Horror Short Story | The Balcony

Shen Li's rental apartment had a small balcony. The landlord said the previous tenant left a few plants that could survive without care. After she moved in, she found a dead cactus in the corner of the balcony. The pot was small, the soil was cracked and dry, and the cactus had shriveled up, looking completely dead. She wanted to throw it away, but every time she picked up the pot, it felt heavy, as if someone was pulling it from below. She tried a few times and gave up, deciding to just ignore it. One night, she heard a sound from the balcony, like someone watering plants. She opened the balcony door, but no one was there. Yet, the soil in the cactus pot was wet. She thought water was dripping from the apartment above. She looked up, but the lights were off upstairs. The next morning, the cactus had grown a little taller. She was sure it was only thumb-sized yesterday, but now it had grown by half a finger joint. She started paying attention. Every night, she heard watering sounds from the balcony, and the cactus grew taller each day. After three weeks, it had grown to her waist height, and its shape had changed; it no longer looked like a cactus. It resembled a human figure. It had a head, shoulders, and arms, but no face. Its entire body was covered in fine thorns, and its color was dark green. She couldn't stand it anymore and decided to carry the pot downstairs to throw it away. This time, she could lift it. She hugged the pot and walked downstairs, throwing it into the dumpster. She slept very well that night. There were no sounds in the middle of the night, and the cactus was gone. The next morning, she walked to the balcony, and the pot was back. The cactus stood in the pot, a head taller than her, with all its thorns retracted. Instead, it had grown facial features. Eyes, a nose, a mouth. The features slowly began to move, and the mouth opened, emitting a faint sound, as if trying to speak. Shen Li felt so