TF (flowers)

Barbara Grey glanced over her shoulder at her daughter in the backseat of the car. “You okay back there, Rubes?” she said brightly.

Ruby stared blankly ahead. “I guess,” she said in a voice that gave the impression that nothing would ever be okay again.

Dave flicked his eyes to the rearview mirror. Seeing the look on his daughter’s face, he almost said something like “hey, it’s not the end of the world”, but clamped his lips shut instead. How could it not be the end of the world? Her first real boyfriend, almost a year together, and then a breakup. Because he was moving across the country to go to college, and she was staying close to home. A pity, he liked the guy, and in a way he could understand the kid’s reasoning.

Didn’t help his daughter, of course.

Instead he said, “Be about another half hour before we’re there.”

“I’m just so happy you agreed to come with us,” Barbara said.

“Yeah, now you’re 18 you can join us. You won’t believe how good it feels.”

“Not that we want to force you to do anything.”

“Absolutely not. You can just hang out at the resort if you want. Lots to do.”

“You don’t even have to visit us if you don’t want to.”

“I mean, I know it might seem weird to you.”

“But if you did want to try it, you’d very welcome,” Barbara finished.

Ruby stared some more. “Maybe,” she said.

*
A few times a year Ruby’s parents would head off by themselves “to relax”. Ruby didn’t mind; she got to stay with her grandmother or her aunt, both of whom she loved. Besides, when her parents returned they were also in a great mood, laughing and joking.

When she was 16, they told her exactly where they were going.

“Trees?” she said, stunned.

“It’s a resort called Hyacinth House,” Barbara explained. “It’s about two hours from here. You go for a few days and they look after you.”

“But … trees? You turn into trees?”

“Sometimes, yes. Sometimes we’re flowers, or other plants.”

“We were grape vines last year,” Dave said, smiling fondly. “That was incredible. I still wish we could have made some wine.”

“We were only there for a week, honey. Not enough time to ripen.”

“Sorry to ask again,” Ruby said, looking from one parent to another. “But you turn into trees?”

“Yes, darling, we turn into trees. I know it must sound very strange.”

“You said it.”

“But … you’re okay with it? Because if you weren’t we would stop.”

Heck, if it made them happy … “Sure, I’m okay with it. It’s your lives, after all. It’s just … weird.”

“You should try it some day,” her dad said. “When you’re 18. That’s the minimum age.”

“Maybe,” she said.

*

“We’re here!” Dave said, turning off the road onto a long driveway. It swept past acres of trees.

Ruby stared out the window. “Are those all transformed people?” she asked.

Her mother laughed. “No dear, they’re all real trees. All the transformed live in greenhouses at the back of the resort.”

They pulled up in a parking lot before heading for the main building. They didn’t have much luggage — Ruby travelled light and her parents wouldn’t need much as plants.

“Dave! Barbara!” A cheerful woman greeted them as they entered. “Nice to see you again.”

“Thanks, Valerie. Nice to be back. Oh, this is our daughter Ruby.”

“Hi, Ruby. Are you joining your parents?”

It took her a second to realise what she meant. “Um. I don’t know yet.”

“Ruby’s still thinking about it,” Barbara said, fondly ruffling the young woman’s hair. “So she’ll need a room.”

“Nothing wrong with that!” Valerie assured her. “We get a lot of mixed couples and families — one wants to transform, one doesn’t. We’ve got lots of activities. There’s the pools, we have horses, yoga sessions, and our chef is frankly amazing. I’ll put her in room 102 — it’s near the greenhouse and there’s a private entrance.”

It suddenly hit Ruby that she would be alone for this weekend. Well, she’d known it before, but now she knew knew it. For a second anger bubbled up inside her. No! Don’t leave me!

She quickly stifled her reaction. After all, she’d known the score and she had agreed to come. She was 18, after all. And look at her parents, at how excited they were …

“Daisies.”

What was her mother saying?

“You were daisies last year, right?” Valerie said.

“Yeah, we loved it,” Dave grinned. “We thought we’d try it again.”

Her parents were going to be daisies?

