criteria and manufacturing process. There are three methods generally used to standardized herbal products. One is to dissolve certain active components in a solvent (such as alcohol) to make a tincture. Another method is to blend various batches of herbs together in hopes of getting a more consistent product. The third and cheapest way is referred to as "spiking" a product. In this case, either the active component or synthesized version is added to a base of herbs or other grounded up substances. The end product may not contain any of the initial herb at all, but when checked in a lab it will show it has been "standardized" to contain just the right amount of the active component. The more ethical suppliers steer clear of this shady method. Active Ingredients do not always determine the effectiveness of an herb. Scientists are learning more about herbal compounds each day, and often what they uncover renders previous data obsolete. St. John's Wort is a prime example. For the longest time, scientists believed that hypericin was the sole ingredient that gave St. John's Wort its antidepressant properties. That's why everyone standardizes the herb for hypericin content. But it was recently discovered that other components such as hyper inform are equally responsible for the herb's mood-altering abilities. A similar situation occurred with the herbs valerian and echinacea. It was originally thought that the active ingredient responsible for valerians calming powers was valerenic acid, but later research showed that other compounds produced those effects. Echinacea was being standardized to contain the chemicals called echinacoside, when in fact it was the alkylamines, glycoproteins, and polysaccharides that gave the herb its immune-boosting properties. Products that are "spiked" or made with low-quality herbs likely don't contain any of these other essential components. Standardized herbal products are not more advanced versions of whole herbs. Whole herbs have been used for prevention and treatment of illness for literally thousands of years, and are the primary form of medicine for many cultures around the world today. Standardized forms of these herbs should in no way be considered a substitute for or an improvement on whole herbs. If we allow this misperception to continue, we'll lose the safest and most enduring form of medicine man has ever known. Again, St. John's Wort is a good example. The standardized herb has become so popular for treating depression that it's now tough to find the whole, UNSTANDARDIZED form. As a result, the public is completely missing out on the herbs other benefits that traditional herbalists have known about for decades. While St. John's Wort can be used in teas poultices and tinctures to treat kidney problems, bronchitis, vitiligo, painful menstrual cramps, gastritis and stomach ulcers, nerve pain, recurrent ear infections, gout, and open wounds. Whole and Standardized Uses to Enhance Your Life: Basically the goal is not to denounce standardized herbs, however, do replace them, instead of whole herbs. They both have merits, and both have a place in modern medicine. Standardized herbs should be used to help correct acute health problems and achieve very specific results. Using standardized valerian to counteract stress or insomnia is a good example. Whole Herbs should be used on a very regular basis to protect and preserve good health. Think of green tea. Many cultures around the world drink a few cups of it each day to prevent cancer and other types of degenerative disease. By using the whole plant, you're taking advantage of the synergy of all the plant's components.

Homeopathics Homeopathic: The smallest amount of anything. Homeopathy - is a system of natural medicine that treats illness by the stimulation of the body's own healing powers. Homeopathy gently encourages the body to do more of what it is already doing to heal itself. Homeopathy has the added advantage of using micro-doses, which means that there are no side effects and no risk of toxicity. Homeopathic therapy has three underlying rules: Any pharmacologically active substance can cause a set of symptoms in an otherwise healthy individual. Anyone suffering from a particular disease presents a set of symptoms that is characteristic of that disease. A remission of the symptoms can be obtained by administration of a small quantity of the substance whose experimental effects are similar to the symptoms of the patient. Everyone is encouraged to do an allergy test before using any product. amzn_assoc_placement = "adunit0"; amzn_assoc_search_bar = "true"; amzn_assoc_tracking_id = "gardensnurs0b-20"; amzn_assoc_search_bar_position = "bottom"; amzn_assoc_ad_mode = "search"; amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; amzn_assoc_marketplace = "amazon"; amzn_assoc_region = "US"; amzn_assoc_title = "Shop Related Products"; amzn_assoc_default_search_phrase = "medicinal herbs"; amzn_assoc_default_category = "All"; amzn_assoc_linkid = "4fa3d6fc30fc9ac914d969a956aaefea"; Follow us: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || ).push({}); Read the full article

[fire-bear]

Shipwreck

Warnings: There are dead bodies but I don’t really describe them.

Arthur's family lived very close to what they called the Valley of the Dead. No dead merfolk were actually there, of course; instead, it was what they called the place where broken boats from above settled after sinking. Some of the human bodies, trapped within the rooms of the ships as they went down, would bob in the valley, shifting with the currents, trapped in tangled seaweed. It was a rather eerie place and while most merfolk feared it, Arthur loved it.

Because, when he had first been dared to go into the valley, he had entered a ship to prove himself and found treasure.

Most of the ships had fading flags with skulls and bones on them and those usually held the more sparkly things. Some of the items were tarnished from the sea water but Arthur kept them, hoarding them away in a small cave as far from his family as he was willing to go. Every time Arthur entered the valley, something new and exciting glinted at him, summoning him down to wrest it free from the mud or a box or where it lay on the roof of a ship. He found elegant swords and heavier swords and tiny little swords which seemed to pair with miniature four-pronged tridents and bowls-on-sticks. There were shimmering cloths which he could wrap around himself. Once he'd found a large hat and had paraded in front of his family with it on, delighting in the feeling of being important. Goblets and plates with strange jewels set in them instead of shells fascinated Arthur and he often dropped some as he tried to carry home as many as he could. The more he explored, the more he found and his cave was soon full to the brim. His brothers often told him he'd never fit anything else in there but he always made room.

One day, Arthur decided to go to the valley again, keen to explore one of the older ships. He'd need to be careful, of course, since it was closer to shark territory and in danger of falling to pieces. So he slid his knife into the scabbard on his hunting belt, made sure the pouch was securely attached and swam off, bidding his family a cheerful farewell.

