poison

You see a big, heaving creature slogging along and leaving a trail of spitty slime. Like a slug. It looks hungry and anxious and smacks its lips painfully. Its fleshy underbelly is scraped by the small snags on its native stem, each small nub ripping through its skin. Bits of soft flesh cling to the branch. They remain stuck there until becoming dry and brittle, small rinds cracking and falling away like an autumn leaf.