Matilda :: Plant Drama

2 October 1921

Ok…

I don’t normally do this.

Why am I talking to myself in a book? This is weird.

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Matilda's Journal

5 October 1921

Ok, let's try this again.

Patricia said this might help get my thoughts organized. I’m willing to try anything at this point, cause I am a mess.

I love working with plants more than anything. Obviously. The dirt under my fingers is a testament to that. Granny always hated that.

Makes it extra special…

Whatever.

So, I have been noticing more and more that I can feel the plants. Not like TOUCH feel, but… FEEEEEL.

This makes no sense. It’s like I can read them. Our Divi Professor talked about being an Empath. Feeling what others feel. It’s like that, which got me thinking. This is not normal. I AM NOT NORMAL.

Many would argue this is not new news.

Ass holes…

But it seems like it all started after the Amazon. And has gotten stronger. I can tell when a plant is sick before it shows signs. Like, scary accurate. If the soil is lacking nutrients, I just know. It’s not like I even have to think it, It’s just there.

I should probably lock this journal up, people are going to think I’m nut.

I’ll report back later. If I remember. I probably wont.

Do I like… say goodbye? To myself? No… That’s even more weird.

UGH, WHATEVER, BYE…

20 Nov 1921

Sixteen. I am sixteen years old. Today actually, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!

This year is different. No boyfriend to give me gifts. Which sucks, but whatever. I got some presents from Gramps, he’s the best. I got a letter from Granny, she’s the worst. It’s a wonder how they have stayed married for so long.

It’s Sunday, which is nice. I can spend all day in the greenhouse with my babies. Predictable, I know, but it’s what I love.

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Ok, so, sorry about the dirt on the pages, but I wanted to write this down. I’m in the greenhouse, shocker, but something weird happened. I was repotting some lavender, one of my favorite plants. It’s calming and fresh, it's just the greatest spell ever. I also really like the smell of tomato vines, weird I know, but whatever.

So, I was repotting the lavender into bigger pots and the weirdest thing happened. There were three large lavender plants that needed to be in bigger pots and one small plant that just wasn’t growing as big. I got the three into the new pots and took the small one out of its pot to see if I could figure out why it was so small and not growing. My fingers like… I don’t know… tingled. I just knew that it was sick. I didn’t even get a chance to look it over but I knew it had Septoria Leaf Spot. And sure enough, I saw the spots.

It was new, they hadn’t spread to all the leaves, but it was there. As I inspected the plant, I just kept thinking about healing the plant. I wanted to heal it and then, I watched the leaf in my hand whole the spots disappeared. It was INSANE.

And then I passed out. Well, not like OUT, but I got so dizzy that I fell to the floor. And then I was EXHAUSTED. Like, give me a bed and let me sleep for months exhausted. I grabbed some snacks from my bag and a butter beer. After eating and drinking I felt a little better, but it felt like I had run a marathon. After about ten minutes, I pulled myself up and had to breath deep to stop the dizziness. It took a bit of time before I was able to stand straight, but the weirdest thing… The plant was perfect. The small sick lavender plant was clear of all blight and had grown at least another inch.

There is no explanation for this. I am so confused, but I know what I saw and how the plant had healed. And now, hours later, my leg is throbbing. Not because I fell, but my scar is throbbing and tingling. I don’t know what the hell is happening, but I will definitely be investigating more.

Ok. Bye…. This is still weird.

25 Dec 1921

Being home is the best. No homework. No school drama. No responsibilities, past chores and such. To be honest, I don’t have many. Keep my room clean. Clean up after myself, keep the garden from going feral. That was pretty much it.

Today is Christmas, which is awesome, but it’s a bit somber if I’m being honest.

Poor Ever. She isn’t doing better and her parents are being assholes. I asked if Alice and Ever could come over and stay, but they said no. For no reason.

Gramps and I had a good day, we opened presents and had a great dinner. It’s just us and Poppy so we stayed at the London house. If the whole family was getting together we’d be in Sweden. I missed the Estate, but this is home.

It’s late. Like, probably 10 or 11 at night. Gramps is in bed, but I can’t sleep.

I came up to the rooftop to think. My greenhouse is all tucked in for the night. My plants happy to be out of the cold. I’m sitting here, wrapped up in my warmest clothes just writing and looking at the sky.