As he swam into the valley, he dodged the numerous bodies he had seen before, darting between them. He was so intent on avoiding contact with the humans that he almost didn't spot odd movement ahead. But a flicker out of the corner of his eye finally caught his attention and he stopped among a throng of four bodies, tangled in nets of some sort. Shocked, Arthur watched another merperson swimming into the valley from beyond the limits of his town. That meant that the merperson was from a different town, one who could be hostile to his own neighbours and family. Frowning, he watched the merperson head further into the valley, heading in the same direction as Arthur had been going. Quickly, he rolled his way past the immediate obstacles and raced after the merperson, eyes narrowed.

Just as he suspected his luck would be, the merperson was headed straight for the same ship as him. Whoever it was halted several tail-lengths from the ship, merely looking at it. Arthur swam up behind him, keeping his movements to a minimum. As he got closer, he noticed that the merperson's scales were grey and, on his back, stopped at the waist except for a smattering of scales which came down from his shoulders.

Deciding not to let this merperson get away with any of his treasure, Arthur said, "Hey!" Startled, the merperson turned and swam backwards, letting out a high-pitched shriek. It was an instinctual thing and should have called any merperson in the area to his aid but the wood of the ship and the deep walls of the valley deadened it. While the merperson calmed themselves with a hand to their chest, Arthur looked them up and down, hands on his hips.

The merperson was a merman. He had white hair long enough to float around his head in a silvery halo which looked soft. In contrast, his eyes were the red of a particular type of coral Arthur had growing outside his house and seemed piercing, as if he was particularly perceptive. From his hips, his scales grew up in a 'v' shape till they reached his shoulders and disappeared over them. As well as having the lean muscles most mermen had due to their swimming, he also had strong arms and may have been one of the professional hunters of his village.

"Who are you?" Arthur demanded, brow furrowing further.

"Uh..." The merman stared at Arthur, particularly at his chest. Arthur didn't need to glance down to know that he was staring at his own green scales and the way they had grown in a thin line up to his heart until they had bloomed like some sort of underwater flower. Then the merman shook his head, took a breath and said, "I'm Gilbert. Who're you?"

"I'm Arthur and that's my ship," he declared.

Gilbert snorted. "Really? Because, ah, I thought that humans owned ships."

Scowling, Arthur swam closer, jabbing a finger at him. "I decided to explore this ship days ago. You are not going to spoil this for me."

"I can do what I want," Gilbert retorted. "You can't make me leave – unless you want to duel for it?"

Duelling to the death, a worldwide merfolk tradition, didn't sound appealing. But this merman was going to steal his treasure! Arthur gave it some thought, glowering at Gilbert who smirked back at him. Now that he'd stopped to consider it, he supposed that there might not be anything worthy of collecting from the wreck: without that certainty, he wasn't going to duel. However, there was no way of being sure that Gilbert wouldn't snatch a jewel or shiny necklace from his hands if he did find something.

He pointed at the ship, making a slashing motion. "We'll each take half of the ship. You stay to the front and I'll go to the back. Agreed?"

For a moment, Gilbert pouted, head tilted to the side in thought, hands on hips. "Okay," he finally said.

They stared at each other for a moment. Eventually, slowly, cautiously, they turned to the ship and began to swim towards it. Arthur kept an eye on Gilbert but the merman kept sticking his tongue out at him whenever he looked over so he soon stopped.

As they drew closer, Arthur looked over the ship and noted several holes dotted across its surface, on top and on its side and probably below as well. Its bouyant material was clearly rotten, like the bodies still trapped there. Cloth drooped from large, felled sticks upon the roof and the largest had sunk into the roof, splitting the ship roughly in half.

"That bit there is the middle," Arthur told Gilbert, pointing it out. "Don't go past it. And be careful – I don't want you bringing the thing down on top of me."

"Don't worry about me," Gilbert replied, pointedly. He winked at Arthur who sent him a disgusted look. Shrugging his shoulders, he turned from Arthur and began to swim towards a large hole at the pointed bit of the ship. "Whatever. See you later, Seaweed."

"'Seaweed'?!" growled Arthur, starting after him. When he heard Gilbert's laughter, however, he spun gracefully around and towards a smaller hole in the side of the ship, just large enough for him to swim through.

On the other side, Arthur found himself in a room full of what his mother had once told him were cannons. Large, dull balls lay in odd places across the room and Arthur darted around them, careful not to touch anything. Just as he reached a door to another part of the ship, he heard a dull thud which reverberated around him. Startled, he turned to see if he'd knocked anything over. Upon realising that he hadn't, he sighed Evidently, Gilbert had been the one to knock something over.

After listening for a moment, Arthur decided that, since he couldn't hear Gilbert calling out for help, it was safe to continue on his search.

Oddly, Arthur expected to see Gilbert when he left the ship that day, leaving his search half-done as he'd both found more than he could fit into his pouch and had realised that it was getting late. Even as he left the ship, he could feel the currents shift, signalling that night was drawing in. He was still trying to close his pouch (some sort of ornamental thing with a clasp at the back was poking out) when he stopped and looked back at the ship. There was no sign of Gilbert.

He's probably gone home, Arthur told himself, and he hurried to the cave he kept his treasures in.

Now that he knew that there were necklaces and coins in various shiny colours strewn across a room in the ship, he excused himself from his family the very next day and returned to the it. When he got there, he knew it was around the same time he'd gotten there the day before. Was Gilbert coming back? Maybe he had the whole ship to himself and could take a look in the other half of the ship. He was also curious as to what Gilbert had knocked over the day before: it had sounded rather big. Without making a conscious decision, he began to drift to the larger hole. With a last furtive look around, he decided there would be no harm in going in – after all, Gilbert wasn't his town's elder so Arthur could do as he liked.

