Lignification¹

Micro Fiction -- Transformation -- Art by Fiona Bridges and Laura B

“Boil the water,” the newscaster read.

But steam

is the transmission vehicle.

I inhaled it.

I breathed it in!

Sinuses burning…

crushed mint and ghost peppers.

Breaking out in hives.

Honeycomb

skin cracked, hardening into bark.

Joints immobile.

I’m becoming

(~~~ rustling leaves ~~~)

Change 2 art contributed by Fiona Bridges

Tree Woman art contributed by Laura B

¹lig·ni·fi·ca·tion (lĭg’nə-fĭ-kā’shən) n.

The biochemical process of reinforcing a plant’s cell walls with lignin. This is essentially like adding rebar to wet concrete, which makes it stronger when dried. The extent to which this occurs varies and is a factor in the classification of herbaceous plants (e.g. grasses - typically low lignin concentration) and woody plants (e.g. trees and shrubs - typically high lignin concentration).

---

Thanks for reading!

Subscribe to receive new posts and support my art.

---

Thank you to Fiona Bridges for allowing me to include “Change 2.”

Thank you to Laura B for allowing me to include “Tree Woman.”

Huge Thank You to Andrea (Andy) Curran 🌄 for reading this on Tales From Liminal City Public Library: Episode 1.