Prompt 11
All it takes is one bad seed to ruin the bunch. What should have been the highlight of the Destiny City Botanical Garden's Winter Extravaganza turned into a nightmare; their newly unveiled Winter Star Poinsettias had come to life and attacked! While there were no casualties and no severe injuries, many guests of the Botanical Gardens suffered slices from the razor-sharp leaves of the poinsettias and mild to severe bruising. That wasn't even the worst of it, though.

During the final battle, a blinding flash of light that spread across Destiny City left some with temporary blindness or difficulties seeing. Pollen fell like glittery snow across the city, afflicting many people with a strange winter-time 'allergy'. Anyone who inhaled the pollen may find themselves sneezing frequently, especially around a strong smell. They may also find themselves suffering from flu-like symptoms such as fever, coughing, fatigue, and nausea. No medicine relieves these ailments, however all symptoms will gradually disappear over the next week.

It doesn't seem to be contagious, but it's probably a good idea to take your vitamins anyway...


Word count: 527 words


"So I'm just warning you now, Caelum: No sneaking out. We've been through this before."

"Okay, dad."

"I mean it. You're gonna stay in bed and get better."

"Okay."

Rigel side-eyed his son for a second before turning on his heel and marching to the door. After it was clicked shut, Caelum pushed himself up to sitting on his bed, and hugged his knees to his chest.

"Kinda an off time to try being a dad, dad," he commented to the door with a sniffle. "But whatever."

Immediately a day after the events at the botanical garden, Caelum, like several of the other inhabitants of the city, came down with a sudden and unexplained flu. Many may have chalked it up to the winter season or a strange little bug floating around, but the boy didn't need an apt explanation to know it was from that damn monstrous tree. Whatever that plant did, it infected him with something, and he was to now suffer with sniffles and a fever in tandem with the itchy scars on his arms from the poinsettias.

Well, at least he could assuage one of his father's worries; he had lied and said he came out in one piece from the event. Long sleeves to cover up the scars seemed to do the trick. Then again, his father wasn't known for his helicopter parenting; if Caelum said he was fine with his last dying breath, Rigel would accept his response with a nod.

"He's always been like that, though," Caelum said. "Usually it'd be mom who'd hover at my bedside, but she's back at home. Can't expect that again."

Caelum sighed, staring up at the ceiling. His room suddenly felt very, very large.

"s**t, I'm bored..."

Powering up and heading out on an early patrol never felt so appealing until then, but Caelum didn't want to exacerbate his sniffles any more. Toughing this out for a few days felt like a day in hell in comparison, though. It wasn't the flu, however; it was his room, his house. Ever since Fiora left, his house didn't feel like a home. It made him feel antsy and tired at the same time. Normally, he'd cope by skateboarding around the block until dinner, but now he was bedridden.

"This just sucks."

Caelum flopped his arm out to his bedside table and grabbed his phone. He considered a number of things to do, but none seemed fun either. Should he text a friend from school? Well, he would, if he had any. Meadowview was pretty boring.

Should he send Etamin a photo of his butt? Then again, the connotation of it, especially considering the comments made during the party, made his grunt and shake his head. Definitely not. He wasn't a kid anymore, he was fourteen. Teens sent d**k pics instead, and Caelum wasn't interested.

There was only one thing, one thing, Caelum had in mind and he dreaded it completely. Yet, with no other option to pass the time, he reluctantly gave in. Tapping the Candy Crush app on his phone, he frowned as the jaunty startup tune played from his phone.

Someone save his soul.