So down he went, making a graceful loop up and over before diving straight down. He almost crashed head-first into a cannon and stopped himself at the last moment. Looking around, he realised that he seemed to be in a continuation of the room from the day before. Instead of a door, though, there was a jagged hole, obstructed by one of the cannons. Arthur grimaced at the thought of having to move it and wondered why Gilbert had pushed it back when he left.

However, he was soon proved wrong in his assumptions as he swam closer and noticed a dark form lying on the ground. Frowning, he moved closer. His eyes widened as he reached the cannon, gasping as he picked up speed.

Lying quite still, tail fin trapped by one of the cannon's wheels, was Gilbert. Since he hadn't reacted to Arthur's presence, Arthur presumed that he was unconscious. He flitted between Gilbert's head and the cannon, wondering what he should do. Help him? Leave him there and get help? Would his townspeople want to help him? Sometimes, the different towns of merfolk had wars and Gilbert was likely from one they'd fought before. If he rolled the cannon away but lost control of it, would they both be trapped?

Finally, his constant movement made Gilbert stir. He stilled, staring at him, watching him wake. Slowly, Gilbert blinked open those red eyes, hazy from pain and disorientation. Arthur watched confusion cross his face before he pushed himself up. In that instant, he pulled on his tail – and yelled in pain. Quickly moving forward, Arthur grabbed Gilbert by the shoulders and pushed him back down.

"Shush, shush," he said, hurriedly. "You're stuck, you idiot. I told you to be careful!"

Clearly, the pain had been too much because Gilbert blinked at him and then smiled. Arthur froze, staring at such a happy, beautiful expression – and it was directed at him. "Artie," Gilbert murmured.

"It's Arthur," he corrected him. "And you're clearly delusional with pain. Can you hear what I'm saying?"

But Gilbert was clearly more out of it than Arthur had thought. Perhaps he had been waking, moving and causing himself pain over and over for an entire day. Perhaps the tail had been seriously damaged. Whatever the reason, Arthur could only stare as Gilbert lifted a hand to the scales on his chest and trail his fingers over the pattern there. "So pretty," Gilbert muttered – and promptly fainted, floating down to lie on the floor.

Arthur stared at the other merman for a moment before looking down at himself. He couldn't understand what Gilbert had meant. Had he been seeing something else? Did he truly think Arthur's scales were beautiful? Was it just the scales or was he talking about the whole of Arthur?

Quickly shaking his head to push those thoughts from his mind, Arthur turned his attention to the problem at hand. He needed to move the cannon off Gilbert and get him somewhere to recuperate. But, if he rolled the cannon away, he could be trapped as well. He swam down to inspect the cannon more closely and realised that Gilbert's tail was actually under the wheel closest to the hole: it looked as though Gilbert had moved it and, just as he had moved to swim through, it had rolled back and trapped him. If Arthur could roll it away from the hole, he could get the cannon off of him. He would have to be quick...

Biting his lip, Arthur swam towards the hole and turned himself so that he was facing the ceiling. Then he let himself sink down until he could feel his tail against the remaining wall and his shoulders were braced against the cannon. After giving himself a count of three, Arthur pushed against the wall, flexing his tail as if he was dodging an enemy with a powerful stroke. His shoulders dug into the cannon and he felt it shift. A pained groan came from the unconscious Gilbert and Arthur grimaced, hoping he wasn't doing him any more damage. Slowly but surely, the cannon moved until, suddenly, it slid across the room, rolling off Gilbert. Arthur was spun around by the suddenness of it but he was able to see that Gilbert was free, unmoving, and the cannon was beginning to half-roll, half-slide towards him. With a quick flick of his tail, he turned upright, darted forward and grabbed Gilbert by his armpits to drag him out of the way, swimming upwards with a single-mindedness he usually had with the treasure he collected.

They had just cleared the hole when there was a loud crashing sound, similar to the noises heard when a ship crashed into the rocks above or when a downed one settled at the bottom of the valley. Arthur twirled around, forgetting he had Gilbert weighting him down: he sunk a little and spun too far so he had to turn in the opposite direction. Beneath them, the larger stick had shifted, probably moved from the impact of the cannon on that wall. The entire ship was in the process of shifting, tipping onto its side. Arthur grimaced and backed off.

"Wha-What's happenin'?" croaked a voice from below him and Arthur started in surprise. Heart beating rapidly, he looked down to see Gilbert twisting his head up and around to look at him. Then he dropped his head to look at the ship and tried to wave at it.

"I just saved your life," said Arthur, shortly. "And I'm going to drop you if you keep moving. Can you swim?"

"Mm? What happened to the treasure?"

"Honestly," murmured Arthur, shaking his head and hauling Gilbert away from the ship. "Forget about the treasure. Is your tail all right?"

"Hurts..." said Gilbert – and he suddenly drooped. He had clearly fainted again.

Arthur clicked his tongue and wondered what to do. There was no way for him to find out where Gilbert lived without him being awake and alert enough to answer him. He wasn't sure he wanted to let his family and neighbours see Gilbert in case they reacted with hostility. Biting his lip, he realised that there was only one place he could take him.

"This is all your fault!" Arthur snapped at the heavy weight in his arms. Regardless, he lifted Gilbert up, pushing him above Arthur so he could turn and pull Gilbert's arm over his shoulder. Wrapping an arm around Gilbert's waist, Arthur shifted him until he could easily swim with Gilbert at his side. Then he turned and headed to the one place he really didn't want to take the other merman.

When Arthur returned to where he'd left Gilbert with ointment for his tail (which he'd had to pilfer from his mother's cupboard), some bandages and a fresh fish tied tightly in seaweed to keep it fresh, he found the other merman awake and holding a ring up to the light. It was mostly still tarnished but the red jewel practically glowed in the light which filtered down from the holes above.

