"Green Cells" by Lisa McCreary — Our March 2023 Bronze Medal Winner

Lisa is our third place winner from the contest posted in our March 2023 issue!

What the judges had to say:

“Nice use of descriptive language.”

“An exceptionally inventive story that offered surprise, intrigue, and a very satisfying culmination. A well-paced transportation from the here and now to an imaginative, other-worldly space. Great job! ”

“This is the type of story that makes the audience want to read it twice to absorb the full implications and process the more disturbing aspects of the narrative.”

Meet Lisa

Born and raised in Ontario, Lisa started writing poems and short stories in high school, and pursued a career in journalism for several years. Since moving to Newfoundland, her work has been published in the Literary Review of Canada, and has also placed in writing competitions at Memorial University of Newfoundland. She is a member and volunteer with the Newfoundland Writers Guild and a member of Writers NL..

Green Cells

the unedited story by Lisa McCreary

Gloria shivered and walked faster through the autumn trees, trying not to trip over roots in a leaf-littered undergrowth. She had come to this isolated northern woodland with her botanist mother and archaeologist fiancé. Her mother had set off exploring as soon as the car stopped. Her fiancé, consumed with mapping his route, ignored her observations about the temperature so she set off to find her mother.

Her own interest in the area was more esoteric. Besides the chance to spend time with her two favourite people, she suspected that this mostly unexplored area might reveal artifacts from ancient inhabitants. Religious icons perhaps, or lost burial grounds. All three of them were excited about the possibilities.

She descended a slope and leaned on a tree to look at her tracker screen. Her mother's tag on the screen showed very close to her, and Gloria was disappointed to not see her. She had important news to share that she hoped would please her mother and bring them closer together.

She glanced up, noticing that there were no birds in the treetops, and realized she hadn't seen any woodland creatures for the past five minutes either. Looking to her left, she was startled by a stone archway, leading into the hillside. Was this an old root cellar, or, she imagined with a slight thrill, a portal to another dimension?

She chuckled quietly to herself, then sent a message to her fiancé that she had found something he would want to see. He would follow her tag on his own tracker.

Just to be cautious, in case she got lost in her explorations, she pulled a rope from her backpack and tied one end to the tree she'd leaned on moments before. The rock-framed entrance wore a thick layer of moss and almost she reached out to feel it, until her mother's oft-repeated warning of “look don't touch” echoed in her head.

Feeding out rope, she moved forward until darkness had almost enveloped her, then turned on her headlamp. She glanced behind to the entrance, then at her tracker. Her fiancé's tag was moving towards her, and she sighed in relief. Everywhere she looked was green, even under her feet when she glanced down. Her mother would not approve. Another step forward and the monitor beeped. It showed her mother's tag just to the left of her.

Panning slowly, her light swept over green walls, then a grey flat-topped boulder. "Fascinating", she thought, "it looks like an altar." At the base, she could see something white submerged in the green carpet of ground behind it. She walked towards it.

On the other side she found a full skeleton. It was seated, leaning back on the boulder as if resting. Fleshless and dry, it appeared old, and she was almost breathless as she faced it. Her excitement faded quickly when on the boulder, above its skull, she saw a piece of paper. “Not that old, then!” She moved closer, leaned forward to read it.

“Aging rapidly. Green cells have filled the exit and I can't leave. I think the spores from the moss are feeding off me. Don't touch the moss, leave now. Tell Gloria I love her.” Realization dawned, along with grief, and shock. “Mother?” It was impossible, she'd seen her walk off only 20 minutes ago. Yet, how could it not be true with such a message?

She crouched down beside the skeleton, reached out to touch the skull. Felt a slight fuzz – as if the substance covering the surfaces in this cavern had been waiting for her. Then, startled by the voice of her fiancé calling her, her hand jarred the skull and she watched in horror as it fell down at her feet. “No, no, no Mom, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I love you too.”

She reached down to lift the skull from among the green mosses. Holding it to her chest, tears forming in her eyes, she called his name. “Harold! I'm in here!” and started to rise from her crouch. Her back ached as she rose to her feet, and she felt exhausted. It was all she could do to move her feet towards the brighter light at the opening. She couldn't pick up the rope, it was too heavy, so she just followed it. With each step she took, the opening at the entrance seemed to shrink.

The green had almost completely covered the opening by the time she reached it. Too tired to move further, she lied down on her side. Her hands felt cramped and gnarled, but she still clung to the skull. Her ponytail fell across her cheek, snow-white in the dimly lit green cavern. Through the barrier of the green moss, she saw Harold standing at the entrance of the cavern.

“Harold, help me, pull me out!” She used the last of her energy to thrust her now almost skeletal hand and the skull out through the green moss towards him. Once outside, the flesh was restored, and Gloria was forced to watch as the life faded from her mother's eyes. Then there was nothing.

Harold watched Gloria's plump forearm reach out from the curtain of moss, cradling her mother's head. He screamed, involuntarily. For a moment, he couldn't react.

Then he turned on his headlamp, saw the skeletal body extending back from the point where darkness intersected the elbow. "Fascinating."

He spanned his light down the skeleton, noticed a smaller form curled up where Gloria's abdomen would be. "A baby?"

He shuddered. "That was a close call. Five more steps and I would have been trapped too." He took his camera from his backpack and twisted the lens to focus it. Then leaned down to carefully slide the engagement ring from Gloria's finger. "The journals will fight to publish this. What a discovery!"

Use the comment form below to let Lisa know what you thought of her story.