The warning the redheaded human had given the latest addition to their team seemed to have fallen on deaf ears, because the onslaught of water continued. Leah, the sanservieria, had the hardest time of them all. She was not unlike Cliff and Claude in that regard. She would normally surivive on only the smallest amount of water. Sunny and Simon had both turned yellow, ineffectually watching on as Leah struggled to stay alive.
Charley and Burley were somewhat sturdier than their friends. Sure, the ends of their leaves had begun to turn a dried up shade of dark brown ever so slightly, but since they were the tropical types, they could still thrive in a more humid climate. Though not for very much longer.
Benjamin attempted to keep the group motivated with encouraging words. His desire to hide the fact that, with every single passing day he felt himself get weaker and weaker grew the more he noticed how much the others were relying on him. His branches had lost more leaves and had become rather bare. While this didn't escape the notice of the other desk dwellers, they chose to stay silent. Benjamin was their rock and they would never want to demoralise him. If he fell, so would they all.
The redheaded human repeatedly asked the newcomer to cease this assault. Regrettably it would take yet another devastating loss to bring about change.
The first rays of sunshine of the day poured into the office. The redheaded human checked Benjamin the way she always did. His branches were slumped and he looked awfully sad in the soil that had turned to the consistancy of clay. She narrowed her eyes and inspected Benjamin a little closer. She gently lifted him out of his pot and scanned his roots. So far so good. They looked healthy, albeit very soggy. When she went to put him back in his pot she froze. The breaking of her heart was almost audible when she spotted them. Minuscule white insects crawling around at the botttom of Benjamin's pot. Benjamin had felt them gnaw away at his roots since a few days ago. His human friend looked at him. What he saw there surprised him. Her eyes were devoid of resignation or pity. Instead he found determination and fire. She was quite clearly not ready to throw in the towel and leave him to perish. She would erradicate the pesky critters if it was the last thing she'd ever do.
"Don't worry," she whispered to Benjamin, "it'll all be all right. Hang in there."
She wasted no time checking the others. To her dismay she found the same microscopic white bugs in two more pots. One of them was Leah's. They happily scurried around the bottom of her pot without a care in the world, making lovely little burrows in the drenched soil, planning to feast upon the rapidly dwindling luscious roots. It had dawned on the others that Leah hadn't awoken yet that day and now they knew with certainty that she never would again. Damp soil clung to Leah's stringy, dried up roots in clumps. Nothing about the sansevieria's appearance was cause for hope that she might somehow pull through.
Sunny and Simon who had been witnesses to their window sill friend's gradual withering and eventual demise were too, lifted from their pots for thorough inspection. They were quickly cleared. Everyone observed quietly as Leah was taken away. Another member of their family lost.
The other plant that had caught the bugs, was Lance. He was in bad shape to be sure, but he still had a few good roots left. The redheaded human decided she could save both him and Benjamin with new soil and the natural enemy of these microscopic white critters. She would bring them tomorrow.
As soon as the sun had set and the humans had left, Benjamin let out a sigh.
"How are you holding up there, my friend?" asked Arica, with a soft and caring tone.
"I feel.. a little exhausted."
Benjamin propped himself up a little, turning his attention to his oldest friend.
"Lance, are you all right? Talk to me buddy."
With great effort, Lance looked up at Benjamin. His roots were all but devoured. He had seen a glimpse of the damage that had been inflicted upon poor Leah. He had known in that moment he would be next. While he couldn't see the state of his own roots, he could feel it. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that they looked about the same as Leah's had.
"Oh I'll be all right," Lance replied in a soft, but rough pitch, trying not to worry any of his friends, "I'm tough as old boots as they say. I promise that by tomorrow, when your little human friend brings our cure, I'll be right as rain again. What about you though?" he quickly deflected, "you're not looking so green yourself."
Benjamin chuckled in a frail manner. Despite everything, his faith in his human friend had yet to waver.
"Oh I'll be all right."