"What do you think you're doing?" Arthur demanded, darting forward and dropping his supplies onto a shiny plate he'd placed on top of some sort of very tall goblet. He snatched the ring from Gilbert's hand and cradled it to his chest. "It's mine."

"I was only looking," Gilbert retorted but he sounded weary and his voice was a little strained. He was likely still in pain and Arthur turned away to keep him from seeing his guilty flush.

"Well, look; don't touch."

"Fine."

Ignoring his tone, Arthur picked up the little pot and brought it to Gilbert. "This is to stop the swelling. Hopefully, if you don't swim around too much, your tail will heal."

"How long will that take?" Gilbert asked, taking the pot from him. When he pulled his tail towards himself, however, Gilbert hissed in pain and visibly grimaced.

Arthur sighed. "Let me do it, you moron," he said, grabbing the pot. Once Gilbert had straightened out, he scooped some of the ointment onto his fingers. It smelled of whale blubber and he wrinkled his nose at it. Then, carefully, he reached out, one hand on the bulk of Gilbert's tail to steady them both, the other brushing against the tip of the grey limb.

Gilbert yelled when he touched him and tried to dart away. The treasure hemmed him in and all he managed to do was knock over some sort of clear pot Arthur had found several moons ago. Annoyed, Arthur growled and wrapped his free hand around the top of Gilbert's tail, keeping him hugged to his chest. Once Gilbert couldn't move away from him, he quickly spread the ointment over the injury. Gilbert cried out again but he soon quietened as the medicine began its work. Finally, he relaxed and Arthur let him go free, backing away to pick up the bandages. Once he'd finished wrapping the tail, Arthur retreated and Gilbert sighed in relief.

He watched Gilbert sink onto the makeshift sleeping area Arthur had formed. Gilbert's hair still floated about his head, making him seem almost ethereal. His tail was now partially covered with the brown strips of kelp Arthur had bandaged him with. But Arthur found himself focussing on Gilbert's face, scrunched up and eyes screwed shut. It was an expression of pain and a stark difference to the peaceful visage from when Gilbert was sleeping.

Which, Arthur was loathe to admit, he had stared at for some time, admiring the beauty of it amongst his treasures.

After a while, Gilbert was lounging against Arthur's treasures as though he belonged there, obviously numb to the pain. "Thank you," he said, surprising Arthur and jolting him from his thoughts.

"Here," he said, grabbing the fish from the plate and moving closer to hand it to him.

"Huh," said Gilbert, looking from Arthur's face to the fish. "You're feeding me..."

"You don't need to eat it if you don't want to," Arthur snapped, drawing his hand back.

Before he could turn away, Gilbert grabbed Arthur's free wrist and drew him closer. "No, I want it. Just wondering if I'm to be your pet since I'm stuck here."

"What are you talking about?" Arthur shoved the fish at Gilbert's chest and jerked his arm free. "I'll take you back to your home so you can heal the-"

"No," said Gilbert, quickly. "That wouldn't be a good idea."

Frowning, Arthur settled onto an old box which contained a variety of jewels, most of them clear. "Why not?"

Gilbert smiled fondly: Arthur wasn't sure if he was smiling at Arthur or if he was remembering something. "Because my people wouldn't like you."

"Why not?" Arthur repeated.

"Because you're beautiful, Artie. So pretty – I'd like to have you as part of my collection," he added, winking, "like you seem to have made me a part of yours-"

"That's not it!" Arthur protested, turning red and rising from his box. "I thought this was the safest place for you!"

"In case your family wanted to kill me?" Gilbert suggested.

Arthur sank back onto his box. "Maybe," he answered, petulantly. "They can be... argumentative about territory."

"My people," Gilbert began to explain as he finally unwrapped his fish, "hate the beautiful merfolk. We're all the same colour, this dull grey. I mean, look at me – do you think I'm beautiful?"

Opening his mouth, Arthur stopped himself before he could say, Of course I do! He quickly averted his gaze. "I, um... I suppose you're... nice enough."

"See? Everyone thinks that. So my town doesn't exactly like the brightly coloured merfolk. And you, my friend, practically glitter."

"Glitter?"

"Yeah, like... Have you ever been to the surface?"

"You mean above the ocean?" Arthur asked, doubtfully. "I've been up to watch ships sinking in storms before..."

"Have you ever gone up when it's calm and the sun is shining and reflecting on the water?" Gilbert asked. Arthur shook his head. Gilbert sighed, wistfully. "You really should. It's beautiful. You remind me of it."

Arthur's blush from before had faded but now it came back in force. He turned his back on Gilbert. "Sh-Shut up," he murmured. Nobody in his town said he was beautiful, not unless they were being sarcastic. All his neighbours and families had numerous patterns looping across their torso whereas Arthur's was tiny. He had always thought of himself as unattractive – and here was Gilbert, staring at him like that. "I have to go," he lied, suddenly keen to get away from Gilbert and calm himself down.

"What, already?!" Gilbert exclaimed. "Are you just gonna leave me here?!"

"Yes," Arthur replied. "You'll be safe here and I have to get home." Picking up the pot of ointment, Arthur rose and started off for the cave mouth.

"You'll come back soon, right?" Gilbert called after him.

Pausing, Arthur glanced over his shoulder and found Gilbert's wide eyes focussed on him with an intensity he'd never seen before. "Yes," he said. He didn't know why but Arthur wanted to see Gilbert again. When he saw Gilbert beginning to smile, however, he became flustered and hastened to dispel the notion that he was eager to return to him. "I go treasure hunting almost every day," he said without thinking. Then, before Gilbert could say anything about being a treasure again, he turned and swam off as quickly as he could.

And so begins a long getting to know you period and they fall in love. But their families start a war while they’re not paying attention cause Gilbert’s think he’s been kidnapped or killed and Arthur’s accuse them of lying and it gets out of hand.

But there’s probably a happy ending.

