Verdant Haven Gardens

"Oh! Look, Dylan! There's a botanical garden! Let's stop!" Bonnie excitedly pointed at a sign.

"A botanical garden? Out here in the middle of the desert?" Dylan said, noticeably confused. "Sounds like a tourist trap to me."

"Yeah, but that's half the fun! And we can stretch our legs."

"I dunno, we're already running behind."

"That's because you thought you knew better than the GPS and took one of your legendary shortcuts. Now we're lost in the desert."

"We're not lost! We're taking the scenic route..."

"...Which is the opposite of a shortcut." Bonnie shot him a look but smiled. "Come on, what's the point of taking the scenic route if you don't stop to appreciate the scenery?"

Dylan rolled his eyes at his girlfriend but finally shook his head and smiled. "Alright, but if they want an arm, a leg, a foot, and your torso to get in, like these tourist traps often do, then you can forget it."

"I'll just give them yours," Bonnie giggled.

The pair pulled into the parking lot. The building was a large structure with a sign that read, in faded letters, "Verdant Haven Gardens," with little doodles of vines and flowers around it.

"How cute," Bonnie mused as she got out of the car.

"Verdant Haven must be that town over there," Dylan noted, observing a small collection of buildings not too far away, stretching his stiff legs.

"We'll have to see if we can find it on the map to see how far out of the way you got us from New Orleans. I'm going to guess pretty far since we're in the desert!" Bonnie teased.

"Maybe it's just a really big beach!" Dylan shot back.

"Yes...a many, many miles long beach with plenty of sand, no water, and cactus for some reason," Bonnie teased as she pulled open the front door.

Inside was a small office area with a front counter and an antique-looking cash register. There were two glass doors on opposite sides, one leading into what looked like a rain-forest section, a small sign that read "Tropical Paradise!!" above the door. The other looked to go into a more swampy area, with a sign that read "The Bayou" across the top.

Even from here, it was clear the plants were slightly overgrown, as if they hadn't been well maintained in a while. A grey-haired gentleman sat at the counter, slouched over in his chair, eyes closed.

"Is he asleep?" Dylan asked. Almost in response, the man's eyes opened, and he stood up with an almost fluttery motion.

"Welcome! Welcome to Verdant Haven Gardens! My name's... Rusty, the owner and pro... proprietor of this fine establishment," the man said in what sounded like a sales pitch that hadn't been used in some time. He had a fairly obvious southern drawl.

"Hello, Rusty. My name's Dylan, and this is my girlfriend, Bonnie." Dylan held out his hand. Rusty stared at it for a second, almost as if he was confused about what to do, before taking it.

"Good to meet you, Dylan! Pleasure is all mine, Miss Bonnie," Rusty said, shaking Dylan's hand holding on for an awkwardly long time before letting go. "What brings you to Verdant Haven?"

"Oh, we saw the sign for the gardens and thought we'd stop to have a look," Bonnie smiled.

"How much is it to view the gardens?" Dylan asked.

"Nothin'. She's a passion project now. Just have a nice time," Rusty said, sitting back down in his chair.

"Yay!" Bonnie gave a little clap of excitement, happy that Dylan didn't have an excuse to skip out.

"Well, which side do you want to go through?" Dylan asked.

"Let's look at the rainforest!" Bonnie practically skipped to the door. Dylan turned to ask Rusty if there was a preferred order for exploring the gardens but saw that he was already slumped back over in his chair, apparently asleep again.

"That was fast," Dylan thought to himself as he followed Bonnie through the glass door into the "Tropical Paradise."

The interior was a lush jungle of vibrant plants, cascading vines, and colorful flowers. Paths wound through the greenery, leading to various entrances to other sections of the garden. A bench and a small fountain sat in the center of the room. The bench was slightly overgrown with vines that seemed to sway in a wind that wasn't there. The fountain appeared to have stopped working long ago.

Bonnie ran excitedly to a large purple flower that had to be almost four feet wide. "Dylan! It's huge! I didn't know flowers got this big." Bonnie stroked one of the upper petals, her fingers dancing across it. The petal bent downwards slightly, almost as if it was leaning into her touch. "I want one."

"I didn't either, but I don't think it will fit in the living room," Dylan teased, as he looked over the bench, noticing a black object sitting on it.

"What's that?" Bonnie asked, coming up beside him as he picked it up.

"Looks like a wallet." Dylan flicked through it quickly, noting there was still some cash and cards inside as well as the driver's license of a man named Robert.

"Do you want to go back and give it to Rusty?"

"Yeah, we probably should turn it in, but I think the old dude was asleep again before we even left the room."

"We'll save it for the end then! Come on! Let's go check out the Sahara next!" Bonnie skipped forward into the room marked as the desert area. "Huh...this is a lot greener than I was expecting."

Dylan slid the wallet into his pocket and followed her. He immediately saw what she meant. There was sand on the floor and various cacti, but they were wrapped in vines with large blossoming flowers, the rainforest appearing to encroach into the desert.

"Rusty did say it was more a passion project than a business these days. Might have gotten too hard to keep fighting back the rainforest plants himself," Dylan offered. "Especially since you could just see catctus outside."

"It is a little lame though. I didn't want to see rainforest, then rainforest with sand. Poor cactus." Bonnie frowned. Her eyes scanned across the various doors before landing on one she liked. "Come on! Let's go check out the waterfall oasis!" She grabbed Dylan's arm, practically dragging him towards the next section.

