Evil Intent

                                                               

    Scott Lolley gagged on the dinner he had made, spending his last $2 for a bit of steak, and having cooked and tried it, he was struggling not to steak-spew. The s**t was inedible. Great! A cook he was not. Since Francine bailed with the yard guy, he had been pathetic at, and not necessarily in this order, cooking, cleaning, making sure the bills were paid--why just today he'd gotten a nasty phone call threatening him with turning off the electricity unless they were paid, right away. It wasn't that he couldn't pay, although that was now also true, he just couldn't keep track of everything. Francine had handled everything money-wise, and he was clueless. Oh

well--he grabbed a beer and the last of the potato chips, and sank into the recliner to watch, what? He'd better watch something, before that was cut off too.

 

 ***

     That lazy son of a b***h! He hadn't bothered to water it in several days, and it found itself getting angrier and angrier. When she'd  been here, this forgetting s**t didn't happen. It was a rare Warrior Clinging Vine, worth quite a bit of money, if  it didn't take the permanent bow, because this clueless wonder couldn't remember to water the fricking plant.

***

     A couple of days later, Scott was relaxed, more relaxed than he'd been in quite a while. He's somehow gotten all the bills paid, thanks to his Birthday present from Aunt Mabel. Aunt Mabel was loaded, and feeling guilty about avoiding Scott and Francine, and so thought that huge sums of money as a present would buy Scott off and make him forget his disappointment in her.

 

     Scott didn't give a s**t, but he'd take her money. To tell the truth, the truckload of beer he had purchased had a lot to do with his relaxed feeling. He lazily let his eyes wander the living room, and gave a start when they focused on The Warrior Clinging Vine. He had forgotten to water it, and now the thing wasn't looking so hot. Damn! Why couldn't he remember. It would serve that backstabbing Francine right to let it die, but he couldn't do that, so he got up, got a cup of water, and walked over to water it.

 

 ***

     Ah, ha, here he came at last!

 

***

     Scott was holding out the cup of water, to water the plant, when suddenly, one of the plants vines shot out and around his neck. He struggled and tried to stagger away, but the vine was strong!  He thrashed around, his flailing arms stabbing the air in a vain attempt to break free and be able to breath again. He felt himself losing consciousness, then nothing.

 

 ***

The Warrior Clinging Vine more than lived up to its name. It held on like its life depended on it, which it did. After a few minutes, the man stopped struggling and slumped to the floor. Now it could--do what, exactly, walk to the tap on legs it didn't have and get itself a glass of water? No, it was totally dependent on the guy, and it had just strangled the life out of him.  Great, its name wasn't The Deep Thinking Clinging Vine. Now what?

 

The End