The Apocalypse of Plants

Morgan

It feels like everything is moving in slow motion as Laina falls to the ground and refuses to get up.

My teeth are chattering so much that it should hurt, but doesn't, so I make myself try to talk to Laina.

"L-l-l-ai-n-n-na, pl-l-l-lease, g-g-g-g-get up-p-p-p," I say, wrapping my arms around myself. All my efforts to stay warm are futile as wind whips through and burns my face and makes it colder, if possible.

"W-w-w-e ne-e-e-d t-t-t-to g-g-go," Nina stutters. I look at her incredulously.

"I-i-i-i'm n-n-n-ot l-l-l-eav-v-vng he-e-r," I protest, my eyes suddenly feeling heavy. My eyelids droop and I fight to keep them open.

Tally drops to the ground, Scout tucked protectively in her arms.

"N-n-n-no-o-o," I say. This isn't how this should end. Nina and Preston fall to the ground simultaneously and I'm the only one awake. "Y-y-y-o-u w-won't-t-t win-n-n t-t-this, M-moth-th-er Nat-t-t-ure," I mumble. And right before I drift off, I swear I can hear Mother Nature laughing in my ear.

~~~

Laina and I are standing in a meadow. She's picking wildflowers while I'm watching her.

"Look at this one," she says, holding up a bluebell. I walk over to her, pluck the flower from her fingers, and tuck it behind her ear. She blushes.

"It's beautiful," I reply, looking at her. She smiles and pulls me toward her and kisses me.

And then the mood shifts. The sky suddenly darkens, the grass beneath my feet dies, and all the wildflowers wilt. Crows caw in the distance.

I pull away from Laina, startled, and then I see that it's not Laina at all. Instead of almost jet-black hair, she has chestnut brown hair. Instead of Laina's honey eyes, forest-green ones. The girl's skin is fair, and she's wearing a plain, green long-sleeve dress with navy leggings and black boots. Her red lips are curved into a smirk.

"What-who-where'd Laina go?" I stammer. The girl throws back her head and laughs. "Who are you?" She smiles and curls a strand of my blonde hair in her fingers. I pull back. "What do you want?" I demand.

She strokes my cheek with her finger. "My, my. You're just full of fire, aren't you. I can see why Laina likes you so much." She presses her finger to her lips. "You're not bad at kissing, either," she muses.

In an instant, I've wrapped my hands around her throat. "Who are you and what do you want?"

Instead of looking scared, she just looks amused. "My name is Gaia," she says. I let go of her throat in shock and shake my head.

"Mother Nature. What an honor," I mock. She smugly smiles.

"Oh, please, dear, I assure you, the pleasure is all mine." Getting visited in a dream by Nature herself right before I die only makes too much sense.

"What do you want?" I hiss. She giggles.

"I just wanted to come finally meet you. You know, out of everyone, you're my favorite. It'd be such a shame for such a beautiful face to perish," she says, tracing my cheek with her finger. I move my head out of her reach and bare my teeth at her.

"Well it's such a shame that I'm about to die, now isn't it?" I snap. Gaia throws her head back and laughs.

"Oh, you're not going to die, dear. Not yet anyway. I have plenty in store for you. Just you wait." Her lips curl into a deadly smile. "Starting with Laina."

I roar and lunge for her, but she disappears in a cloud of smoke and reappears a few feet away from me.

"If you hurt Laina, I'll kill you," I vow.

"Ta ta, dear. Oh, just a little word of advice."

"I don't want your advice," I growl. She winks.

"Oh, but you'll want this." She walks closer and leans in and places her mouth right next to my ear. "Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer."

"What does that even mean?" I ask. She just smiles tauntingly.

"Until next time, Morgan McGrath." Her eyes sparkle with malice as she poofs into smoke and is gone.

And just like that, the sky turns blue, the grass starts growing, and the wildflowers bloom like nothing ever happened in the first place.

~~~

I jerk awake to Laina leaning over me, mopping up my forehead with a piece of cloth.

"What happened?" I ask, looking around for Gaia. I'm somehow not surprised when I don't find her. It was just a dream, I tell myself.

"We don't really know. We all woke up except for you, but you were still breathing, so we let you sleep," Laina explains.

"I thought I was going to die," I say quietly. I think that it would have been better if I did after my dream. Mother Nature made it quite clear she was going to make my life a living hell because I was her "favorite".

Laina smiles and brushes my hair with her fingers. "I wouldn't have let that happen." I lean in to kiss her, but I stop and pull back. I remember the dream and I'm afraid that she'll turn into Gaia. She looks at me strangely but doesn't say anything.

"What happened with the cold?" I ask hastily, trying to break the silence that is growing between us. Laina shrugs.

"We woke up and it was warm again. We don't really know what happened. I guess we got lucky."

"Yeah. Lucky," I say hollowly. I'm one-hundred percent sure that Mother Nature was behind our survival.

I look around and find Tally throwing sticks for her dog and Nina and Preston talking. I wonder what they're talking about.

"Is everything okay?" Laina asks me. My eyes dart around, looking everywhere but her honey colored eyes. Her honey colored eyes, not her forest green ones. "Morgan?" I shake my head and her face falls.

I want to tell her about my dream, but I know telling her will put her at even more of a risk. Just being with me puts her at risk.

And then it's like a lightbulb goes off. Mother Nature will use Laina against me because she knows that I like her. And since Nature wants to sure there's plenty in store for me, Laina will be caught in the crossfire. The only way I can protect her is to make her stop loving me.

Tears fill my eyes and my heart hurts with what I'm about to do, but I have to. I have to make sure Laina stays out of this.

I swallow hard. "Laina, I don't think we should do this, whatever this is." I wave my hand in between us to indicate what I'm talking about.

"Really? Why not?" she asks as she sits back.

"It all was a mistake. It was just a kiss. There isn't an us. I know you want there to be, but I'm sorry. I just don't like you like that." And I am forced to watch as her world crumbles from my words.