It’s a clear night, but snow is falling when the clouds drift over. Right now the sky is clear, so the stars are twinkling at me. It’s soothing.

I took one plant out of the greenhouse. It’s one of my favorites, lavender. I can’t explain it, but when I’m not touching plants or in their presence I feel disconnected. So I’m sitting here, one hand writing in my journal while the other hand is running through the long skinny branches of the plant. It grounds me.

I know… Pun intended.

Much to Gramps chagrin, I don’t wear shoes when I walk through grass or dirt anymore. He tells me to dig my toes in and see if I’ll grow. He’s joking… I wonder if it might be true.

Writing about this helps. I feel like my powers… powers? Is that what’s going on? I’m not sure if there is a better word for it. Well, whatever they are their growing… and so is my scar.

The scar on my leg has been green and leafy since the attack. Now, if I push my powers to the edge, and usually pass out, my scar throbs. What I didn’t realize was it’s also growing. I didn’t realize it at first, but I have a freckle on my leg that is pretty dark. It was next to my scar, by what would be a stem I guess. Well, it’s covered now. A new ‘branch’ has covered it. There is no other explanation. It’s growing.

It’s not a lot and it’s not fast, but here we are.

Now that I know there is something going on and it started after the Amazon attack, I’m watching it a lot more. I’m keeping track of my practice sessions, so maybe I will post that here.

We’ll see.

Well, it’s late and I can’t stop yawning so I’m headed to bed… I didn’t need to tell you that.

Ok… Night.

Started: 01 Dec 1921
Finished: 05 May 1922

Plant	What I Felt	What Was Wrong	What I did	What Happened
Fluxweed	Dehydrated	Same	Watered	In time: Healthy
Lavender	Root rot	Same	Tried to heal	Passed out: Had to use traditional methods
Roses	Mites	Same	Mite Spray	In Time: Healthy
Dittany	Rootbound	Same	Repotted	Healthy
Flitterbloom	Root rot	Same	Tried to heal	Vomited: Plant died
Mandrake	Sick/Virus	Same	Tried to heal	Dizzy/Headache: Less coughing, but had to use traditional methods to cure
Shrivelfig	Fungal/Blight	Same	Tried to heal	Dizzy: Had to use traditional methods
Mallowseet	Leaf Scorch	Same	Tried to heal	Was in bad mood, Plant shriveled and died
Wormwood	Mildew	Same	Tried to heal	Headache: Had to use traditional methods
Puffapod	Leaf Rot	Same	Tried to heal	Dizzy, but HEALED

5 May 1922

HOLY SHIT!!!!

DID THAT JUST HAPPEN? WHAT THE ACTUAL FUDGE BROWNIE!

My hands are shaking. Like, a lot. Hold please….


OK. I think I’ve calmed down more. I had to shove my face in a lavender plant and breathe some fresh air. This is insane. I swear, for MONTHS I’ve thought something might be happening, but with no hard proof I just passed it off as my being nuts.

NOT NUTS!

A few of my friends might disagree, but OH MY GODDESS, the puffapod plant I was just working with had leaf rot. Not horrible, but in the beginning stages. Which maybe is why it worked and I didn’t pass out cold. I did the same thing I’ve been doing for months, I had my fingers in the soil and just knew. I sensed the rot. I mean, I could see it also, but it was like I could feel the sickness. It made my skin itch. Which makes sense I guess. Since it was on the leaves and not roots. Root rot feels more like… a weakness. And my stomach usually feels sour and sick if there is blight.

This is all so insane.

So, when I felt the itching I searched the leaves until I found the one with the rot. There were three small spots, not more than the size of a pea, but they were there. I can’t explain how I did it, but I focused all my energy on that leaf. I wanted it to be healed. My whole body warmed, like I had a fever. My hands got HOT, then a wave of dizziness fell over me. Thank goodness I was able to grab hold of the table or I’d have cracked my head open. I didn’t pass out… A win… And once I was able to clear my head and stop the world from spinning, I looked all over the plant, NO ROT.

NO FREAKING ROT AT ALL!!

Now, I’m sitting on the floor, calming down. My leg with the scar is throbbing, which is normal whenever I do empathic plant readings. I’m still trying to figure out how in the hell to describe it.

I think I’m done for today, but I will keep working on this some more. I am so excited, and STARVING…

**MENTAL NOTE, Bring more snacks and pumpkin juice the next time I want to work on this.**