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Prompt 10: Poinsettias are common during the winter seasons, so it isn't unusual to see them decorating windowsills and local establishments. What is unusual are the unique Winter Star Poinsettias that seem to have accidentally mixed into the bunch. They look like ordinary Poinsettias reflecting a bit of glow from nearby lights--only, the leaves themselves are emitting a soft, silvery glow. They look like they are covered with a fine morning dew, only with fine silver glitter peppered in to give it a unique sparkle. They seem to have gone unnoticed by most of Destiny City and the landscapers, and it's not clear how these plants were selected, but anyone with a keen eye might recognize them as the catastrophe of Destiny City Botanical Garden's 2016 Winter Extravaganza. Thankfully, these variants are far less dangerous than their counterparts, however, these plants have a strange pollen that acts like an allergen and can cause agitation, oversensitivity, and sneezing to anything with much of a strong smell. Anyone who comes into contact with these plants may also find themselves suffering from flu-like symptoms such as fever, coughing, fatigue, and nausea and no medicine will relieve it, but the symptoms gradually fade. The leaves of the poinsettia are sharp and can sting like a papercut, so be careful! ...If you're worried about an all-out attack again, it might be a good idea to destroy these poinsettias--if you can manage to do so without getting caught.
What had started as a minor complaint of allergies had resulted in a series of strange little events that caused Namielle to become ever so slightly suspicious. She'd never really had allergies before, dust could certainly make her sneeze if it got up her nose but when it came to flowers she very rarely had a problem. Yet when she had admired one particular display she had walked away with an exceptionally bad case of the cold. She'd read that Poinsettias were dangerous to dogs but could they be dangerous to Mauvians too?
Regardless, soon after she had come home feeling most unwell she began to read some tabloid reports of the common cold making a comeback. The odd thing about it was that it only lasted a day... Not such a big deal in the grand scheme of things but shortly after that she began to encounter something a bit different. Someone, somewhere, was committing arson. No matter where she walked in her neighbourhood the little Poinsettia displays on the windowsills were decimated, all set alight and left to perish at the road side.
...Someone was murdering flowers.
Admittedly if they were causing an increased number of allergic reactions then it was probably smart to take precautions and remove them from shelves but she wasn't entirely sure wanton destruction was the appropriate response. Granted the disgruntled complaints of the neighbours in the mornings they had woken up to find their dead flowers made it abundantly clear they hadn't been consulted, but that did mean they had a rather strange vigilante on the loose. Once again the festive season was filled with mysteries and Namielle would have ignored it had it not been for the fact she had spent the better part of the last few weeks investigating them at the behest of Regula.
Was this another of those times?
She settled on a pre-emptive strike with this one. Given that Regula would likely receive calls about the vandalism at a later date while working it seemed beneficial to figure things out now. One thing she had worked out from her initial observations was that the culprit tended to strike before fresh snow had fallen. They were smart, allowing either the ploughs to remove their tracks or snow to cover them. This meant that they tended to prowl early in the morning and that meant that she too would have to be awake for that period. Sadly this was an observation she hadn't been happy with as she liked her bed, she liked her sleep and she most certainly wasn't a night owl but she would endure... if only to shoo Regula away more quickly than she would have otherwise been able to.
Thus, it was for this reason that she was now staring boredly out her window at 4.30am, eyes fixed on the street across the way and the newly placed flower boxes. If her assumptions were correct then at some stage the culprit would arrive and remove them.
Unless, of course, they didn't strike every night?
She wasn't feeling particularly happy at the prospect that there may be one or two more nights of this and as the minutes drew on she began to wonder if she was waiting too early. After all those boxes had just gone up and -
Movement caught her attention as a jogger approached from out of her line of sight. A familiar figure, in a track suit she knew well. If that was who she thought it was then he was out for his routine run, but if that was also who she thought it was then -
"Oh my god," she seemed more entertained than she probably should have.
The jogger had paused, had regarded one of the window boxes and sure enough, he had pulled it off the windowsill and set it alight.
If that was who she thought it was then she had many, many questions.
Sleep was no longer an option at this point and with her energy renewed and a gleeful smirk on her lips the feline leapt from the windowsill and proceeded into the living room to lie in wait. If Mr. Wilder was her arsonist then he had some explaining to do!
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