“Okay, gang, let me show you to your room,” Valerie said, picking up an electronic keycard. “You can freshen up, and at four or so Tom will be by to get you to the greenhouse. You know where the dressing gowns are, right?”

“Same place as always?”

“You got it. Oh, stop by the dining room, guys, there’s fresh pecan pie!”

*

The room was beautiful, with a lovely view of rolling lawns, but too small for three people. Not that there were going to be three people in it much longer, Ruby thought.

She lay sprawled on the bed, iPad in her hand, watching her parents fidgeting.

“What’s the time again, Rubes?” Dave asked, fiddling with the dressing gown belt.

“About a minute since you last asked, Dad,” she said, trying hard not to roll her eyes.

“Sorry, honey. It’s just hard waiting, that’s all.”

“What’s so good about being a plant, anyway?”

Ruby clamped her mouth shut as soon as the words came out, but her parents didn’t seem to take offence.

“Well … it’s restful,” Barbara said thoughtfully. “It’s peaceful. Being a human, you’re constantly dealing with stuff. As a plant, things are a lot simpler.”

“It’s hard to explain,” Dave said. “When the sun hits you … it’s the best thing ever.”

“But you’re still you, right?”

“Sure,” Dave said. “Well. Sort of.”

“Yes, you’re you, but you’re also a plant,” Barbara added. “So you can think, but a lot of the thoughts you had as a human just seem, I don’t know, silly. It’s … I can’t explain it. You wouldn’t understand unless you’d been a plant too.”

“Not that we’re trying to make you do it,” Dave said hastily.

“Not at all.”

Ruby looked at her parents again and their eager anticipation. “I still haven’t made up my mind. I mean … it sounds kinda cool, but … weird … to be something not living.”

“Oh, plants are living. Not like rocks.”

“Rocks?”

“Yeah, rocks. You knew your aunt went to Hawaii last year to spend a week as a rock, right?”

“Um, no.”

“Oh.”

There was a knock at the door. Dave jumped up, looking relieved. “This’ll be Tom! Coming to see us off, Rubes?”

“I guess,” Ruby said.

*

“We’ve got your pots all ready,” Tom said as they entered the greenhouse. It was a considerable size, mostly glass, of course, with a lot of empty pots and different sections for different kinds of plants.

“Those are the Changs,” Tom said as they passed a couple of cactuses. “Came all the way from Singapore. Here we are!”

The pots were on a raised table, with steps leading up to it. Ruby stared. The pots seemed impossibly small to fit her parents. But … daisies, right?

“The serums?” her mother asked.

“Right here,” Tom said cheerfully, opening a small box. Inside were two tiny bottles full of a purple liquid. “Who wants to go first?”

Barbara and Dave exchanged looks. “I guess I will,” Dave said. He reached in for one of the bottles, weighing it in his hand. Then, grinning, he pulled Ruby towards him for a hug.

“Don’t worry, Rubes,” he said. “These guys will look after you. And us. Love you, baby.”

“Love you too, Dad.”

“And Babs …” he kissed his wife. “I’ll see you on the other side.” Then he stepped to one side and drank the contents of the bottle.

Thinking about it later, Ruby realised she’d been fuzzy on the whole transformation thing. She got that her parents, human beings, were going to become flowers. What she hadn’t considered was how it was going to happen.

Right now, her father was shrinking. He was definitely getting smaller. And as he was getting smaller, he was getting thinner, his arms narrowing and his neck elongating. And they were gaining a greenish tinge.

“I guess I don’t need this any more,” he said, shrugging off his dressing gown. Ruby went to avert her gaze but realised she needn’t bothered. Her father had no genitals any more.

“Better get you into your pot,” Tom said. He reached down and picked up Dave and took him up to the pot. By now Dave’s legs looked a lot more like roots. As he was placed in the pot, the roots sank deeply down into the soil.

Barbara squeezed Ruby’s arm. “Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt at all. In fact it’s kind of pleasurable.” Then she blushed.

As Ruby watched Dave’s head seemed to flatten and his facial features smoothed away, before petals began busting out from around his neck.

And then it was done.

A daisy stood in a flowerpot. A daisy that had seconds before been a man.

Her father.

