In his dreams the lamb dreamt of an earlier time. A memory of himself wandering through the meadow of home and encountering a strange rabbit who offered him a stick of celery as friendship. Though he wanted to be friends his father came bleating out of nowhere and rammed into the rabbit knocking it far away. The lamb shifted in his sleep uncomfortably as the dream progress with his father scolding him for trusting others not of their kind and forcing the lamb to return home pushing him with his curled horns.

Groggily the lamb woke up and stands, only to wobble unevenly as a wave of soreness hit him causing him to tumble back down. ‘Why am I so sore…’ he pondered as he slowly stood up feeling weak in the knees and spine as if he had carried a great weight. ‘Oh yea… I was carrying that goat… where is he?’ he thought as he looked around. By the brook was the goat contently munching on another red blossom before looking over. “Ah so you are awake. You shift and tumbled a lot in your sleep did you know that?” The goat casually asked.

“Oh I didn’t know that” he said slowly walking to the brook to drink. “Feeling sore” he noted as the goat gave a thoughtful glance, a small gleam in his eyes. “Must’ve been from all that turning around you do in the night. However I know a simple solution. Wait here by the stream for a moment, my leg been feeling much better since I ate.” He said getting up and bounding away. The lamb just nodded before going back to drinking the water as it soothed him a bit. He turned and looked around the grove seeing how the red flowers bloom in a perfect circle around them, and throughout the grove they grew in small clusters. He wondered how they did that when the goat came back with a large leaf with some berries on it setting it beside the lamb before going over, nipping off a small bud and setting it amongst the berries.

“I know the taste is not to your liking, but the flowers do provide some comfort and healing that change on what the consumer needs. Just eat a small bud of these each meal and you’ll be fine” The goat promised before eating his own share of the berries. The lamb nodded trusting in the goat who had been kind to him and quickly ate the red bud so he wouldn’t have to linger on the strange taste. As he finished devouring it he felt his body grow warmer like basking in sunlight, and felt his soreness slowly drift away a little bit.

The day passed calmly with the goat telling the lamb of his secrets to survival in the woods that haunted them. He told the young lamb where to find good berry bushes to grab a bite from and what was poisonous to the taste. He spoke of paths to avoid and to never trust anything that flew. Every so often he would leave to grab more food so the lamb could enjoy the safety of his grove and come back with fresh berries and grass to eat, along with a red bud to help soothe the younger being’s soreness. At the end of the night the goat and lamb slept beside each other in quiet peacefulness.

As the night went on though the lamb stirred and shifted uncomfortably as his dreams were haunted by his father bleating out in anger and ramming into the lamb for trying to talk to others. While the lamb shifted in his sleep the goat watched him with cold eyes as a dark fire burn in them. He was rather amused by the lamb’s movements before standing up and going to a small patch of the grove digging at it with his hoof to make a small mark in it. He casually glanced over to the various clumps of blossoms in his grove. “Soon one more will join this grove, and my harvest will double with his purity. Though might as well enjoy his… company while I can.” The goat said under his breath before slowly marching towards the lamb a hungering desiring gleam shining in his eyes.

The lamb woke up feeling sore once again, though unlike the previous day his mind was feeling cloudy. He stood up before falling back down groaning a bit. “Urgh my head and bones…” the lamb whined as the goat down form beside the lamb. “Another bad dream? You were shifting a lot last night. Perhaps we should move you up to the bigger bulbs or even a blossom, you look like you need some stronger medicine” the goat said to which the lamb inclined. “Yes anything at this point, I’m feeling to sore for my own comfort”

The goat nodded before bringing the lamb a large bulb for him to snack on. “Perhaps the berries were effecting your healing, so I think just to be on the safe side so there is no dilution you should just eat this by itself.” The lamb nodded before munching on the blossom stomaching the metallic after taste as he felt his body warm up again to ease his soreness before going to the stream to drink. “When you are done come with me, there is something I wish to show you”

The lamb nodded and walked after the goat as the goat lead him out of the grove and through the woods, now and then pushing the lamb into the shadows and under bushes to avoid the wanting gaze of a hawk or fox that traveled. “Remember most do not think to look under, it is better to keep low and quiet to not draw attention” the goat sagely told before emerging from the bush to a small path that was lined with trees with a strange yellowish moss growing. “This moss will always grow on the north side, if you lose your sense of direction look for this moss to get your bearings.” He said before heading back to the grove for lunch. Upon arrival he nudged the lamb to eat another large bud of the flower.

“If I can be so bold to ask, how did you came upon these flowers?” The lam asked the goat as they ate. The goat pondered thoughtfully as he chewed before swallowing. “I was a much younger kid when I came across this place. A small stream and some red flowers. Hungry I ate them and found new strength, and the fox that chased me stayed away as long as I was near the blossoms. So I thought that this would make a good place to live… with some tender loving care of course. Through the years I carefully picked up the buds of these plants and planted them around the edge of this grove and in other areas, to form my sanctuary. Through my watchful eye and care it has grown to this beautiful paradise, but I must always keep a look out for those that may ruin it.” The lamb nodded before asking “do you think… it would be alright if I could stay here?” the goat smiled kindly at him though his eyes gleamed a bit unnervingly. “Of course my friend.”

