Short story: Wintelnina

 There once was a plant named wintelnina (or winnie, as she was often reffered to) after its owner, wendy's, favorite book character.

They lived happily in a small apartment together with wendy's boyfriend of two years, Andy.

Winnie was quite content for those two years, wendy took good care of her, she did.

She watered her every day and extra when it was hot, she pruned it when it needed pruning, she kept the bugs off of it, and she always spoke to it like it was the most beautiful thing in the world.

Always.

Until one hot summer day when.. she didnt.

Winnie of course couldnt see where her owner had gone, but she knew where she was, for she had been telling andy about it all morning.

He spoke back in short confirmations of processed like "mhmm" and "i hear you." But wintelnina could hear the flipping of magazine pages coming from where shed normally hear the scraping of forks against plates or the stirring of hot liquids.

Wendy scoffed and all wintelnina could hear were footsteps growing quieter and quieter and the same flipping of pages.

She hadnt been watered that day. Nor had she been spoken to.

The next day however, winnie heard from the front door andy yelling "ill be back later babe" and then the opening and closing of the door.

Fast footsteps approached the door from the small hallway and it opened once again.

Wendy called out to andy "where are you going?! We were gonna meet my aunt for lunch, i told you a week ago!"

Winnie could hear andys faint voice being drowned out by traffic and wind.

Wendy sighed heavily and shut the door. She then approached winnie and spoke to it quietly "winnie, my dearest ivy... youre the only one who wouldnt walk away in the middle of my sentence. Thank you, beauty."

Winnie felt a little color drain from her vines, but she tried staying hydrated for her dear wendys sake.

Weeks later, all she could hear for two days straight was screaming, and stomping and slamming doors. She hear no footsteps toward her, or the faucet, or the cupboard where wendy kept the pesticeds.

But two days later all she could hear were soft kisses and loving whispers.

Months of these cycles had gone by, each fight seeming to last longer than the one before it.

One day she heard six words from andy she hadnt expected, and didnt know how much she dreaded. "I think you should move out" he said.

It followed the phrases "i love you" and "this isnt working" which followed a "but".

Wintelnina only heard crying all day after that. 

And then the following weeks she heard phone calls to storage places, and realtors, and the crumple of bubble wrap around fragile objects, and the rustle of them being placed into carboard boxes.

Soon she was somewhere new.

Brighter.

Dryer.

Hotter.

Quieter.

Wendy still visted her from time to time, but she often left in the morning and didnt come back till evening, missing winnies hottest, most dehydrated periods.

She heard wendy crying a lot. Winnie imagined her wilting even more than winnie herself was.

But not for too long, because soon, winnie wouldnt be able to hear anything, nor could she feel the crunch of her leaves, the dryness of her soil, or the spider building a home around it.

Guys, idfk, its like 2 in the morning, im bored, i had an idea, and im too lazy to make it a real book, or even a good short story, so if anyone else liles the concept and has actual followthrough, they should totally make this into a real book and send me a copy.

- billie