Author’s Note: Something that got a bit lost in all the rewrites was Sylus being a natural horticulturist. Once upon a time he cultivated edible mist-afflicted vegetation. Maybe it’s time for that to make a comeback…
Sylus knelt at the edge of my mother’s garden of irises. He was digging around, but none of the flowers looked disturbed. I had no idea what he was doing so I made my way over to him.
Looking over his shoulder, I found him holding a strange plant I’d never seen before. If I didn’t know any better I’d think it had a mouth and teeth on it.
“Whatcha doin’?” I asked with my hands in my pockets.
“Hm, hm?” He glanced over his shoulder. “Oh hells, I was hoping to make it a surprise but this little one’s having trouble taking root.”
“What are you trying to do?”
He sat back on his knees and wiped the dirty on his brow. “I’m trying to plant a barrier around your mother’s irises.”
“A barrier?”
He nodded. “Native flora is in grave danger. If I can get these snappers set up it might buy us some time for a better solution.”
“Snappers? So they do have mouths?”
He nodded again. “Like flytraps on crack. They eat lesser spawns on top and bottom nabbing crawlers before they can get to the roots of the irises. The also form a pheromone net to force things towards their mouths like an invisible roof over your flowers. Ah! There! It finally took! Good job!”
I knelt down beside him. “How do you know all this?”
“Qaitax.” He sniffed and wiped his nose on the back of his hand. “I asked him of there was anything we could do. He gave me an answer. The Mist might still get to them, but that’s a long term problem we’ll figure out later. For now we have to ward off spawns and snappers do the trick.” He reached into his pocket for a handful of seeds. Holding them in his hands, a violet light glowed between his clasped fingers. Little sprouts now sat where the seeds had been.
“Y-you really thought about the garden?” I stammered.
“Of course I did.” He dug a little hole for one of the new seedlings. A tendril lashed out to the more mature one as if looking for guidance. Once it felt it’s neighbor, it dragged itself out of Sylus’ hand and into its hole. “There you go little guy.” He said to the plant before digging another hole. “They’re important to you.”
“But… They’re just flowers…”
“They’re not just flowers.”
Sylus made his way around the perimeter of the field of irises planting a wall snappers. I followed him in silence. He’d say a small bit of encouragement before moving to the next one.
“There. Grow strong, little one.” He breathed as he stood up.
“Thanks, Sy.” I hugged him from behind.
“Oh, no need for thanks.” He turned in my arms to face me. Leaning in, he kissed my forehead softly. “What matters to you matters to me.”
I pressed my head to his chest. “I love you so damn much.” I breathed.
“And I, you, love. And I, you.”
Author’s Closing Note: Not entirely on prompt but it works I think. Also, I really wrecked my streak. At this point, I’m just aiming for 14 shorts by the end of the month. Pretty sure I can handle that!
Eternity's Irys 