The Plant and The Hippo

One year after the stabbing death of her son, Tanner, Laurie found herself in the psychiatric ward of Sacred Heart Hospital. Her daughter, Katie, had taken her there as a last resort. She learned her mother had been spending some of her grief- and alcohol-filled nights in her hallway where her son had taken his last breath. Forming herself into the position the police had found him in, she would fall asleep. In the hospital, she was asked to start a journal and write about the sinking, turning point in her life--the death of her son, Tanner. Heavily medicated, she picked up her pen and journal and began writing about a precious day when her young son brought her home a Mother's Day gift--a plant. Once home, she continued her journal with an interesting twist--the Plant and the Hippo take over the story of this young boy, his triumphs and his downfalls, and eventually their witness to his horrific death.