Woman resorts to despicable substances: if they killed the lemon verbena they might kill the sweet red-yellow begonia too. And the waggling tulip. It looks bad, she thinks, and reads that Bayer Advanced Garden Rose & Flower Insect Killer--concentrate--might be powerless against the might of mites. She needs a miticide, and those things might kill plants, too, if you're not careful. She thinks she cannot save the sweet yellow-red begonia. Days ago it made happy; today it drops its mottled leaves into the pot. Brown flowers: saddest of all. She is afraid of walking into Lowe's. She almost cannot get out again.
***
Then she reads an article recommending cyfluthrin--the active despicable substance in Bayer Advanced Garden Rose & Flower Insect Killer--as the most effective remedy against the might of mights. Er, mites. Don't waste your time with other despicable substances, it says. Cyfluthrin is the one for you. She looks at the blue bottle with the yellow label where the Rose and the June Bug thrive beside the word "concentrate." Which is funny because she can't concentrate, can't stomach the smell of pesticides. She thinks of mites: they suck the undersides of the leaves: leave welts. She sweeps the porch and oils the Appalachian chairs. The blue bottle sits in the kitchen. She avoids it.
***
She had this dream last night. A maggot infestation in her mattress. The mites are on her mind this way. Detail from a bad dream.
***
