ground. From top to bottom, it spanned about her height. The snow-white petals looked velvety soft.
The center of the flower had a round disc that looked shiny, almost like plastic or metal. She’d never seen anything like it.
She stepped closer, taking a deep breath, wondering if there was a scent.
“Holy shit,” Daphne said, awe in her voice. “It’s as big as I am. How can a flower be so large? It’s beautiful.”
Lilah said, “I bet that’s why it’s tipped over. Too heavy. I feel like the size of a bug next to that.”
A play she’d seen a long time ago popped into her head—Little Shop of Horrors. Specifically the talking, man-eating flower character.
“Does it smell?” Lilah asked.
Wren stepped up to it and sniffed. “No—” The round stigma in the center opened, and a tongue, like that of a frog, shot out at her. Stumbling back, she screamed, throwing her hands up to block her face. The sticky tendril wrapped around her arm and yanked her forward. She continued to scream, not believing this was happening.
She looked at the middle of the flower and saw the opening had expanded enough to swallow her whole. Spikes popped up around the center, red liquid dripping from the tips.
A few feet from the mouth, her survival instincts must’ve kicked in as her heels dug into the ground to stop her movement. She pulled back, the tongue stretching a bit.
Behind her, she heard her cousins scream, but they could do nothing to save her. This was happening too quickly. As she leaned back, trying to pull away, the majestic white petals snapped closed, shoving her toward the needle spikes.
All she could do was scream and close her eyes to not witness her own death. This was it for her. Her dreams of becoming a famous romance writer forever gone because a fucking flower ate her. Now, she didn’t care who watered her plant. It could die as far as she was concerned.
A deep growl, like from a lion or tiger, surprised her. Had that come from the stem? Then before her eyes, the center opening with the tongue crushed as if something heavy had landed on it from the outside. The petals smashed against the ground, no longer holding her in, but the sticky thing still had her arm.
On top of the mushed flower, a dark tiger with colorful stripes ripped at the petals with massive claws and teeth.
The tiger roared, scaring Wren soundless. Nothing came from her throat; nothing went through her mind; except she was going to die as tiger lunch instead of blossom brunch. One wasn’t better than the other.
The tiger’s snout lunged at her face, teeth sharper than a vampire’s, not that she’d seen one before. Her body cringed, and her head ducked into her chest.
This was it, a second time. She was going to die in some jungle, thousands of miles from home. She waited for the pain, the razor claws to dig in and pull out a chunk of her. Her heart pounded in her ears, and she held her breath. When she realized nothing had happened, she looked up to see the tongue flailing and flapping in the air like a ribbon tied to an oscillating fan.
The tendril around her arm was severed from the main mass. Had the tiger done that instead of attacking her? It purposefully saved her? Even now fighting the flower to get her free.
Her shirt yanked up as one of her cousins pulled on her, yelling to run. She didn’t have to be told twice. Shaking the disgusting worm appendage off her arm, she sprang up and ran.
Green leaves from other giant plants slapped her face as she scurried blindly. Roots and ground vines tore at her flip-flops and wrapped her ankles. She had no plan on where she was going. Away was the only goal.
From somewhere in the distance, she heard her name, snapping out of the initial terrorized haze she was trapped in. When her logical side kicked in, she realized her cousins were calling.
“Marco,” she said, stepping in their direction. Once used as a fun game they played in Grandmom’s yard now became a means to save her life.
“Polo” came back.
She adjusted her path. “Marco.”
“Polo.”
They were so close. She heard the noise their stomps created. Then Lilah’s beautiful face came into sight through elephant ears leaves. Lilah grabbed Wren; then squeezed her in her arms. Never before had she been so happy to see them. Daphne joined in for another