Grandmas Goulash

Long empty halls, cleaned with ease.  No paper, gum or tidbit of cheese.  He lays down a mop, sits for a while.  Summer vacation makes him smile.

The greenhouse manager arrived at work one glorious spring morning to find hundreds of seedlings splattered on the doorstep. Potting the unidentifiable sprouts, he offered them for free to shoppers who purchased other items. Before the week was over, the plants had disappeared and sales had boomed.  Gloria leaned back with a sigh of relief. She’d had to work late, but the boss’s last minute assignment wouldn’t ruin her plans for the weekend. Maybe she’d even trim her plant. Hard to believe the freebie seedling had grown so big in two years.   The latest strangling victim was found by coworkers on Monday morning. Police suspect a serial killer.   Two years before, they escaped their dying planet, churned through space and made a crash landing. Now the green aliens felt their power return. Soon they would control this new world.