Flowers in the Garden

Word count: 988



Sally jogged along Ferndale Road and decided to turn down Glenview Place. She had read in the paper that there were two houses for sale in that cul de sac and she liked the look of one of them. The houses along the road were well maintained and most had fences surrounding the properties. She didn’t allow Duke to stop anywhere on their morning runs.

She and Duke started to walk past a beautiful house when Duke decided to relieve himself on the edge of the walk. Embarrassed, he would do that she tugged at his leash but he ignored her. He began sniffing the flowers along the sidewalk and found one especially interesting. He wouldn’t leave it until Sally used the choke chain to get his attention. They continued on their way to the other two houses, with "For Sale" signs in the yard. The scent of the flowers followed them and Duke began to sneeze.

“See, that pollen got into your nose. You got what you deserve. No more peeing on the flowers.”

The realtor drove into the driveway and met her on the porch. “This is the earliest showing I have ever had. Not that I am complaining.” She turned the key in the door and it swung open. Sally left Duke tied to the porch railing and the door open while she looked inside.

“The house next door is identical to this one but flipped. They were two sisters that lived in the houses. Their husbands died a couple years apart.” The realtor moved into the kitchen. “Is there anything you want to know about the house?”

“Did the sisters die too?” Sally was coming down the stairs.

“No, they both moved to a retirement center. They felt the houses were just too much for them. They lost both their husbands and their animals in these houses. It was time to make a change.”

“What happened to the animals?” Sally was curious and looked to the porch to check on Duke. He was lying there quietly.

“I don’t know. In fact none of the people who live on this cul de sac have any animals, at least not ones that are outside. I have not seen any outside. Not that it means anything. I am sure there are lots of streets where no one has animals.” The realtor quickly ended that line of thought and went on to describe the value of the house.

“How long has this house been on the market?” Sally started toward the front door.

“Three years.” The realtor locked the door. “Let me know if you want to make an offer on one of these two houses. Do you want to look at the other one?”

“Not right now.” She unhooked Duke’s leash and with a wave started to jog around the curve. Duke pulled away from the direction of the house with the flowers. He didn’t want to go that way and sat on his haunches resisting her tugs. Giving up she went the other way around the curve and Duke trotted beside her.

Sally put Duke in the dog run before she left for work. At noon, she went home for lunch and to pick up some papers she had forgotten. Usually Duke was barking when she arrived. She looked out the back window and saw him lying on the ground. He wasn’t moving.

“Duke, hey baby.” Sally called as she went to the gate of the dog run. He still did not move. Fear tingled through her body. She knelt down and ran her hand over his body. It was cold and stiff. Tears flowed down her cheeks and she went to the phone in the house and dialed the vet’s number. Greg said he and animal control would be right out.

She was standing beside Duke when they arrived. “You didn’t touch or move anything?” Greg asked.

Greg and Steve loaded Duke on the stretcher and carried him out to the truck. Sally was still crying. Greg looked around the small yard of the rented home. Nothing looked out of place. He walked across the sidewalk to the door.

“Sally, I am sorry about Duke. We will try to find something that is killing the pets in this part of town.”

“You mean there are other dogs dying?” her eyes were wide with surprise. Her dog wasn’t the only one to die.

“Yes, it seems that in the last few weeks there have been a number of animal deaths in the area and of no apparent cause.” He started to step into the truck. “Oh Sally, I’m so sorry. I almost stepped on these beautiful flowers.” He stepped over them and into the truck. He waved as he drove away.

Sally stood for a moment struggling with her grief when her tear filled eyes noted the flowers Greg mentioned. She had not planted any flowers in the median strip in front of her house. They would have been dead when Duke found them. She looked a little closer, they looked familiar. The scent she was getting from them was familiar. Where had she seen and smelled these flowers? When she looked again there seemed to be more of them than when she last looked.

The memory of her jog that morning came to her. Duke had smelled those flowers at the house next to the one for sale. The flowers had covered most of the front yard and down the side to the back yard. Now those same flowers were here, in her yard and they seemed to be multiplying.

“Sally, are you taking the day off?” May was making her way down the street with her overweight pug pulling on the leash to smell every flower and pee on every twig. The pug headed straight for the flowers at Sally’s feet.

Sally scared May and the pug when she screamed, “NO-O-O-O-..”