Pretty Poison

I was startled ______ the bitterness ______ her voice.

"Look ______ this garden. To you it may not look beautiful. Other people tell me the colors

______ the flowers do not go well together, but they have only one sense. People trust their eyes too much. We must use other senses to appreciate a garden. Feel this."

I walked over ______ her and felt the soft leaf ______ a plant.

"That's lamb's ears. I have never felt a lamb's ear, but I'm sure it would be as soft and woolly as this leaf."

I looked ______ the garden. She was right. I did not think it was beautiful. There was another plan of organization that was meant for a blind person, not a sighted person. The color of the flowers and the arrangement ______ the plants would not have been done ______ that manner by a gardener ______ sight.

"This has a beautiful flower," I said, hoping to express my interest ______ the garden when I really wanted to hear more ______ this blind girl' s hatred of the two intruders, her stepmothers.

"Where? Let me feel. Yes, it may be beautiful. It has a very delicate smell. But it's very poison­ous, you know. It's called Black Hellebore; the Christmas Rose. The ancient Greeks thought it cured madness, and in a way I guess it does; death is always a cure of sorts."

"Why do you have poisonous plants ______ your garden?"

"Oh, I have lots ______ them. Sometimes the most beautiful, innocent flower is deadly. Can you see the foxglove there?" She pointed toward some tall plants with purple flowers. "The leaves make a salad look too good to eat, and actually you shouldn't. If you want to live, that is. And, of course, I also have monkshood." She pointed to a plant ______ her feet and bent over to pick it up. "The juice ______ this plant is tasteless, but when added to tea or any drink, it becomes deadly."

I began to think ______ the second wife, who died ______ food poisoning. I looked

around the garden to see if there were any other dangerous plants I could recognize.

"Nature is frightening, isn't it? But if you understand her, you can use her. She always gives warn­ings to us."

From the porch, Ms. Ryan was calling for us to come ______ tea. Sonia reached her hand

her basket and held out some parsley she had just cut. "You are not afraid ______parsley, are you?" She handed me a bit to eat. As I chewed, she explained that parsley first grew from the blood __ the child Opheltes who had been killed ______ a snake. Seeing parsley then became known as seeing one's death.

"You go have your tea ______ Ms. Ryan. And enjoy it."

She then went back to the house. I followed slowly behind and reached the porch where Ms. Ryan was waiting ______ me.

Questions about the Story

1. What did Dwight notice about Sonia's voice?

2. How did Sonia sense her flowers?

3. What was strange about the garden? -

4. Why did Ms. Ryan call Dwight?

CHAPTER SEVEN

In From the Cold

Directions: Read the passage and note the prepositions.

Date: 2015-01-29; view: 1774