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Hercules was not communal, and his real "friends" were the plants in his greenhouse. He is particularly skilled at growing orchids and is well known in flower breeding circles.

Aunt Henrietta, Hercules' only living relative. My aunt was a stout, six-foot tall woman and a cigar smoker. She has a lot of sounds that look fierce.

The aunt despises men and has never married. But she liked Hercules very much and came to see him almost every Sunday. Hercules dreaded his aunt's visit, her gruff voice, her bone-crushing handshake, the way she always looked down at him. Over time, he hated his aunt.

Gradually, Hercules could no longer repress his hatred, and he was frequently on the verge of murdering his aunt, even though he knew he could not.

On this day, Hercules received a new orchid from the Amazon. When it was unwrapped, it was unremarkable: a tangle of roots, the size of a fist, and a smell of decay.

The orchid grew so fast that it soon had branches about the size of a man's arm with a strange ring at the top.

Hercules exclaimed excitedly. "I am sure a whole new breed has been discovered!" The growth of the orchid was amazing -- soon it will be taller than Hercules, and even the ring of bulges was growing, as if it could bloom at any moment. One evening, as he was watering the orchid and loosening the soil, he noticed something strange: the orchid's eight vines were growing thick and twitching as if they had now come to life. A few days later, the phenomenon became more pronounced. Every time he came near the orchid, the vine would lurch toward him, showing intense hunger. Hercules measured the length of the tentacle, which he had known as "tentacle," and moved carefully to a safe distance. This orchid is kind of an animal than a member of the plant kingdom.

This is ridiculous! How could it out in real life? Hercules agreed to do an experiment. He went into the house and returned a few minutes later with a broomstick with a piece of raw meat sticking out of the end. The two tentacles of the orchid moved restlessly and began to go back and forth. Suddenly, tentacles rose up so fast that Hercules caught his eye. They clung to the uncooked meat, and Hercules felt a great pull from the end of the stick. Then the meat disappeared -- the orchid held it tightly, metaphorically speaking, like a hungry ghost holding the meat to its breast.

"Good Heavens! Hercules cried out in horror.

Over the next 24 hours, the orchid waits for the meat to rot and develop its own digestive system. The next day, a network of fibrous roots enveloped the looming carrion... In the evening, the meat was a party.

The orchid tasted blood for the first time.

Hercules had mixed feelings. The orchid had grown so strong that it would be devastated if it caught it. To that end, he devised a watering system that could water it from a safe distance. Now, Orchid can get a pound of meat a day. Disturbingly, orchids make a growing appetite.

The orchid had grown to eight feet tall and was still growing -- only more slowly than before.

Apparently, the orchid has developed a highly developed nervous system that knows when someone is now coming to feed it and displays excitement. And most astonishing of all, it has an incredibly high whistling sound.

Hercules had to cope with his aunt and his pack of big hounds while he studied his interesting discoveries. Every Sunday, despite his growing dislike for his aunt, he would humbly bring her tea and they would sit together and talk tenderly. On the surface, they close. The aunt would never have guessed that when Hercules poured her tea. He wanted to poison it.

It was a different Sunday night, and the roar of my aunt's car faded into the night. Hercules returned to the greenhouse and stared at the orchid. It tentacle the size of a man's thumb. He determines to train the plant well. Hercules devised a "matador" scheme: he hung the meat from a fishing pole and swung it outside the orchid's sphere of influence, provoking it to frantically prowl out its tentacles. Therebe no doubt this guy is strong enough to take on any prey. It had snatched the handle from Hercules's hand, and with seemingly little force the stick broke into pieces with a crack.

Hercules thought that his "matador" tactics had aroused the passion of the orchid hunt, and it was high time that his aunt to enter the arena. He starved the orchids for two weeks to make the hunt more secure before setting the plan into effect. Then, one Sunday afternoon, he returned to the kitchen with a cup of tea and said, seemingly casually, "Auntie, I want to see something. I kept it a secret because I wanted to give you a surprise that would make you very happy."

The aunt removed the cigar from her mouth, looked at Hercules, and stated in surprise, 'Well! Time for a miracle! What have you get, you little wretch?" She slapped him on the back and blew the air out of his lungs.

"You'll never guess." Hercules caught his breath. "In the greenhouse."

"Oh?" Looking puzzled, the hunt followed Hercules.

It was now dark, and there was no light in the greenhouse. When they entered the greenhouse, the aunt sniffed. "This places stinks like a slaughterhouse."

"Sorry, Auntie." Apologizing, Hercules pushed his aunt farther into the darkness. "I used the extra fertilizer, and it worked wonders. Hoping it's a real surprise!"

Hercules waited until his aunt walked into the danger zone and turned on the light. Suddenly the light came on, and my aunt stood with her arms akimbo in front of the huge orchid.

After a full five seconds, the orchid finally moved. The lightning-fast dangling tentacles did not reach forward, but huddled themselves tightly into a ball -- and let out a high-pitched scream, full of fear.

In an instant, Hercules saw the ugly truth, and his dream was shattered. His orchid is a real coward! The sudden appearance of Aunt Henrietta frightened him.

Still watching the orchid in surprise, the aunt pointed to her nephew. "Hercules, the poor little thing is prepared to die. Did you bully it?"

Hercules had to be his head in shame and frustration. "No... No, Auntie. I suppose it was born timid."

"Well, I know how to tame animals, you should have called me..." The aunt soothed the orchid tenderly, patting and stroking it slowly until its tentacles relaxed and its shrill screams subsided.

From that day on, Hercules was broken. To make matters worse, the aunt took up the orchid as her new pet, and instead of being satisfied to come only on Sundays, she came two or three times a week. She also had a lot of delicious food, orchids love very much.

Hercules, however, grew numb and more and more like a plant-or rather, more and more like an orchid. Of course, it's a harmless breed.