As they entered, they were greeted by the soothing sound of trickling water. The room opened up to reveal a large pond, with slightly greenish water that had an island sitting in the center. Small waterfalls cascaded down into the pond.

There was a path surrounding the pond leading to the various exits to other biomes, and leading up to a bench sitting on the island. Half of the bench was wrapped in a large bulbous vine with a white flower that appeared to be coming from a tree beside it.

"Wow!" Bonnie whispered.

"Rusty really must have his hands full maintaining all of this." Dylan whispered equally amazed. "I don't even know what most of these plants are."

"We'll have to ask. I think I might want one of those trees for when we get a house," Bonnie said, eyeing the tree with wonder.

"Don't botanical gardens usually have a little plaque with information about the more exotic plants?"

"OH! You're right!" Bonnie ran across the circle path, heading for the island. Dylan smiled at his girlfriend's childlike wonder and took a seat at the foot of the pond. The bottom seemed to be covered in white smooth stones all similar in size.

"I'm not seeing any plaques or information about the tree," Bonnie called back. "This flower is super weird though. The bulbs feel kind of hard?"

Dylan was only half-listening as he was studying the stones at the bottom of the pond. He couldn't place it, but they appeared familiar somehow. He was caught off-guard when a scream from Bonnie pierced the air.

"Bon? What? What is it?" Dylan ran over, wrapping his arms around her shoulders, trying to comfort her.

"Rusty..." Bonnie raised a single trembling finger pointing at something that had fallen from the bulb. A shudder ran down Dylan's spine as he followed her finger.

It was a human skull. The half-dissolved remains of a plastic name tag that read "Rusty" sat beside it. His gaze moved back to the pond. Those weren't stones at the bottom. The wallet he had found now felt as if it weighed a thousand pounds in his pocket.

The couple didn't even need to voice the thought. They both took off in a sprint towards the rainforest biome they had come through. The desert biome that was only slightly overgrown before was now choked with plants from the rainforest section, forming a thick wall blocking their escape.

They're...alive..." Bonnie's voice seemed to catch in her throat.

"Come on." Dylan grabbed Bonnie's hand and steered her away, towards one of the doors they had not gone through. Any sign of what this biome's theme was had long vanished. It was overgrown with trees, plants, and vines of all kinds. The limbs of the trees slithered, reaching towards them. Dylan swung his arm, breaking a branch from one of the trees, which elicited a hiss from one of the plants.

"Get away!" Dylan roared, picking up the branch and swinging it wildly at the plants, which bobbed and weaved out of the way. Bonnie ran through, ducking and heading for the door she was sure led to "The Bayou" and freedom.

"Bonnie! Help!" Dylan tried to follow her, falling as a vine wrapped around his leg, pulling his feet from under him. He screamed as the plants encased his leg, and a stinging burning sensation started to move up towards his thighs.

"I'm not leaving you." Bonnie's voice came from behind him as she grabbed onto his arm and began to pull desperately. His hope renewed, Dylan began to pull and kick, tearing the vines away from his lower half, freeing his leg. Bonnie supported him as they hobbled through the passageway to "The Bayou," the homicidal plants on their trail.

"Through there!" Dylan leaned his head towards the door to the main office area.

"They're stuck!" Bonnie cried out hopelessly as she pushed against the glass door. Dylan pounded his shoulder against the plexiglass door. It wobbled but didn't move.

"Together!" Dylan pounded his shoulder against the door again. Bonnie joined him this time as a mass of the plants got closer. With several hard bumps, the doors sprung open, and they fell onto the office floor on the other side. Dylan slammed the door shut, severing one of the vines, which flopped about on the floor.

"I think we're safe... for now," Bonnie whispered as Dylan helped her to her feet. The plants were scratching at the glass doors on both sides, but didn't appear to be able to get through. "How's your leg?"

"It stings a little, but I think it will be fine," Dylan said, looking over his reddened flesh. "I think my jeans saved me from the worst of it."

A faint noise came from the front desk. "Na...me... Rus...ty..."

"What was that...?" Bonnie whispered.

"I don't know," Dylan whispered back.

"Name's... Rusty... name's... Rusty..." the voice mumbled again from the front desk.

"Rusty...?" Bonnie turned to the front desk, surprised and relieved to see the same grey-haired gentleman that had greeted them moving to his feet in the same fluttering motion as before. The relief turned to shock as his head moved in a jilted manner, vines shot out of his eyes, and his body began to dissolve into a mass of vines and other plants. A single large vine coming through the wall poked out of its back, animating and controlling it.

"GET TO THE CAR!!" Dylan cried out. The two rushed through the door, the Rusty plant following behind, crawling on all fours.

Dylan and Bonnie practically jumped into the car, slamming their doors, the engine roaring to life as the plant leaped onto the hood.

"Welcome to... Verdant Haven... Gardens..." it mumbled as it rammed its head into the windshield, green ooze pouring from every crevice. Dylan threw the car into reverse and hit the gas as hard as he could, swinging the car around and tossing the puppet off. He shifted into drive and sped forward, running over the puppet and squashing its head.

They drove away from the town of Verdant Haven and the twisted botanical garden, driving in silence except for their rapid breathing.

"Next time... I'll just follow the GPS..." Dylan whispered quietly.

Bonnie nodded, staring out the window. "Yeah... let's never take the scenic route again."

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Credit to www.craiyon.com for the images.

This story was written for Belle's "Setting That Eats" challenge link below: