Cat's Out of the Bag

"Just knock."

"-Knock?"

That simple answer was all it took. The old man looked at the boy as if he were a lunatic for putting money inside the plant and that now he had to go retrieve it, but followed through anyway. He was about to climb unknowingly into a man-eating plant to his certain death.

As the great green maw opened up, the boy cringed and shivered with the thought that another death was about to happen. More blood would be on his hands, but even more precious blood than the last murder (was it a murder?), had been. Mr. Mushnik was more than a boss to him. As he shut his eyes tight, memories played in his mind…

Skid Row had always been a bad part of town. There had always been a lot of crime, and the drop out rate for school was relatively high. There were also many homeless and those who had their substance vices. Many in the Skid Row Home for Boys came from those types of families with little hope in their lives to begin with.

Unlike his fellow orphanage mates, Seymour Krelborn had been abandoned at birth and had no knowledge of the reasons behind why he was left in the home, or even who his parents were. It was quite an unfortunate circumstance. Seymour constantly prayed for a better life… even more so than his friends who had knowledge of the better life before living at the orphanage.

The nights at the Skid Row Home for Boys were long and full of wonderful dreams. One night while lying awake in bed, Seymour was talking to his friends Alan and Nicholas, who slept in cots on either side of him. They were his best friends at the orphanage. It was strange, but Seymour almost felt as if they were like his family; like his brothers.

"Do you guys ever wish you knew what your parents were like?" Seymour asked.

Alan and Nicholas nodded.

"Yeah. I hate the fact that I had to grow up without knowing why my parents had to give me up," Nicholas said

Alan nodded in agreement. "I wonder what my mom looked like. Ya know, like if she was pretty. I bet she was."

Seymour smiled. "I bet my mom was really pretty too."

"Do you guys ever think we'll get out of this crummy place?" Alan asked.

"I hope we do. I would love to get out of this part of town… someday," Nicholas said, wistfully.

Seymour nodded. "That's my biggest hope; that I'll get out of this orphanage and get adopted by a nice family. Start a whole new life."

"Boys, it's lights out. Time to be quiet," said Mr. Lawson, the headmaster of the orphanage.

The boys did as they were told. Little did any of them know that the next day, Seymour's wish would come true.

In the morning, a man came by to observe the children. Mr. Lawson had informed them that someone might be adopted today and become a flower shop apprentice of sorts. Most of the boys were excited at the idea, even if it meant that they had to work in their new home. Seymour was the most excited of all by the idea, since he had always rather liked plants and never had the resources to learn all about them in the home.

By lunchtime, the man looking to adopt was getting closer to making his final decision. The boys noticed was getting a bit sweaty and impatient, but he wanted to make a good choice for his "junior employee". He stopped at Seymour's table and paid careful attention to Seymour who was helping to collect the trash and interacting with the rest of the kids as he helped to clean up. He did these things out of behavior, without question, which meant that he did not need to be told to work hard and that he would make a good salesperson.

It did not take Mr. Mushnik very long to talk to the headmaster about adopting Seymour. Of course, he wanted to talk to the boy before taking him away, though he was sure that he would agree. Even his cruddy flower shop was better than this dump. Soon, Seymour was called to private corner of the home to speak to Mr. Lawson and Mr. Mushnik.

"Seymour, Mr. Mushnik wants to adopt you," Mr. Lawson informed the wide-eyed Seymour.

"-Adopt me? Really?" Seymour was shocked at what he was hearing.

Mr. Mushnik smiled at the kid's enthusiasm. "Yes my boy. I want to adopt you. I think you could be a good asset to my shop someday." Then he turned to Mr. Lawson. "What papers do I need to sign?"

"Only general. For now you can just take him and get him settled. Seymour was a foundling and we've had the hardest time tracking down his birth parents." The look in his eye communicated the message, 'They might not even be alive anymore,' to Mushnik without upsetting Seymour. "Whether or not we find anything else in the future, you can make it official."

"Fine," Mr. Mushnik replied. In a way, he liked that idea better. He would have an employee to tend to, not a son to provide for. That could be handy for stingy times that seemed to come up too often.

"Seymour. Go to your room and start packing," Mr. Lawson ordered. "Mr. Mushnik will be back later to come pick you up."

"Yes sir!"

Seymour left with Mr. Mushnik that evening. He said a last goodbye to his friends Alan and Nicholas, who were very melancholy at his departure.

"You guys can always come visit me at the store," Seymour said, trying to be hopeful.

"Maybe. But still, it won't be the same," said Alan.

"Come on, boy!" Mr. Mushnik called to Seymour with the door halfway open.

Young Seymour's eyes widened and his heart leaped at the thought of a home beyond that door at last. "See ya, guys!" he said to his friends and practically ran to the front door.

Despite the goodbyes, Seymour was dreadfully excited to leave. He could feel that there was so much of a future waiting for him. He had waited for all his life this moment. There was no stopping his dreams…

With those memories of childhood fresh in his mind, Seymour knew what had to be done. He flurried over to his boss, yelling, "No, no, don't do it!"

Mushnik had one foot inside the plant already before he turned around. "What?"

Seymour saw that the plant's lower jaw was already beginning to close on the unsuspecting Mr. Mushnik and he took desperate action. He leaped and pulled Mr. Mushnik out of the plant's mouth crying, "Look out!"

They both hit the floor with a thud. In a moment, Mr. Mushnik was yelling at his employee.

"What's the idea, boy? You tell me to go take the money outta the plant and then you tackle me? Tryin' to get rid a' me now too? Just like that rotten dentist, eh? I'm not letting you get away with this…"

"B-but sir, look!" Seymour cried and pointed frantically to the giant plant. "It's alive!"

"Well, of course Audrey Two's alive! I mean it's-"

"No, Mr. Mushnik. It's going to eat you!" Seymour interrupted.

"Damn, so, the cat's outta the bag!" growled a low, booming voice from behind the two men.

Mr. Mushnik turned around slowly, and looked at the giant Audrey II that was tapping a vine on the floor at this point. "D-did it j-just t-talk, S-Seymour?" he yelped, shaking.

"Err, well…" Seymour started.

"Shut up, boy!" said the plant and turned to Mushnik. "Yeah, it talks, ol' man."

Mushnik leaped back from the plant and trembled in realization of the threat the plant was. "It-it's not possible! Plants don't talk, plants don't talk…" After a minute or two, he finally turned to his employee with a terrified look in his eyes.

"Get me outta here, Seymour," he said almost inaudibly.

Seymour nodded and walked his boss out. He stayed by the old man to comfort him as he walked back home. They did not speak about what had happened or about the previous venture of going to the police station at all; they just left the place of evil in near silence. When Seymour returned to the shop later that night (since there was no where else for him to go back to), and listened to the hungry plant snore in the shop front, he could only think of one thing.

At least you know now.