Bathtub plants

Flora was a crazy lady. Thats what everybody had to say about her. She was a sane, young woman until the disappearance of her husband. Ever since then, she went into a recluse in her home. Her husband, Joseph was thought to have been killed in a plane crash in Japan. But no one knows if he is dead for sure. His body was never found. 

Nobody visited Flora, nor would she open the door to anybody. I was concerned about her, she was my friend. So I used to peep in to have a look at her every now and then. On most days she looked fine to me. Humming to herself as she tended to the plants she had grown in her bathtub. Yes, there was a mini garden in her bathtub. Strange as it may seem, the plants thrived with little sunlight and fresh air from the vent above the window. 

 

One fine day as I was returning from work, I heard a loud wail from her house. I ran towards the window to look. I saw Flora slumped on the floor. She was dressed in red and wore her pearls, looking like a woman on a date. But she looked distressed as she her eyes were fixated on a spot. Thats when my gaze shifted to the bathtub. The plants weren’t alive anymore. The tub was covered with some blue green looking substance; perhaps algae. It smelled foul, I could sense it even outside the house. What exactly was she doing in the bathtub? What was she growing there? Why are the plants dead so suddenly?

 

And then I saw Flora looking at me fiercely. Kohl stained eyes that whispered sinister intentions, teeth clenched, one hand plucking the pearl beads from the necklace. It scared me. I took my bag and ran from there as fast as I could, promising never to peep into her house again.