The alarm on Daniel’s phone went off; it was time to water Anne’s plants. He checked the sheet in the folder she left him.
“Keep the grape ivy in the living room evenly moist,” he read aloud. “All right.”
Daniel filled up the watering can with the bathtub spigot. He then did his best to keep the grape ivy evenly moist.
He read the next section, “In the bedroom, let the pepperoni’s soil dry between watering.” He walked over to the bedroom with his can and looked around. An empty chair stood where he imagined a plant would be. A ragdoll appeared to stare at him from Anne’s bed. The only plant he saw was a rubbery looking thing sitting in a pot in the corner. He read the tag sticking out of its dirt: Peperomia.
“Okay.”
The soil still felt moist, so he set the can down next to the pot. He looked at the bed. Anne always had nice stuff, so it made him wonder.
In a motion not unlike a Fosbury Flop, Daniel flung himself onto the mattress.
“This is a good bed,” he said. He turned to the chair, and saw that the ragdoll was now sitting there. Dan checked beside and underneath himself to see if Anne had two.
“Probably just a lucky bounce,” he reassured himself.
He locked eyes with the doll. The doll locked eyes with Daniel.
“Okay,” Dan said. He took the doll into the kitchen and closed it in the microwave.