The Green House

It was pouring rain the worst I had ever seen. New Jersey was in a state of emergency with a coastal flood warning in effect. The rain created a blanket around everything it touched there was zero visibility. Lines of cars were pulled over on all of the roads so many that they resembled a large parking lot. There was one car still driving trying to get anywhere but on that road. That was my car, a 1964 impala with the wipers on full blast which barely did anything to the forever encroaching rain droplets. As I continued my treacherous drive the weather only continued to get worse. Tree branches that reached over the started to break and fall. After a couple of close calls I figured I had to stop somewhere. I pulled down a dirt drive and saw an old farmstead. I pulled underneath an old carport. I was immediately greeted by an old woman dressed in a tattered dress wearing a clear plastic rain bonnet. I explained to her that I did not want to pull over in the road because I didn’t feel comfortable there. She welcomed me into her rickety old house. The house appeared as if it hadn’t been decorated since the mid 60’s.The old woman made me a cup of tea. I asked her if there was anything that I could to repay her for her hospitality. She said that there was work to be done in the green house. I couldn’t believe a house that was in such disrepair would have a working green house. She led me through a corridor and into the tropical paradise. I couldn’t believe the vast variety of plants that this woman had collected. She explained that she had traveled the world and the United States taking cuttings of different plants. She planted everything that she had collected in the green house. The green house was filled with vast different types of plants. Some plants were so thorny and prickly it was unimaginable that they could produce the sweetest most delicious fruits. Shiny leaves dull leaves rough and smooth leaves were on different plants scattered all over the green house. Plants were planted in the ground to resemble a rainforest environment banana trees which touched the glass. Even the littlest signs of life were reaching from under the thickest canopy to usurp the tiniest amount of light. Plants in pots grew on wooden benches and surrounded the outer walls. Some didn’t need soil and grew from other plants or blocks of wood. Spanish moss dangled from everywhere like witches hair. Despite the destructive rain outside the inside of the greenhouse was just as warm and peaceful as a hot summer’s day. The outside was totally separate a world that didn’t even exist.