Room 23

The floors were shiny and the rooms smelled like pine. Gloria was always proud of her work, but today especially. It had been a day like any other, until she reached the room 23.

As she opened the door, she was overwhelmed by a familiar stench. It was warm, like the fermenting floor of a forest on a hot afternoon, and it reminded her of home.

She followed the stench through the kitchen, into the backyard, and wound up in a cloudy greenhouse, musty and hot. Her attention was drawn immediately to the tallest specimen.

It was a Venus Flytrap, clearly many years old. She approached it cautiously, overwhelmed by the damp heat of the greenhouse. At her touch, it recoiled. She heard someone open the door behind her.

“I see you found Melinda,” said the tall man in the doorway. “I’m Piotr, the groundskeeper.” Piotr brushed past her, and placed a handful of Funyuns in Melinda’s verdant mouth. The flytrap slowly closed.

Melinda smacked her lips, then burped. "Gross," said Piotr. "I love Funyuns," said Melinda. "Woah, a talking plant," said me. Realizing her mistake, Melinda slowly turned to face me. "Enjoy sleeping with the Funyuns," Piotr said as Melinda opened her mouth one more time...