Plants And Teeth

• Christina Zhu, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2022

“Hibiscus, of the Malvaceae family,” Aspen recited, drawing the information from her memory as she steadily moved along the flowers in the tiny greenhouse. Despite its diminutive size, the house was Aspen’s favourite place to explore, with its exotic greenery that she vigilantly tended to everyday. Of course, with her flora-growing gift, this was a job that she always completed with ease.

Aspen finished examining the last flower in the row, and turned to a shelf. She beamed brightly at her newest addition, a lime-green plant with vicious, pink spikes.

“Ah yes, the most fabulous of all, the carnivorous predator of both flies and spiders, behold, my Venus Flytrap!” announced Aspen to herself with a sort of strange flourish at the end.

“I love your amazing botany show here, Asp,” A voice called jokingly. “But it’s dinner time. Come on.”

Turning abruptly, she saw her older brother, Donner, leaning against a wall. Donner was 16, with a low electricity affinity that gave him an unusual talent with circuits. She often saw him with his head bent over his desk, studiously working on some gadget, and while he was not powerful, he was diligent and inquisitive. Rolling her eyes at her brother, Aspen took off her gloves and followed Donner out of the greenhouse.


*After several hours…*

There was a calm in the house. Everyone was asleep, including Aspen, until…

BLAM! She shot upright as the windows in her room rattled vigorously.

“What the-” she started.

“HELP!”

“Callie?” Aspen blinked. Why was her younger sister screaming? However, sensing that something was wrong, she dashed out of her room, stumbling over her long pants, and burst into Callie’s room.

She froze.

There was a black-clothed figure looming over her sister, a wickedly-long dagger gripped in one hand. On the other side, there was Donner, clutching his side, wheezing in pain.

Overcoming their initial surprise, the mysterious attacker darted up to Aspen, but she was already running. Sprinting down a hall, she flung open the back door to the place she was most familiar with: her greenhouse. She shoved the door open and slammed it behind her. Breathing heavily, Aspen realised that she should’ve gone outside, where she could call for help. But it was too late now. Her pursuer had forced the door open.

She backed away. The person slowly advanced. Aspen looked wildly around, until she bumped into something hard.

Of course! Her flytrap! If she concentrated hard enough, maybe it would be able to grow to a considerable size, enough to defend herself with. Wrapping her hands around the pot, she mentally grabbed all of her magic and pushed it into the life force she sensed in front of her.

There was a crack as the clay pot shattered. A colossal shape bloomed out of it, gaping at the figure leaping towards it. When the person tried to halt, a second too late, the flytrap snapped its jaws around them.

Aspen exhaled a shaky breath.