The Glasshouse Botanist
Arthur spent decades breeding rare orchids in his foggy greenhouse, feeding them exotic fertilizers that he mixed in the dark. The plants grew at an unnatural pace, their velvet petals darkening until they absorbed every beam of light that touched them. One evening, Arthur clipped a heavy stem and noticed the sap was warm and pulsed with a slow, steady heartbeat. Before he could drop the shears, long green tendrils whipped around his wrists, dragging him deep into the tangled undergrowth. By morning, his spectacles were the only trace left behind among the enormous blossoms.
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