I nervously held my hat by the brim, sliding it along my hands as they grew sweaty. I was up next for the company talent show, and I wasn't feeling confident at all. My best friend said I was going to do just fine if I took a breath and relaxed, but I couldn't see how I could do that. The balloon juggler before me finished his act to the booing from the crowd. He stormed off the stage, mumbling something about people not respecting the art.

I hate sleeplessness. I would know since I haven’t been able to sleep more than three hours a night for the last few weeks. Sure, it was enough for me to function fine in the mornings, but once it got to be the late afternoon, I could barely keep my eyes open. The stress of my everyday life is what’s causing it, and the shitty thing is the lack of good sleep just piles on more stress!

Darryl could hear a muffled sssss…mmmmm….bzzzzz as he approached the bedroom door. He knew Olivia was home alone. She wasn’t in the rest of the house, so she had to be in the bedroom. The ssss…mmmMMMmmm…bzzzz continued. His curiosity piqued, Darryl turned the knob and opened the door. The light was dim, but he could make out his wife’s outline on the bed. There was a helium tank next to the nightstand, Olivia was using her right hand to probe her nethers with her favourite vibrator while clutching a large pair of rounded pillows to her chest with her left.

The instant Liliace awoke, she perceived the condition of the soil from the shady darkness inside her flower. Her roots knurled in the earth like toes wriggling through sand.

The nutrient balance was different. Slightly more traces of stone. Neighbors. Dozens of them.

She uncurled the large orange petals surrounding her while straightening her back and emerged into the slightly cool morning air and the warmth of the brilliant summer sunlight on her fern-green skin.