130. A Mighty Struggle
Amy decides to attack the plant head-on. “I know what went into that herbicide and I know it’s not healthy for children or other living things, so it’s probably not a great idea to shower in it. Fighting this thing up close isn’t ideal, but it’s my best option.” She unscrews the back of the canister, opens the herbicide bottle and pours the liquid in. After closing the canister back up she gives the plunger a slight push and sends out a nice spray of the herbicide.
“Alright, plant!” Amy turns and shouts at the Flytrap, “It’s time to give you a pruning!” Amy stands tall and walks straight for the Flytrap, confident despite her use of an action movie catchphrase that doesn't quite fit the method she has chosen to dispatch her leafy foe. As she approaches the mass of vines stretching out to grab her she points her herbicide can and gives them a good spray. The vines react instantly; they turn brown and shrivel into useless sticks. The Flytrap lets out a guttural roar.
“GRRRAAARRRGH!”
Undaunted, Amy keeps going, spraying any vines that come close to her. Finally she reaches the root barrier that stopped her before. This time it takes two good sprays to see results, but the roots are quickly reduced to twigs and Amy can move on.
Finally, Amy reaches the foot of the planter. Not yet done fighting, the Flytrap whacks Amy with one of its leaves. Amy is sent sprawling backwards, but has the presence of mind to hold on to the canister. A vine darts out toward her, trying to take advantage of her momentary weakness, but Amy quickly recovers and sprays it, eliminating the threat. Amy picks herself up and approaches the planter again. This time when a leaf comes at her she gives it a blast with the canister.
PAAFF!
The leaf has turned brown by the time it hits Amy. This time the impact causes the leaf to crumble into a thousand tiny pieces, leaving Amy standing at the edge of the planter, with nothing between her and the Flytrap.
WHIP! Snap! The Flytrap suddenly bends over and snaps its jaws at Amy! She leaps back and narrowly misses having her nose bitten off by the vicious plant. She edges closer again… WHIP! SNAP! This time Amy’s ready for it and leaps back well before it has a chance to get her. Amy formulates a strategy. She holds up her canister, ready to spray at the slightest provocation when-
WHIP! FSSSH! “GRRRAAAARRRGH!” When the Flytrap springs forward this time Amy lets loose a mighty blast of herbicide straight into the plant’s gullet. The plant rears its head back and bellows in agony as it starts to turn brown and shrink. The brownness quickly spreads through the remaining roots and vines until, with a pathetic PAAF! the plant crumbles under its own weight. The Flytrap is no more.
Amy sits down on the edge of the former Flytrap’s planter and nearly collapses. “THAT was crazy!” she says to herself, “I feel like an action hero now!” She notes that the canister is now empty of herbicide, so she tosses it away. As she idly watches it roll along the floor she notices that it has come to rest near what looks like a rose bush. Curious, Amy walks over to investigate. She’s always liked roses. The bush blossoms with deep red flowers. Nothing about the bush seems unusual, except for how beautiful the flowers are. Amy decides that it couldn’t hurt to take a rose, if only to have something beautiful to look at amidst all the creepiness of this mansion. Being careful not to prick herself on the thorns, she pulls out her pocket knife and cuts a long-stemmed rose off for herself. She places it carefully in her backpack and starts looking around to see if there’s anything else of interest in this greenhouse.
After her encounter with the man who ran this greenhouse, and with one of its occupants, Amy operates under the assumption that everything here is deadly in some way. “Even,” she thinks, “that rose I just put in my backpack. Better be careful with it.” She keeps her distance from all the various flora, which is difficult both because it’s abundant and because it’s all quite beautiful. As she wanders around Amy notices a small pond near the back wall. She walks over to get a better look. The pond is covered in moss with some scattered water lilies. Next to the pond sit a pair of black leather boots. “Huh. They’re neatly lined up, as though someone set them there to go swimming in that pond. But who would want to swim in that?” She wanders over to inspect the boots. They’re a well-made pair of black leather women’s boots, knee-length, with a subtle pattern stitched into them. Amy sets them next to her feet and notes that they appear to be about her size. Ever cautious, she turns both of them over in turn and smacks the heels, expecting to find some manner of poisonous beast inside. But no! The boots appear to be untouched. “Well,” Amy thinks, “these could be useful. And even if I don’t need them for this adventure, who couldn’t use another pair of boots?” Nobody, that’s who.
Amy makes her way back to the greenhouse entrance. As she does she walks by a curious looking plant. It’s a long brown rod with a bulb in the middle. It seems to be growing straight out of a smooth white rock on the ground. Despite how large it is, the pattern on it looks distinctly fungal. Amy knows she ought to get out of here, but she can’t help being curious about this strange stalk.
What should Amy do?