Something shot through Ruby. A mix of feelings she couldn’t begin to untangle. Nausea, a creeped out feeling, and right in the centre … excitement.

She could feel her skin get clammy. Barbara looked at her with concern.

“Are you okay, Rubes?”

“I’m … I’m fine. It was … just … that was weird.”

Barbara nodded. “Why don’t we go back to the room. I don’t need to change.”

“What? No! It’s okay, Mom. Change. Enjoy yourself.” Ruby smiled weakly. “That’s what we’re here for. Besides,” she added, “Dad would get lonely.”

“Okay, Barbara?” Tom asked, pouring a little water into Dave’s pot. “I’ll ask Valerie to call in on Ruby later.”

Barbara hesitated a second, then smiled. “Okay, then. But go and lie down, Ruby. You don’t need to watch that again.”

“Okay, Mom,” Ruby said, heading for the door, and trying hard to ignore the little voice in her head. The one that was saying, but I want to watch …

*

She didn’t know how much later it was when the knock on the door came.

“Hey there!” Valerie said brightly when Ruby answered. “Didn’t see you at dinner so I figured you’d be hungry.” She was carrying a tray with a variety of dishes on it. The smell of fried chicken hit Ruby’s nose and she realised she was hungry.

Valerie set the tray down on a table. “Eat. It’s getting late.”

“I hadn’t realised.” Ruby picked up the knife and fork. “I guess I lost track of time.”

“Tom said you’d found it hard to watch your parents changing,” Valerie said carefully.

“Well … not exactly. I guess I just freaked out a little. It’s not every day you see someone turn into a plant.”

“I hear ya,” Valerie said as she sat on the bed. “I had a similar reaction when I first saw it. That must have been seven or eight years ago now. Back before I started working here.”

“The strange thing was, I felt like, this is so wrong. But a part of me was going, this is so right.”

“I must admit, it took me a little while to work up the courage to change. But I’ll tell you, Ruby, no matter how weird it looks when you transform, it feels completely natural.”

Ruby stopped with her glass halfway to her mouth. “You’ve changed?”

“Sure! Most all of us working at Hyacinth House have used the serums. Usually lots of times. Well, except for Erica, the chef. She says she doesn’t want to know what it was like to be a vegetable.” Valerie chuckled.

“What have you been? Daisies, like my folks?”

“Sure. I’ve been lots of flowers. But my favourite thing is being a fruit tree.” Valerie smiled. “I took a vacation once and spent it being an apple tree. My branches were loaded with fruit. Just letting them grow on me was such an amazing experience.”

“So, how does it feel?”

“Well, it’s kind of hard to explain to someone who hasn’t been a plant themselves.”

Ruby sighed. “That’s the answer I’ve been getting from everyone.”

“Well, it must be true then. You finished with that tray?”

“Uh-huh. Thanks for not letting me starve.” Ruby handed the now empty tray over. “Will you be here tomorrow?”

“Sure, I’m here all weekend. Let me know if there’s something I can do for you.”

Ruby settled down in her bed for the night. As sleep took over, one last thought crept into her mind.

She hadn’t thought of Scott, her ex-boyfriend, all evening.

*

To be a plant …

Rooted in soil, drinking in the sun …

Flowering …

Bearing fruit …

Growing …

*

Ruby awoke from the dreams feeling oddly energised. She showered and dressed, and had a quick breakfast.

Afterwards she found herself walking to the greenhouse door. “I guess I should visit my folks,” she said to herself.

There was the daisy in the pot, and now it had a partner. Another daisy, this one oddly a little taller than the other. The thought made Ruby chuckle. As a human her mother was a full head shorter than her dad, but as flowers she had the advantage.

“Hey, Mom and Dad,” she said gently. Could they even hear her? Did flowers hear? She reached out and stroked her mother’s leaves. Was it her imagination or could she feel them move under her fingers.

What the hell did you say to flowers? “You look nice … both of you. Very pretty. I, um, I had a good sleep. Breakfast was huge. I guess you don’t need breakfast though, huh? You’re getting everything you need from the sun. And the dirt too, I guess.

“Okay, well, I’ll call in later. Thought I might have a swim. The pool looks good. And … so do you.”

