Story Archive

Green Thumb

Nigel Fitton of Johannesburg, South Africa, was proud. His late wife had entrusted her plants to his care, and by regularly watering them, he had kept them from dying. Then, as he and their daughter, Antonia Nicol, were moving him from the residence to a retirement community, the truth came out: the reason the plants hadn’t died was that they weren’t alive in the first place. “There wasn’t much light in the bathroom,” wrote Nicol, “so my mum had replaced the plants with plastic ones. None of us knew.” Nigel and Phedre Fitton were “best friends” who met as teenagers, Nicol said on social media, and Phedre “had a cheeky sense of humor for sure.” Nigel found the prank “hilarious,” Nicol said. (AC/CTV) ...I am the plant of plastic made/I am the laugh that did not fade.