(Also, Arthur goes back to that sip and brings something back for Gil and Gil takes him to the surface on a sunny day.)

[carryforthtradition]

Blackberries and the Buddleia.

Gosh it’s so hot this week, an unexpected heat wave, which we are never ready for. It could, for all we know, be snowing tomorrow! Yes, the good ole English weather, hours of endless conversation about that which I’ll leave for another day.

Blackberries

A brisk walk along the river this morning, in an attempt to avoid the mid day heat, brought me into contact with a small feast of blackberries along the way. Yes, it’s that wonderful time of year, blackberry abundance, time to grab your boxes and cartons and head to the hedgerows.

Round here where we live, in suburbia, we still have remnants of days gone by. Blackberry bushes can be wild but most likely have been cultivated around here. Left to their own devices they are really, really good at growing almost anywhere and, as you may know, if growing in the wrong place are quite tricky to remove!

But we forgive them, they provide food for so many birds, animals and insects and to those of us who are fortunate enough to know where to go…. and oh yes, I do know some great places near here! After walking down hedgerows, along the road side, on public footpaths, through farmland, packhorse trails, abandoned railway lines and bridle paths you get to know where to find the best ones - by this I mean the ones suited best to your taste. Because, although they may have the same name, they do come in different varieties and sizes, some are rather tart and some are pretty non descript, some earthy, some watery and - for me - the sweetest ones are the best.

Remember the simple ‘rules’ -

learn how to say this - ‘ We are going Blackberrying’

watch out for tiny, little worms and the cobwebs

leave the ones which have been in contact with mouldy ones aside

don’t eat them from the low branches along the path (dogs) or the the roadside (exhausts)

preferably have long sleeves and gloves

don’t get blackberry juice on your clothes - in fact only wear black or dark clothes (joking)

take a tall friend with long arms

When you do find some suitable ones to eat, those that are ripe, plump, juicy, sweet and shiny, it’s a real joy!

Blackberries can be used for a variety of foods, preserves and baking. The sweet-tart flavour and earthy quality allows them to be used in both sweet and savoury. They go well with creamy and aged cheeses, or rich fatty meats. Blackberries can be added to ice creams, jams, yoghurt, syrups and wine. They also go well with nuts, aged balsamic vinegar, salad greens, figs, and leafy herbs. There are many articles written about blackberries - I just came across these -

https://www.gardenfocused.co.uk/contactus.php

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your-own/fruit/blackberries

https://www.farmdrop.com/blog/glut-blackberries-weathers-just-hot-crumble/

Buddlea Davidii

"Buddleia Davidii - Also called summer lilac, butterfly-bush, or orange eye, native to Sichuan and Hubei provinces in central China and Japan Named after Basque missionary and zoologist, Father Armand David (1826-1900) First introduced to Europe in the late 19th Century"

This time of year, the blackberry bushes are always accompanied by the butterfly bush flowering - or Buddleia - originally from China and Japan and it is everywhere around here!

I was brought up in a very old house - nearly 300 years old - and my mum loved cottage gardens. We had to fight our way past a huge Buddleia bush on the way down the garden path to the door, and each year we would chop it right back. Be aware! Each year it sprung back with even more vigour and once the flowers were out, we had lots of butterflies visiting which we could watch from the kitchen window. And bees too, lets not forget the bees.

Along the river here, you can find them growing everywhere. I even saw one growing out of the top of a wall, very hardy, very resilient. Always a welcome stopover for the butterflies and bees. The flowers are said to smell a bit like honey, but I’m not a huge fan. It’s quite a strong smell, and I can locate them by following my nose. The video below is quite lovely, and gives some background information.

I also have a Buddleia in our garden, it self seeded in the pot with my little olive tree, they seem to be in love and I have no intention of separating them. They look very happy together. If the Buddleia gets too big, I can always find a bigger pot for them. Be aware though they self seed everywhere very easily and can actually cause quote a lot of damage if left unchecked. They can break through concrete if they get into cracks - so it’s always good to make sure none are growing very close to your house or walls. One year I noticed one growing between some bricks on the top of a brick post - which is part of our fence!

Mum once bought me a miniature Buddleia with beautiful white flowers. It coincided with us having a very young dog who had just learnt that if you say ‘No!’, then it meant there must be something worthwhile doing, and who had also just learnt how to dig. Hmmmmm.

So - and yes it’s going to be another one of those stories - I would quite often go out into the garden and find my miniature Buddleia in the middle of the lawn.

Practicing Falun Dafa means I take tolerance very seriously (Tolerance is ‘Ren’ in Chinese which also means patience, endurance and forbearance) and I certainly needed more of it! I would pick it up, carry it back over to it’s hole by the fence, replant it. And repeat. It happened a few times. I kept saying no. She kept digging it up.

After a month or so of this, she finally lost interest and the plant rooted. And it sat there happily growing, becoming stronger and getting used to it’s permanent surroundings.

It didn’t seem to be flowering, and it’s first year we weren’t fortunate enough to have any flowers on it. I was looking forward to seeing them because - as it was a miniature - I was intrigued.

The following year, I noticed that a flower was coming, and each tiny bud was perfectly formed, ready for the right moment to open. So I looked on it daily when I was out in the garden to see it’s progress.

I was looking down at the garden form my bedroom window and I noticed the flower. It was open! It was wonderful. Lots of tiny little white flowers all working together on the same stalk to produce the beautiful effect on one whole long flower. I was imagining it’s scent, I wondered if it would be sweeter.

Then I saw my dog out of the corner of my eye and called her. She was a bit confused as to where my voice was coming from, so she ran over towards the sound, and straight into the bush and as she backed away I saw the flower head drooping…. oh no.

Yes, my dear friends, after possibly reading about my mini-lily pond - you are probably wondering how this could happen. Well, that’s life I guess.