"We'll all be all right. I'm sure of it. We've always survived the toughest of conditions. Being the office desk dwellers that we are, we can overcome any hardship," Charley reached out to one of Sunny's yellow leaves. He had been relocated to the window sill to take Leah's spot and he was grateful for it. This way he could be of some consolation to his friends.
"I don't know, Charley, Cliff and Claude weren't able to, and they were the most tenacious of the entire group," Sunny said, with a vague air of regretful longing in her tone. "I will miss Leah so much."
"I know," whispered Simon, "so will I."
A long time ago, when the twins were mere seedlings they had shared a pot. Until one day, a human had decided they had grown strong enough to grow individually. While having spent their lives apart ever since, their connection endured. Simon sure did hope it would do so for many more years to come.
The very next morning the redheaded human had brought a little green flask with a natural type of bug repellant and a small bag of fresh soil. Without even bothering to turn on her computer first, she started taking care of Benjamin. She meticulously rid his roots of any contaminations and repotted Benjamin with an attentive smile on her face. When she went to do the same for Lance, she stopped.
Benjamin, who was feeling considerably more sprightly, looked over at Lance. He wasn't moving. He must still be sleeping. Right? He was fine yesterday. He said he would make it. He promised.
The human lifted Lance up and took him into another room.
"Where is she going with Lance?" Arica whispered.
"I don't know. I don't know," Benjamin uttered, with a hint of panic in his tone.
"They'll come back, won't they?" Burley asked, barely able to voice his doubts.
The question was left unanswered, because the redheaded human reentered the office. There was no Lance. A deep sense of sorrow hung in the air like a dark, heavy blanket meant to stifle and deprive the room of its light. Benjamin's long time friend, a friend who he had shared many late night discussions, laughs and contemplations about life with. Gone.
This energy of gloom seemingly extended beyond the plant family, because the anger and sadness radiating from the human at Benjamin's desk was palpable. While there was some comfort to be found in the solidarity displayed by the human, he just wasn't sure if that would help anyone anymore. His kind human friend had been outnumbered and she hadn't been around to come to their aid in time. How would that ever be different in the future? Would he even survive to find that out?
The other humans entered the office. Computers were turned on and soon the ticking sounds of keys rapidly being pressed on a keyboard filled the otherwise silent room. A few moments had passed, when the redheaded human could stay silent no longer. She rolled her chair over to her co-worker's desk.
"Listen," she started, "about the plants.. I've had to throw away four of them in total now, because they were moldy and bug infested. Do not water them anymore. I mean it. You're killing them. You need to leave them alone. At least for a little while or else, soon, every single one of them will die and we'll have zero plants left in this office."
These passionately spoken words seemed to at long last resonate with the chronic overwaterer, for in the next few weeks he barely concerned himself with the desk dwellers.
Sunny and Simon's vibrant green colours slowly, but surely had returned to them, making them appear a thousand times healthier than they had in weeks. Benjamin's human friend kept a close eye on each of them. Even though the plant family collectively recovered, the space still resembled a cold, dismal bunker of an office without Lance and Leah brightening up the interior.
One morning, a rather large, colourful bag was placed on Benjamin's desk. Every member of the desk dwellers family perked up at the sight of this. What was happening? Was she taking Benjamin away inside this bag? Before any of their fears and worries had time to grow into crippling agony, a spiderplant was pulled out of the bag. She looked so jaunty, so vibrant and charming. Benjamin felt his disposition morph into pure joy at the thought of getting to share his desk with such a beauty.
At nightfall, Benjamin, being back to his usual outgoing self, immediately spoke up.
"Hi there, my name is Benjamin. What's yours?"
"I'm Lily. Nice to meet you," she answered, with a soft and gentle inflection.
"The pleasure is ours!" Benjamin replied, with great enthusiasm. "Welcome to the desk dwellers family, Lily. Where are you from?"
Chatting away the night, getting acquainted with the newest member of their little group, the desk dwellers allowed themselves to enjoy this sense of relief. They had made it to the other side. None of them were foolish enough to believe this would be their last struggle in life. They did know one thing though, no matter what, there would always be a human in their corner. Fighting to keep them alive.
The End.
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