I had a weird dream last night. This story is a product of that dream. It'll be appropriately weird, but that is how dreams are is it not.

Backwoods Camping

I was walking along the foot path as my wife trailed behind, and my daughter rushed back and forth between the two of us in excitement. "Look Daddy, did you see that bird," she would say and then it would quickly be some other thing that caught her interest. The breeze and the sunlight intermingled in a nature dance as they tossed smells, touches, and sounds. The whisper of wonder.

Up ahead there is a clearing and there is a smell on the wind I have not smelled before. It is a sweet spicy smell with something I have not smelled before. I do believe I have smelled something like it, but I can't quite place it. I am curious though as the smell is unlike anything I'd expect to encounter out here in nature. "Mommy Daddy look at the yellow flowers," my daughter says as we enter the clearing. Off to one side are three yellow flowers unlike anything I have ever seen before.

"Hold on girl," I say to my daughter for some reason. I am sure I've never seen flowers quite like these before. They come about mid way towards my knee in height and they have 4 large back leaves in a semi-circle meeting semi-circle four leaf clover type of thing. They have a bit of an odd glistening shine to them like they may be similar to a Sundew or other plant that feeds on insects. In fact due to the central area having what look like antennas or fronds sticking away from the plant I am kind of convinced it is in that same family. I haven't ever seen anything like this but, it definitely is interesting.

I get closer and touch the back leaf which is slightly moist and feels a lot like the texture of damp cold skin. As I touch the plant it bursts into movement. It has a slight sway and the little frond like protuberances on the front begin to wiggle. This is indeed very alien. I have never heard of a plant that can move like this. I am sure that I would remember it if I had.

I shift my exploration and tentatively touch one of the wiggling fronds. It hits my finger and slides around and I pull back. It had a very moist feel. It is also a little sticky. It again makes me thing of a Sundew. Yet looking around I am not seeing any husks of insects. In fact I am not seeing any insects at all. I should take a specimen as I do know this is not one of the flowers on those listed to never pick. I am also not in a region where doing so has been made illegal. Those laws have not yet made it out to places this far in the backwoods.

I poke at one of the fronds again and it hits right below my fingernail. I feel a stinging sensation as I see the frond detach while it still wiggles like a worm and crawls up under my fingernail like a really nasty splinter before I could reach for it. I back away from the flower with a howl as the waves of pain course through me. There is a reason that people will shove things under fingernails as a torture tactic. That part of the body is very sensitive to invaders and this one is still MOVING. It is moving...

Ouch

My family and I have been moving as quickly down the trail as we can. I have been partially delirious with pain throughout the hike and sweat is beading on my brow. We are near our car at the bottom of the trail now.

"Honey, let me see," says my wife as she takes my hand. I notice she is really pale. I look down. It is mostly past my fingernail and I can see it moving as a mound beneath my skin. I pull out my knife. "Need to cut it out, that will hurt, but be over quick," I say as I flip my Swiss Army Knife open. My wife nods. "I'll do it," she says as she starts to put the blade to my flesh and I turn away. I feel that first stab of pain, but oddly it is not all that noticeable since I was already in pain. Then I hear her gasp and she let's go of my hand and backs away.

I look down at my hand quick enough to see the glistening white worm like thing mingled with blood vanishing deeper into my hand. It is moving faster and it is clear this is more than some plant. "We need to get to an emergency room," I say with a little bit of panic in my voice. Yet the closest emergency room is hours a way.

Descent

My wife is driving as I sit in the passenger seat and let forth the occasional groan as I feel this thing passing through my hand. My daughter occasionally says, "It's going to be alright Daddy." The road is a dirt road so the dust is kicking up behind our car, and you can feel the occasional sliding of the tires this way or that as my wife drives the road faster than it was likely intended.

"We need gas," I hear her say as the car comes to a stop at an old gas station. She walks towards the old shop front to pay. My daughter squeezes out of the door and follows my wife saying "I'm thirsty and I need to use the bathroom."

I look down and the writhing mass beneath my skin is near my wrist. The pain is excruciating and I have a bit of nauseous moments where I feel the gorge rising. Knock Knock.

"Hey Mister, were you going to get some gas," asks a voice with an accent not uncommon to these parts. I look up and am a little confused. The guy standing in overalls and unshaven is looking at me and I notice he also has looked at my wrist area where the activity is happening. Why is he not surprised?

Gone

"Where is my wife? She went to pay for gas," I ask and I know the confusion entered my voice. "Oh now, they slipped out the back door," he says. Why would they run away? I open the car door.

"Seriously, they need to hurry we need to get help," I say. "You'll be fine soon. That there sting'll stop hurting anytime now," he says as he nods towards my wrist and I can see the hint of chewing tobacco held behind his lip.

I start to stumble towards the shop front. "I need my wife and daughter," I say. "Sure thing, I'll take you to them," he says as he takes me towards the back. Then something odd happens.

No Pain

The pain has stopped. I look down to see the writhing mass pass into my arm and go deeper so I can no longer track it's progress. In fact I feel pretty good.

Then a different type of pain enters my world as I hear a loud ringing of metal striking mass as something hits the back of my head. It was likely a shovel. Then my world becomes dark.

Visiting Daddy

My wife and daughter are here and kneeling beside me. "Hello Daddy, they said you can hear me," says my daughter. I can see her through a haze. I cannot move my mouth. I cannot make a sound. I can wiggle my fingers. "Look mommy, it is like they said," she says pointing downward.

When did she get so tall? I look down towards my hand and I see a yellow cold flesh like flower, and my fingers that are wiggling are little fronds. I am rising out of a freshly dug mound of dirt.

"Honey, they couldn't let you go, it was too dangerous," says my wife. "They cannot destroy them either," she continues. "If they destroy them more of them pop up in unpredictable places in higher numbers." "They have tried burning them, and many other things." "They have tried steering people away from them."

"When they keep people away, they relocate and it takes time to find them again." "If they encounter animals and people in a familiar place they seem to remain docile." "It has been three months since you became their next colony."

"We will keep visiting..."

"Bye daddy," my daughter says as she walks away.

Harvest

I hear someone whistling the Andy Griffith Show theme song as they walk up. It is the man from the station. "Well now, you look ready," as he puts shovel to ground near me. I feel pain in my feet as he pulls forth a bulbous mass from the ground below.

"This makes the best shine you did ever taste," says the man as he puts the sickly green bulbous mass into a bag. "Your wife and daughter took a liking of it that first day right away," the man says with an accented chuckle. "It was a good thing they were thirsty, we might have had problems with them, until they tasted the shine."

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