Another flower didn’t grow, and the next year the little Buddleia bush had completely disappeared... another garden mystery. But in it’s place I now have a beautiful evergreen hardy jasmine and the scent flows up into my room on an evening, which also happens to be at the same time the Buddleias are flowering, and I must admit, this is a much more bearable scent.

[pussymagicuniverse]

Ode to the Season

There is something so inspiring to me about the return of springtime. Living in a place where I experience all four seasons (at least for now), I can easily say that seasonal shifts are one of the biggest influences on my craft. 

Musings on the weather are often seen as the ultimate form of small talk, of conversational fluff. I’ve never hated talking about the weather. I could write (and have written) entire poetry collections about the weather. 

There is something wild and affecting to me about watching the earth go colorless and quiet, then watching spring creep back in— first the sun, then birdsong, then that one morning in April when you wake up and the whole world is suddenly vivid. 

I’ve never despised winter, despite my mother’s insisting that I eventually would as I grew older, despite the implied sadness of it— I’d always found summer to be sadder. 

Winter is a limbo. I never changed the clock in my car—mostly because I didn’t know how—and eventually got used to the comfort of checking the time and knowing I actually had one more lost hour that hadn’t gotten away from me yet. Recently, time snapped back into place again. 

The Spring Equinox is considered the astrological new year, the reset of the zodiac. It has always felt like more of a “beginning” to me than the traditional American New Year, and there is something so comforting about a clean slate almost four months into the calendar year, isn’t there? 

Now is the truest time to plant seeds within yourself and to set intentions for the year. Rewrite all your broken resolutions; the earth demands it. 

Here are some musings both new and old on the coming of springtime—I hope they inspire you to create your own ode to the season. 

•

four poems on springtime

pulp

the air looks sweetened with honey / like afterglow / stricken pink earth / rosy lightning fingers / my veins are telephone wire pulled taut / lightning rod spinal cord / coiled telephone cord wrapped coyly around a finger / while the sky whispers pillowtalk words to the dirt / another missed connection / feverish earth gagged with vine / rotten plum earth teeming with worms / earth turned pregnant pulp / loves in breezes and poison oak caress / sunblown kiss, breath that scatters dandelions / seed by seed / I pray on tufts of milkweed / I wish on things that don’t know where they’ve been

•

poltergeist

branch arms opened for me, she stands at the edge of the woods, split down the center, leafless canopy over a circle best reserved for black magic yet littered with beer cans.  whitetails pause to regard me before disappearing, and I nestle into her damp, mossy arms. tangled faery world forest turned sepia, winter’s gentle way of decay.

is there a place to stand that will turn me back to star matter? I guess I’ll settle for ash.

there’s this way we learn to love a shock of moss among dead leaves. I smell springtime like a poltergeist among these trees and I’ll chase her until dark.

•

ode to spring and summer

brink of mating season, March’s warm gaze and cold hands— spring is a tease, these nights will grow teeth

April’s sigh, warm as human breath the sun hangs like a lightbulb on a wire saline mornings, the earth still covered in nightmare sweat— baby green underbrush laced like fingers cherry blossom petals on windshields, May’s pink and white insides splattered like roadkill sapphic bumblebees buzzing like power lines, ivy holding a tree like a lover —parasitic

the sunlight trickles, fickle, dancing on the dirt as if underwater— trick of the light, trick of the wind, June trips over its own feet running from me

the woods grow dark and matted, poison ivy tangled with phlox July burns like a paper in my hand, but slower the fireflies are lighthouse beams in miniature—they speak in their tired morse code about the way the sky becomes a mirror at night

August sun works its way into your blood like whiskey— my body feels like overripe fruit it’s wearying, like love god whispers to us in windsong, it’s a language we can’t understand but can feel— the storms are an apology

•

the tired place

cage dancer mannequin in someone’s front yard

this town is the cage womb I first existed in

snow nursed grass, downy yellow turns green when I’m not looking

the pastel of april fades fast the children grow up feral

and die by twenty-five I feel rotten, feel river silt plush

the mildew honeysuckle smell follows me I’m calloused and wild as the land

…

*these poems previously appeared in SOFT CARTEL, Quail Bell Magazine, Riggwelter Press, and Bone & Ink Press, respectively.

…

For more poems on seasonal shift and the ways the earth impacts the spirit, check out my debut chapbook, Seasonal Affected, available here.

Rebecca Kokitus is a writer and poet currently residing outside Philadelphia. She primarily writes about her connection with nature, her experiences with mental illness, and also on subjects such as trauma, love, sex, spirituality and femininity. Born and raised in rural Pennsylvania, she has always felt spiritually connected to the Appalachian woodlands, which sparked her interest in magick. She is a crystal collector, tea witch, moon worshipper and flower child who can probably be found picking up every acorn and leaf she finds. In her free time she enjoys reading and writing poetry, spending time in nature, going to concerts, and exploring abandoned places. 

You can find her on Twitter and Instagram at @rxbxcca_anna, and you can read more of her writing on her website. 

[bansheesgrimoire]

Wreaths

Floral, Spring Wreaths and Summer Wreaths:

As you can guess, spring (and their wreaths) is the announcement of new life upon the land. In the old way of thinking (particularly in areas subjected to harsh winters) it's a time of major celebration. The sun returns, vegetation and life come back in full force. After an austere winter, spring and summer feels like Nature on steroids. A spring or summer wreath is a great symbol to illustrate birth, renewal, life and abundance. Adorning the home with a spring wreath is the perfect way to say "Yeah! Thank you!" to mother nature for all of her bounty. There's tons you can do to make a splendid spring wreath. The materials you use will flavor the symbolic meaning. Here are a few ideas...

