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In Eden’s dream, a young couple held each other in a garden as vines and tree branches reached their arms out, keeping them safe and hidden. Suddenly the young man pulled back. It was Jack Skelton, and he was looking at a young Grandma Clementina with horror-filled eyes. He backed away, as her face shifted into Eden’s own. The vines and shrubs and trees grew restless around them as Jack shouted, “Wake up!”
Eden opened her eyes, listening to her phone chatter from its charger in the kitchen.
“Wake up, sleepy head. Wake up, sleepy head.”
“Funny, I don’t remember setting an alarm,” she mumbled.
“You didn’t.”
Eden lumbered out of bed. “So what’s going on with you? Can you please explain why you seemed to develop AI the moment I drove into this neighborhood?”
“Beats me. Have you considered the possibility that it’s not me? Maybe it’s you.”
Eden stopped dead in her tracks. “Why would it be me?”
“Again. Beats me. Maybe it’s your inheritance.”
Eden snorted. “That’s all a bunch of boloney.”
“And yet here you stand, carrying on a conversation with your virtual assistant.”
Eden didn’t have an argument for that one. She shuffled into the kitchen, then picked up the phone and scrolled through her history. She may have downloaded something without realizing what it was.
“You know very well there’s no update that can give a phone my wit and sharp powers of observation, or my ability to discern your needs and feelings.”
“Modern technology is astounding,” Eden growled, dropping the phone on the counter. She grabbed a protein bar from the cupboard as the microwave started beeping.
“And you—” Eden stared at the flashing words. Don’t forget about fruits and veggies. “See what I mean? The last owner must have programmed in reminders. I didn’t even know that was a thing.”
“You have to admit, Clixie Albright was pretty convincing,” the phone said. “You don’t believe your grandmother had an inheritance?”
Eden smiled, remembering Clixie’s words as she unwrapped her protein bar. “She definitely had a talent. But come on, knowing how to help people is one thing. Even synesthesia is a documented condition. But accelerating the growth of trees? That’s a little hard to swallow.”
“And yet there is no explanation for the size of the trees in this neighborhood. I checked the date ground was broken.”
“There are a lot of things we can’t explain, Gabi” Eden said, her mouth full of food. “It doesn’t mean magic is responsible. This is how urban legends get started.”
Eden wondered how much the story of her grandmother and Kem Skelton had warped over time. Would she ever get the real story? According to Clixie, no one even knew who had come between them. Did her grandmother simply get her heart broken? Whatever happened, it was bad enough for her grandma to sever ties with the entire community, and even her culture.
Eden pulled on a flowy skirt and a fitted t-shirt and tried to get her mass of messy black curls under control. The first thing on her list today was stopping by Mrs. Thorne’s house. As much as she wanted to stay out of things, she felt like she had to apologize for taking part in the “beautification” of her yard. Then she needed to check her email and voicemail. It was already nine fifteen, and she was sure there were some insurance claims that required her immediate attention.
She grabbed a little jar of jam as a peace offering before heading out the front door. But halfway across the street, Eden’s eyes traveled over to Beverly Ackleton’s yard, and she stopped short. Overnight, her grass had turned brown. Her flowers drooped in their tidy beds, and yellow and orange leaves lay scattered beneath the trees. Eden couldn’t imagine Beverly hadn’t seen the transformation yet. She didn’t seem like the sleeping-in type. And yet she hadn’t woken the neighborhood with her screams, and she wasn’t working away with a rake and a big plastic bag. Where would she be on a Saturday morning that trumped this blatant disregard for the CC&R’s?
Eden continued at a slower pace towards Mrs. Thorne’s. Was it possible that the old woman had poisoned Beverly’s yard? What would she do to Eden if she confessed to taking part in the project? She took a deep breath. She’d made a lot of people angry in her lifetime, including Cindy’s big, beefy boyfriend. She was sure she could hold her own with little old Mrs. Thorne.
As Eden approached the house, a movement caught her eye. She gasped, jumping back as a morning glory vine slithered down the front steps like a snake. Eden remembered the evening before, when the vine had wrapped around Beverly’s ankle as she and Martha had fought on the lawn. Eden had dismissed it, assuring herself that Beverly had simply gotten herself tangled up. But there was no doubt about it, this vine had moved like it was a living creature.
Eden leaned towards it, examining it carefully. Waiting for it to move again. It didn’t. It was like a spider scurrying across the carpet, but freezing the moment you became aware of it.
“Eden?”
Eden spun around, her breath catching in her throat. She splayed a hand across her chest, exhaling, when she saw Dotty standing on the sidewalk, watching her.
“What are you doing, dear?”
“Oh, I was just coming over to meet Mrs. Thorne. I thought—” She couldn’t tell Dotty what she’d thought. “I was just interested in her morning glory.”
“Oh, yes, isn’t it beautiful? Really it should have stopped blooming by now. It’s nearly October! But of course Martha’s flowers don’t tend to do what they’re expected to.” Dotty giggled. “It’s her pride and joy. Probably because it’s so wild it drives Beverly bonkers.”
“Where is Beverly, anyway? It’s unusually ... quiet, considering the circumstances.”
“Oh, you mean her yard.” Dotty shook her head, her brow furrowed. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen hide nor hair of her since—you know.”
“I’m sure we’ll hear from her soon enough.” Eden waved at Dotty, then headed up the steps to Martha’s house. She looked down at her feet as she went, her eyes never leaving the green tendril nearby.
As she neared the door, Eden glanced around Martha’s porch. A mirrored wind chime spun lazily in the breeze, the notes sporadic and dissonant. She remembered how she’d thought it would be nice to sit on this porch, hidden from the world. Now it occurred to her that with the vines and flowers so thick all around, you could be swallowed up by it, and no one would notice. She shivered, raising her hand to knock. Her fist hovered in the air as her eyes fell on a large cluster of vines that had converged in a back corner of the porch. They twisted around one another in a gigantic green and purple mass.
Eden dropped her hand, tiptoeing closer. She swallowed. Something about the strange phenomenon reminded her of a spider again, or rather, a web. The chimes knocked together, and the mirrors sent specks of light all around. They reflected off something near the bottom of the cluster. Eden blinked, moving closer. Her mouth opened in shock as she made out the lenses of a pair of glasses.
Eden froze, horrified, as a blue pair of lips sticking out just above the glasses moved. “Watch out for her,” they whispered.