Growing Into You (First Draft; Unedited)

i.

Jayen

"He's cheating on you," the tree whispered to me.

I put down the hose, "Do you want me to water you or not?" The False Boxwood used to be my least favorite plant on his estate.

". . . Yes please." The leaves stopped rustling.

I picked up the hose again and turned it on, making sure to water some of the leaves as well as the base. When I first got here the Boxwood would whisper things to me. It wanted to see me panic and run. It took a few weeks and a lot of research to learn that it was a False Boxwood, a liar.

"Is that good?" The dirt was soaked now.

". . .Yes."

I took a couple of steps backward with the hose in my hand. The tree was beautiful and would flower soon. Little white flowers. I moved on from the tree and over to the garden on the left. The garden was full of beautiful flowers. I always start with the Red Dead-nettles. An eight-inch plant that started with green leaves at the bottom but turned into a purplish red at the top.

"Please. . . we are dying," they called out in a broken voice. They swayed in the wind.

I turned on the hose and sprayed them in a wide motion, some of the plants perked up a little bit and the rest dropped a bit. "Is that better?"

"We are dying," they cried.

"No it's okay, you're okay," I cooed. The Deadnettle always thought they were dying, they were fine though. They were very healthy.

They didn't respond and I moved onto the next plant, only one more then I'm done for the day. The sun was beating down on my back. I should've brought my sunhat.

"We're sick! We have a fever! Oh no, we feel terrible!" I sprayed the Feverfew with the hose, "Sweet relief! It's hot out here and we're sick! This is a terrible way to live!"

I'm not a plant doctor so I can't say whether or not they're sick or not. The flowers are absolutely beautiful. They're a member of the daisy family, with their yellow middle and white round petals.

"It's hotter in Arizona, I bet you those flowers aren't getting watered. You should be thankful!" The Field Forget-Me-Nots chimed in. I always have to water them first or they just keep yelling for my attention.

"That doesn't mean it's not hot here," I said.

"Exactly!" The Feverfew called back.

I turned off the hose, winding it back up as I walked back to the house. I liked working here as a gardener, the plants really. . . liven the place up. The house itself was a dingy-looking mansion full of creepy art and workers bustling around.

"Jayen!"

I turned around to see where that was coming from.

"Up here dear!"

I looked up to see Maj, the head maid hanging out the window. Her short hair was blowing around in the breeze.

"Oh, hi Maj!" I raised my hand in greeting. "How are you?"

She waved back, "Good, good, get in here dear before you collapse. It's hot out here, do you have anything to drink? I'll get you some water." She ducked back inside and shut the window.