Flowers:

Does it matter what kind of flowers we use for wreaths? Absolutely! Every flower holds its own unique, symbolic scent. Tulips are some of the first to cheerfully burst from the soil in spring. This gives them symbolism of opportunity, welcome and joy. Daffodils are also early risers, and have symbolism of friendship, delight and creative expression. Roses represent love, passion and remembrance of loved ones who have passed into non-physical. Daisies stand for innocence, purity and honesty. Sunflowers - connected with the sun and summer, these flowers are symbolic of spiritual growth, radiance and energy. In essence, the sky is the limit when you want to say it with flowers. Here's a helpful article about Flower Meanings. You might also get ideas from Flower Color Meanings for your spring wreath.

Eggs:

The first time I saw a spring wreath adorned with eggs, I was completely enchanted. The wreath was made of thin twigs to look like a nest, and it had itty bitty blue robins' eggs (fake, of course) interspersed. So cute! There's behemoth symbolism in those delicate little ovals. To wit, pretty much all life comes from one type of egg or another. Alchemists subscribe to the belief the whole cosmos was cracked from a gargantuan, celestial egg. The Celtic bards tell a story of a cosmic egg cracking - the yolk became matter and ruled the day (light). The albumen (that clear stuff) became the heavens, and ruled the night. Legends around the world are rife with the egg being synonymous with the birth of life. What better way to welcome Nature's symbolic return to life than with a spring wreath or summer wreath?

Autumn Wreaths:

Wreaths are a great way to express our devotion and understanding about the change of time. As mentioned, the circle itself is a symbol of seasons and time cycles. Autumn is a phase of life that addresses powerful concepts like: Harvest, transition, withdrawal. To our early ancestors, fall represented a decline or retrograde of life. Crops were culled and cattle were slaughtered. Although life certainly continues - in a symbolic way, this was still a time of life's end. Nature itself seemed to retreat. Changing of leaves, colder days - it's all a sign of moving from one phase to another.

An autumn wreath will embrace this time of transition. It's a great symbol for honing our focus on the stuff we've achieved and gained. Autumn wreath meaning celebrates a bountiful year, and expresses gratitude for the harvest. This doesn't have to mean a harvest of corn or pumpkins. In our modern world we experience harvests by accomplishing goals, reaping rewards from our toil and enjoying hard-won victories.

If you're planning on making an autumn wreath, the materials you pick for decorations will weigh in on the wreath meaning. Here are a few ideas with symbolic associations...

Acorns:

Such a tiny little thing, but a vessel of supreme symbolism. The acorn makes the quintessential statement: "Big things come in little packages." Consider the oak tree. It's a bold, magnificent tree - capable of growing over 50 feet. And to think it was born from a wee acorn. In a way, the acorn is akin to the Biblical mustard seed. From just a miniscule seed (of faith, hope) the potential for magnificent personal growth indwells.

Oak Leaves:

For obvious reasons, the oak is symbolic of strength, expansiveness and power. It derives these meanings from their impressive girth and height. The Druids were wild over oak trees. It was considered one of the holiest of holy trees. In the Celtic Ogham, the oak is a chieftain - which translates to big medicine. Oaks were observed to live hundreds of years, which affirmed their symbolism of life, immortality and endurance. Learn more about Celtic views about Oak Symbolism here.

Indian Corn:

This is another legendary symbol of life. Indeed, the Aztecs believed the whole human race was born from corn seed. Interestingly, in most Northern Native American legends, corn is associated with the divine feminine. Cherokee, Keresan, Penobscot, Hidatsa are just a few among many tribes who attribute birth, fertility and motherhood to corn.

More Ideas for Wreath Meaning

Wreaths and their symbolic expressions don't stop with the seasons. Nope. Wreaths can be employed to express love, devotion and memorial all year round. Here are a few examples...

Funerary, Memorial Wreaths:

Placing a wreath upon a loved one's gravesite is a beautiful way to honor a memory. Some materials with powerful meaning include: Pansies - symbolic of memory and affection. Carnations - symbolic of friendship and faithfulness. Flags - symbolic of military service.

Victory Wreath Meaning:

These are a throwback from the Greek Olympics. The winner of various feats of strength would be awarded a laurel wreath in the form of a crown. Laurel was sacred to the sun god, Apollo. Other symbols of victory you might include on your wreath are: Palm - symbolic of victory, peace and paradise. Thunderbolt - symbolic of divine conquest, power and supremacy. Eagle - symbolic of nobility, ascension and achievement.

Baby Wreaths:

What better way to illustrate the circle of life for a newborn than creating a wreath!? As mentioned, the circle of the wreath is symbolic of the whole of life. It also represents the egg, from which a child is born. Now, I'm not a big fan of koochie-koo stuff like teddy bears and rattles. I go for the more earthbound symbolic statements. So my ideas aren't the most conventional. I made a baby wreath incorporating the four elements: Fire, Earth, Air and Water. The idea was to welcome the new child into her earthy home by introducing her to the elements as a blessing. Earth was represented by a mossy wreath. I strung lights in the wreath to represent fire. I hot glued soft white feathers (fake of course) in the wreath to represent air. And for water, I put a small bottle of holy water in a silk pouch and nestled it in the wreath. Practical? Maybe not. But really symbolic. :)

Wedding Wreaths:

Old Norse, Polish and Germanic people made wreaths for new unions. These were often made of highly meaningful flowers like: Heather - symbolic of purity, devotion, protection and romance. Meadowsweet - an ancient symbol for new brides, meanings of sweetness, hope and promise. Broom flower - symbolic of innocence, fondness and humility. Wedding wreaths were all the rage in the Victorian era. These too were adorned with flowers...each flower held a unique meaning for the bride and groom. My flower meaning pages are all over the place on the website, but this might be a good start, if you're interested: Symbolic Flower Meanings. If you don't see what you're looking for there, try a search for your bloom of choice.

