Mae Flowers

Mondays were routinely the most dreaded day of the week for Mae. Besides the usual "start of the week" hatred that most people have for the day, Mae hated it for one very particular reason. Each Monday a raging storm forms right above her house as if on a strict schedule. Rolling grey clouds move in quickly, grumbling in anticipation. They hover over her home as if they are teasing her to play, waiting for her to make one wrong move. These days are usually spent curled up next to her window, watching the rain fall down and cupping her shaking cup of coffee. Mae has never been one to embrace the beauty of storms; the stillness of her world as the rain pours always leaves her with an eerie and lonely feeling. Just one day of this rain and she is free to go back to her week.

Mae gets up from her hollowed out spot on the couch, still wrapped up in her warm blanket, to pour herself a second cup of coffee. As she walks to her kitchen, a clap of thunder shakes her entire house to its core. These storms are usually innocent and calm, but this time it almost seemed mad. She glances out of the kitchen window right as another burst of lighting flashes through, causing her to jump and spill her fresh cup all over herself. A very annoyed and damp Mae runs upstairs to change out of her stained sleepwear. On her way back downstairs, she sees the front door swing wide open from a powerful gust of wind. She runs over and struggles to push it shut. She presses all of her weight against the wooden door, but the wind is too strong to let her win. She eventually gives up on the door and feels a wave of intolerance wash over her. This storm has just become a huge nuisance to Mae's day.

As she's standing in the open door frame, watching the droplets fall past her, she notices a small serene figure standing in her yard. The figure is light and glowing. A comforting and welcoming feeling radiates off of them. She feels weirdly drawn to whoever is staring across the yard at her. She calls out for them, but gets no direct response. "I'm April," she feels the being whisper to her a few moments later. Startled and cold, Mae quickly tries to shut the door once more, but it's stuck open. "Come to me, the rain feels wonderful," the being coos to her. One foot gets slowly placed in front of the other without her control. The rain spills on her fair skin, and her body starts to absorb each and every drop. Panic emerges once Mae realizes that she has no power over her motions, stepping closer and closer to April. The calmness that emitted from April quickly translates to fear once Mae gets a better look.

"Yes, I am," April whispers to her again, confirming Mae's suspicion that this is the God who has been cursing her with these weekly storms. "What do you want from me? I don't have anything for you. Please," Mae stops and yells to it. The God waves it's hand to her, disregarding her plea and calling her closer. Without the choice, she starts to move again. Mae starts to feel weird, her legs become weak and numb. Her arms start to tingle. Her head feels light and sort of fuzzy. The storm starts to migrate from above her house and congregates over her alone. The droplets start to pour down faster and faster, speeding up the process. April looks at her with odd satisfaction. The ground crumbles and opens up slightly, creating a gap the perfect size for Mae. The God waves it's hands, causing Mae to tumble in and get swallowed whole. The soil reseals and holds Mae captive inside.

A few moments pass and light green buds start to emerge from the dirt. Velvety pink lilies and white roses open up shyly as the storm finally settles for the first Monday in years. "Thank you", April says quietly to the new life. "The rain can stop now, my curse is finished". April stands back and watches her power unfold. Hundreds of vines of budding flowers creep up and consume Mae's house whole. The structure underneath the vines starts to quiver and shake before completely giving away. Every single type of flower imaginable thrived in this new garden. April watered and pruned Mae's garden every day, keeping it lush and healthy as if it was her sole purpose. The flower garden became the talk of the town, and was visited by hundred every day. April's showers became Mae's flowers, and the curse never fell upon anyone else.

Notes: Thank you so much to anyone who read my very first short story on Reedsy! I wanted to take an old yet classic saying ("April showers bring May flowers") and create a fun legend within a short story! My name is Katherine and I'm a 20 year old barista from Atlanta, Georgia. I love mostly fantasy and science fiction novels, but i also dabble with the occasional memoir and historical fiction novel! Literature and reading have always been a big part of my life, and I'm happy to finally pursue my interests in them. I am unfortunately no seasoned writer, but hopefully with more time and practice on this website, I can change that! I just really love to play around with descriptive words and ideas and am over the moon to have finally found a great outlet for that! I just found out about this awesome website and I am really looking forward to submitting short stories each week. I'm super excited to build a community of fellow writers and writing enthusiasts here. Hopefully I can advance tremendously in my writing style while I'm here :) Any critic or advice is more than welcome! Thank you guys so much again and HAPPY WRITING!