Aloe

Shayla has a black thumb. Most, if not all houseplants, suffer in her care. There was a time when she was seven that she killed a cactus (please don't ask). Time hasn't changed that tendency much. That's not saying she doesn't do her best to keep the poor things healthy, because she does. Careful not to over/under-water, give them enough light, & so forth. But for some reason it never seems to work well for her.

Last month while working in the yard, Master uncovered an aloe plant. It'd snuck in somehow under a bush that was growing in the wrong spot. Shayla was a bit surprised when he handed it to her. He wanted it potted, so she potted it. No questions, no 'buts'. Just got the supplies together, & with miranda's input did as she was told. Nobody told the plant, though.

Since it had been growing outside, shayla placed it on the back porch, where it would get (she thought) the right amount of light, watered it carefully (not too much, aloe's closely related to cactus). Five days later it was already a sick brownish-green. Two weeks later it seemed completely dead. Her black thumb had shown itself once more.

You know how things are when you're busy with life. Turn your back on something, next thing you know, it's two, three weeks down the road. So it was with the aloe plant. Until last night when she had to go out to the back porch. The aloe had not only revived, but had sprouted a few more leaves. Along with some unanticipated weeds, which were removed. So now it's just as fat-, firm-fleshed as one could hope.

It's back like nothing'd ever happened. It's odd how some things change when you just let them rest. Something to think about in there, isn't it?

shayla