Housewarming Wreath Meaning:

I'm not sure there's a more eloquent way to express a blessing over a new home than giving a housewarming wreath. Why? Well, they're classy and cool looking for one. Another reason harkens back to old European earth-worship. Huh? Yeah. Nature spiritualists used to encircle a new home as a blessing. In essence, the circle was imbued with a protective force field. Sometimes the circle was made with salt. I've read accounts where the protective perimeter might be made of flower petals too. The idea goes back to what I mentioned earlier in the post; the circle represents inclusion. It encloses that which is sacred. Utilized with proper attitude and intent, the circle blesses, unites and insures harmony. A housewarming wreath is a miniature version of this house-circling idea. Just as effective, and quite pretty too! Some ideas for sacred, symbolic materials for a housewarming wreath include: White sage - symbolic of blessing, consecration and cleansing. Gardenias - symbolic of love, refinement and purity. Rose geranium - symbolic of pleasure, good memories and comfort (if you can't find the flower, dab rose geranium oil on the wreath). Horseshoe - symbolic of protection and strength (mount the shoe open side up so it'll catch all the good juju!). Keys - Three keys mounted on the wreath together are symbolic of unlocking the doors of 1) wealth, 2) health, 3) love. The ancient Greeks used one key as a symbol for knowledge and living life wisely.

Parting Thoughts on Symbolic Wreath Meaning

I told you wreaths were SO much more than they appear! Who knew!? Now we all know. :) Wreaths far exceed the surface value of paltry decoration. That circular symbolism bound by highly meaningful materials proffer a big 'kapowie' of profound expression.

[herbsanshit]

Pittsburgh Spring Plants

A quick entry on some plants coming up here as a sporadically pleasant spring progresses into a humid, unbearable summer.

Jack in the Pulpit

Not used in modern herbal medicine, contains calcium oxalate, which is not the best for you; in fact, the plant was used to poison enemies by some native tribes, apparently. Easy to identify when in flower, but even at other times, the trifolate leaves are pretty distinctive.

Trillium

Another showy trifolate plant. Technically, the leaves are bracts rather than leaves. Historically used for stopping uterine hemorrhage in childbirth, abortion, and miscarriage. The plant is very delicate, if even one part is picked, the rest of the plant may die. So, you know, don’t pick it.

Dutchman’s Breeches

So called because the flowers look like puffy little pantaloons hung upside down on a drying line, but to me they look more like little horned heads. Like some other dicentras, contains alkaloids that affect the heart and central nervous system, relatively poisonous.

Plantain

Most people know this one. Kind of slimy when you rub it.

Burdock

Easy to identify because it’s giant. All parts of the plant have been used for food; burdock root is used frequently in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean cuisine. If you’ve ever had Korean gimbap, you’ve probably had burdock. It acts as a diuretic and has some tannins. Also, the burrs inspired the invention of velcro, the saving grace of five year olds everywhere.

Cleavers

Sticky plant with whorls of leaves going up the stem at regular intervals. The whole thing is covered in tiny bristles that make it cling to anything it comes in contact with. Diuretic, also technically edible but with how hairy it is, I would not personally recommend it.

Sweet Cicely

Aka Anise Root. It’s one of those umbrella-flowered plants, though much less showy than the cow parsleys, hemlocks, angelicas, wild carrots and so on. The whole plant is very delicate, with leaflets in groups of three, with the center leaf being the longest, all toothed. The stem is delicate and purple at the base; the whole plant is easy to identify because of its anise-like fragrance (as opposed to carroty, spicy, or musty). Make sure not to confuse with any hemlocks. The root is used for coughs, sore throats, and indigestion.

Mayapple

The whole plant is very poisonous, except for the ripe fruit, which doesn’t come around until fall. There are whole stands of them usually, each plant looks like a fancy lobed parasol, or a miniature palm tree.They’re now just starting to bloom.

Violets

Right now is the prime blooming time for violets. The leaves and flowers are edible, though I haven’t personally tried them. Also, violets can grow a secondary, underground set of flowers that are self pollinating, because nature is wild like that.

Grape vines

The vines that will produce grapes won’t do it until late summer, for right now it’s mostly baby vines, as you see above. However, the leaves are edible, as well.

Motherwort

Motherwort starts growing pretty early in PA; leaves were already forming at the base of last year’s stems in mid-March, and by May it has already taken over park roadsides and reached 2-3 feet in height. Like others in the mint family, its stem is square in its cross section and the flowers (or rather, flowerbuds, at this point) are arranged in whorls at the (opposite) leaf nodes. The lower leaves are more palmate and lobed as well as serrated, the upper leaves are more narrow and pointed, usually with only three teeth at the very top of the plant. You can see a little bit of both in the picture. It likes roadsides and other disturbed areas. Motherwort is one of the plants I use the most. Tinctured or dried and used for tea, it’s one of the most effective plants I’ve found for menstrual cramps, anxiety and insomnia. It has an extensive history of being used for hypertension tachycardia, various heart issues, as well as a bitter for digestion.

Garlic Mustard

An invasive and very destructive plant with heart-shaped, serrated leaves and small white, four-petaled flowers. When crushed, it smells distinctly garlicky. There are lots of recipes out there utilizing garlic mustard; should you use any, I would recommend blanching the leaves and/or using only older leaves, as young leaves can contain relatively unpleasant amounts of cyanide. If that sounds scary, consider that raw lima beans contain cyanide as well, just another one of those things you have to boil out.

Ground Ivy

The leaves look similar to young garlic mustard leaves, but on a much smaller scale and with a sweet minty odor when crushed. The flowers are mint-like, small and purple and funnel shaped. Very pleasant eaten or in a tea.

Twinleaf

Another plant not in use anymore, but it’s pretty cool looking. Considered endangered in many states.

That’s it, folks! I’ll do more entries as I get photos of more up and coming plants.