That night the lamb finished another bud for his dinner before sleeping contently knowing he was safe. The goat on the other hand stood up and went to the marked place digging a small circle outline of it before going over and picking the lamb by the scruff of his neck and setting him in the circle. “Oh yes, my ‘friend’, you’ll be here forever.” The goat said coldly before picking up a small sharp rock and made a small incision on each of the lamb’s legs from the shoulder, haunch, and leg before making another one on the lamb’s sides, being careful to not wake him up. When he was done he went to a flower cluster picking up small bulbs that grew and set them on the cuts, the plants shuddering and opening up slightly as small vines grew and latch onto the open wounds. The goat smiled a little as he went around the lamb. “You’re going to produce a wonderfully sweet harvest for me” said as he loomed over the lamb.

The lamb woke up in the morning feeling sore and cloudy, but also very very weak. “Huh… what’s happening” he said as his eyes were partially blinded by some leafs. “What?” he tried moving only to find himself unable to move as the soreness hit him more intensely. “Oh so you’re awake, didn’t expect you to wake up so soon. Is your medicine working well? These plants do have a very nice effect to those who don’t eat them often enough, rather light headed aren’t you?” the goat said. The lamb moved his head a little seeing the goat eating a bulb and walking over, seeming different. His fur was more pinkish then usual and had a rather strong musk like odor around him.

The lamb let out a bleating yelp as he felt his body convulse in shock and sudden soreness that seem to be intense around his body. He looked and saw that the red flowers were blooming on his body tied to veins and bone. “Remember little one, no many care to look under the bush.” The goat taunted. The lamb snaps his head down turning it to try to glimpse over the other clusters and saw a morbid sight. Under each bed of the red flowers there was a corpse, some still having fur on them as the plants rooted in open holes and others long since been skeletonized. The lamb let out a bleating yell of terror as he tried to move, the vines cutting more of his skin and dug deeper.

“Oh yes do move around as much as you want, it excites the plants. The more you thrash and injured yourself the more they dig, the more you struggle the happier I’ll be. Yell if you wish, no one is here to save you. Though you could always be a good wee lamb, and stop struggling. Just give it up” the goat said as he walked by the lamb’s face, the musk odor being overwhelming as he used his tail to flick at the lamb’s nose. “Submit yourself to the plants and you can find your death to be more comforting and enjoyable, or you can struggle and make it more painful and tormenting. Do whatever you prefer, it matters not to me in the end, for I will get what I… desire from you.” He said as he walked behind setting a hoof on the lamb’s back. “I always get what I desire”

The lamb struggled a bit as the musk and the scent of the flowers started to overpower his other senses, feeling the thorny roots digging deeper into him and wrapping around him. ‘Is this the end…? I can’t move…’ the lamb thought as the goat loomed over him licking his lips. ‘No… not like this… I don’t want to die…’ the lamb thought as his heart begin to race in panic. “No... I don’t want this. I don’t want this… I DON’T WANT TO DIE” the lamb bleated before yanking its hind legs free and instinctively kicked upwards, knocking the goat off of him.

“Oofa” the goat bleated out in surprise as he was pushed off, the lamb struggling to get up. With a cry of anguish and the sound of root snapping the lamb stood up breaking from the roots that held him in place. “What… get back here kid, you can’t leave” the goat said in an angry tone getting up and charging at him. “Yes I can!” the lamb said running away towards the ring. Before the goat could overtake him the lamb turned to the right causing the goat to ram himself into a tree. The goat stumbled backwards in a daze when he turn and saw the lamb coming with a sharp rock and bounded pass, slashing his eyes. The goat let out a bleat of agony as he stumbled backwards into the stream. “My eyes! My eyes I can’t see, you miserable brat after all I did for this is how you repay me?” the goat bleated out.

“Kindness… is a rare trait… but… I won’t take your kindness anymore” the lamb said weakly as the goat stumbled blindly. “Enjoy the blood harvest” he said before bouncing off knowing the goat wouldn’t go after him till he was healed. Though if what the goat said was true, he would have a few days at best, a few hours at worst, before the plant’s magic would heal his sight. Then again he could’ve been bluffing, the lamb didn’t know. As he wandered through the woods he winced looking to his shoulder, noticing a large red bulb of the plant still wrapped tightly around his right shoulder. “At least I won’t get hungry… too tire to remove it. I rather like it anyways… a memento of a bitter kindness…” the lamb sighed wearily as he moved on.

When desire and trust blooms together, it is hard to tell which one roots the deepest into the earth. Painful to remove but a time must come when one must cut out trust or desire or both from the garden so it can renew itself and make way for a new harvest.