Jamie thought it was a scratch at first, the little spidery mark at the base of his ribcage.

It wasn't until it started spreading that he realized it was scar tissue twisted and

ropey stretching across his belly, and it wasn't until the next day that he realized it

was spelling words. You have been warned. You have been warned. You have been warned.

Sudapod Episode 806 for April 15, 2022, Garden Empire by Christopher Matson.

Hey there, I'm Scott Campbell, Associate Editor, Web Wrangler, and your guest host for today's

Sudapod original story, Garden Empire by Christopher Matson. Chris Matson writes fiction and screenplays

and has worked in film and television production for companies, including Magnolia Pictures, HBO,

and Netflix. He grew up in New Zealand, has lived in London and New York, and currently splits his

time between Los Angeles and a section of regenerating native forest in New Zealand, where he tries not

to get too involved with the local insect community. Your reader is Dan Rebats. He is the author of the

Grim Darksteam Punk Madcap Fantasy novel Brothers of the Knife, first in the Children of Bane series,

and co-authors the supernatural techno-war crime thriller series The Path of Bra with Lee Murray.

He narrates stories where tales of terrifying and beneath-seasable skies and hides in the web at

Dan.Rebats.com. A trigger warning. This story has insects, like a lot of insects. So that bothers you,

feel free to skip this episode. You thought I was gonna say bug you? I wouldn't be that cruel. I mean,

I work for a horror podcast, but I have standards. Now listen to the buzzing, the chirping, and the

trilling, where it has a story for you, and it promises it's true.

Garden Empire by Christopher Matson. Narrated by Dan Rebats.

I'd bought the house only the week before when I was still in position both of my teeth

and of my job as the head of machine-learning for an Auckland-based start-up.

A two-story villa, with a section of native bush, so dense that it baffled the city noise

...