She glanced over her shoulder at the flowers when she reached the door.

Those daisies looked … happy.

*

Lazing by the pool was great. Being in the water was good too. Sunbathing was the best.

The sun …

Ruby took a walk around the premises. Naturally enough, the gardens were spectacular. There was a hedge maze that she promptly got lost in. Laughing, she stuck to the left side and eventually made her way through.

To be a maze like this …

When her stomach began rumbling, she went into the dining room and helped herself to the buffet, piling her plate high with cold cuts, cheese, salad and fruit.

To be a fruit tree …

*

She went looking for Valerie.

“Um, hey, can I speak to you for a minute?”

Valerie looked at her and smiled before she’d even said another word.

“Something in your eyes tells me we’re gonna need another flowerpot.”

*

Back in the greenhouse, Ruby cautiously sniffed at the bottle of serum. She needn’t have bothered; it didn’t smell much like anything at all.

“You just drink it down, all of it,” Valerie said, smiling.

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“So what’s in this thing, anyway?”

“Well, I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.”

Ruby stared. “You’re joking.”

“Of course I am. Truth is, I don’t know what’s in it. No one here does. Heck, for all I know it’s tap water that’s been magicked by witches. All I know is, it most definitely works.”

Ruby had come this far, it didn’t seem fair to turn back now. “Guess what, Mom and Dad,” she said, turning to the daisies. “You’re getting some company.”

They didn’t react, of course.

With a determined air, Ruby drained the small bottle. Well. That tasted … of nothing much.

She didn’t really know what to expect. Some sign, maybe. Or perhaps she’d just feel … plant-y. But there was nothing. Until the walls of the room suddenly lurched away from her. No wait, that wasn’t what was happening. She was shrinking!

And oh God, it was all happening so fast. She was being swallowed up in her gown, she was folding up inside it …

“Just kick it off, Ruby,” Valerie said, grabbing hold of its cord. “Here, try getting it off now.”

With the cord undone she had no trouble escaping, realising as she did that her body had definitely changed. It no longer looked — or felt — human. She had arms and legs still, but they were growing green, and stiffening. What was happening to her insides now? Did she still have a heart and lungs?

“I’m a plant girl!” she squeaked, and did a double take at her high pitched voice.

“Time to get into the soil,” Valerie said. Ruby felt herself being picked up — just how tall was she now, anyway? — and her feet touch the dirt in the pot. As with her father, as soon as she hit the soil her legs — roots? — seemed to know exactly what to do and they curled into the ground, growing longer and longer.

As she felt her facial features washing away, Ruby felt a burst of happiness. Why had she ever thought this was awful or weird? It felt amazing! Being in this pot, uncurling her leaves, having a face made of petals and pollen … why, this was the most natural thing ever!

She felt rather than saw Valerie examining her. She couldn’t hear a thing, and oddly enough, that didn’t freak her out. She had more senses than she knew what to do with. She felt the wind, the motions in the air Valerie made as she passed.

How was she thinking, anyway? Without a brain? Or was she thinking? Is this how plants felt? She’d never pick another flower, that’s for sure.

She could feel every last bit of herself, she was a flower and it felt … right.

And, oh heavens, the sun’s rays hit her and she drank them in. A few hours ago she’d been sunbathing and the sun had felt good then, but now, now it was everything, it fed her and sustained her and gave her life.

Another burst of happiness ran through Ruby, from her tip to her roots. Mom and Dad were right. Being a plant was incredibly relaxing. All she had to do was just be. And she was.

Boyfriend? Who needed a boyfriend when you had the sun and the soil?

I am definitely doing this again, she thought.

And, oh, maybe next time a tree. Or a hedge. Or a rose bush. Or … so many things.

*

Valerie took a photo. She knew the family would definitely want to see this. “I’ll be back in about an hour,” she announced, although none of the inhabitants of the greenhouse could really hear her. “And the gardeners will be making their afternoon round soon too.”

She’d get the photo printed tomorrow, and have it ready for the family when they all turned back tomorrow evening. Dave and Barbara had long been favourites, and she felt happy their daughter had joined them.

She glanced back at the three daisies, all in a row, drinking in the sun.