"But what's this?" Leslie's eyes landed on a large bush that he'd not seen in the garden before. It stuck out from the rest of the plants, a grotesque brown color, its leaves shining as if coated with poison or slime. The flowers blooming on its branches shared the same color in brown, though splotches of black could be seen near the ends of the petals.
This plant had not been here yesterday.
Stepping toward it, Leslie cocked his head to the side, finger on his chin in thought. "Don't think I've seen this little . . . uh . . . unique beauty here before." A professional in his art in gardener, he had seen many plants of all shapes and sizes. Each was beautiful in its own right, but this plant here . . . this plant just wasn't pretty. At all. And he wasn't one to judge a plant on its appearance.
Not to mention he'd never seen its like before. Its thoughts were hard to decipher, which was new for him. Since a young age he'd been able to read the thoughts of plants, feel what they felt. It was almost as if this plant were . . . not of this world.
Ah. Could that be it? Was Shea up to her usual tricks again?
Afraid to touch it in case it proved to be poisonous, Leslie instead addressed the plant aloud. "And what might an interesting plant like you be doing here in this garden of flowers?" he asked with a polite smile.
And, to his mild surprise, the plant actually spoke back to him, not through feelings as other plants did, but out loud, though he could see no mouth. "Am I not allowed to be here among flowers, when I myself bear flowers?" it asked.
"Mm." He didn't know what to say. It was true that it bore flowers, but they were not in the least attractive. They seemed to poison the other flowers beauty just by their appearance. "I don't really have a say in what grows in this garden, seeing as how it's not mine. But I wonder in your appearing so suddenly. You weren't here yesterday."
"I came seeking a mortal, knowing one was bound to show. And to my pleasure, two have come."
In his discovery of this strange plant, Leslie had almost forgotten his new friend Windsor, but now he turned to looked at him. "You mean Windsor and I? What could you possibly want with us?"
"I will speak to you both. Windsor was it? Come here, Windsor."
Hearing a plant speak so formally made Leslie want to laugh. It really was quite amusing. This ugly plant speaking as though it were royalty. Perhaps it was. He didn't know. Maybe it was seeing a plant talk in general that tickled him.
