Jan's Psychotic Plants

    I lived for a few years in a large group house with seven other people. On one occasion, I was having some friends visiting overnight, and my housemate Jan was going to be away, so she offered us the use of her room.
    Jan's room was next to mine on the third floor of the old Victorian. Her place was filled with life; birds, a dog, and a luxurious profusion of potted tropical plants. I often watered Jan's plants for her when she was away, and took care of the birds. So this was the room where I was going to sleep for the night, while my friends would be using my room. Jan had offered this arrangement, and I felt that it was going to be interesting, to sleep in the jungle among all those plants. At first I had a slight uneasiness about the idea, but I dismissed the feeling.
    As it turns out, my night in Jan's place was filled with hellish nightmares: in my tortured dreams all night, the plants were gruesome and hostile; they bent over the bed, writhing and emanating a demonic energy; they were jealous of my intrusion, commanding me get out of that place, or die.
    As soon as it was first light, I shook myself awake and got out of that room. I spent a groggy morning in the kitchen before anybody else got up, drinking coffee, calming myself down and letting the unpleasant reverberations slowly dissipate.
    I never told Jan that I had had such a dreadful night in her bed. She was a very sweet person, we got along well, and I never perceived any sort of negative energy from her. The whole episode was strange and a bit embarrassing; and that's why I never mentioned it to her.
    Some time after that episode, I had another friend visiting. Again Jan was going to be away, and again she offered the use of her room for the night. I had no wish to repeat the experiment myself, but I thought there was no reason not to let my friend Allen use the room. Allen is a plant person; his avocation is cultivating rare plants, and I felt that he would be delighted in the variety and profusion of plants to be found in Jan's "jungle". Jan's room was also the nicest one in the house; a very elegant room filled with arched windows, air and light. I decided I didn't need to mention to Allen about the peculiar reaction I'd had when I slept there, but I'll have to admit, I was curious to see how he would like the room.
    As it turns out, Allen was not amused. Amazingly enough, when I met him in the hall the next morning, he looked shattered and wild-eyed. "That was the worst night I've ever spent; I hardly slept at all!" he exclaimed accusingly, as if somehow it was my fault. "I was having horrible nightmares all night!"
    Even now I cannot account for it; was it just a coincidence that the same thing happened to us both? Maybe it was my fault that I let him sleep there without warning him, although truthfully, I had no reason to believe that the same thing would happen to him.
    After that, I became really curious to know what Jan would make of all this, but I still thought best not to mention it to her. And I never did.



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