The Flower

“The house was so silent you could hear a pin drop. Slowly, but surely, the silence was broken by a chorus of birds’ songs. The air was filled with music, with harmony, a well deserved break from hearing the harsh winds of winter for three months. Like every blissful moment, though, it was fleeting. Brother Akien shouted in delight and threw open the front door a few second after the birds began to sing. This, of course, stopped them. He whooped and yelled, happy to not feel a sharp bite in the cheeks after opening the door. Sister Kira, who had creeped up behind him, gave him a slap.

'Eeee!' his yell changed. I saw Ma smile from the corner of my eye. Sister Kira laughed playfully.

'That’s what you get for scaring away all the birds,' she said, walking away. Brother Akien frowned, then sat back down on the soft rug. 

'Well, I’m playing Chutes and Ladders. You coming?' he asked her. Sister Kira shook her head.

'Can’t little brother. I have to complete some homework. Next time,' she said. Brother Akien took to playing by himself, muttering to himself every few seconds. I got up, not being able to sit any longer. I grabbed my brown, leather sack that sat next to the door, and slung it across my back.

'Luna, where are you going?' Ma asked as she too rose and stirred the coals in the fireplace. My toes curled and uncurled, just like they always did when I was anxious.

'I can’t stay inside any longer. I’m going on a walk. Maybe I’ll get some drawings in,' I replied, reaching to the shelf to find a charcoal piece to draw with. I felt a sharp stab of pain while running my hand along the shelf. Gritting my teeth, I glanced at my hand. There was a thin cut with a little blood, but it hurt like the devil. I figured it was a splinter and gave up finding the piece on the shelf. I resorted to crawling around the floor, looking underneath couches and beds to see if I dropped it anywhere. I heard Ma give a long sigh.

'What are you up to now?' she asked. I scratched my head. 

'Trying to find a charcoal piece. You see any?' I asked. She thought for a minute, then looked away from the living room.

'I believe your father might have taken it,' she suggested, then sat back down near the hearth. I bit my lip in anger. Of course it was Father. He was most likely in his lab room right now, studying another lifeless plant that he had preserved. As a dedicated botanist, he knew the name of every plant on this planet. Yet he made little to no money. He would sit in his room all day while Ma, Brother Akien, Sister Kira and I would make the long trip to town to sell our creations. Ma would make medicines using herbs she found in the forest, Brother Akien adored making wooden carvings, and I would sell my drawings. Sister Kira was a whiz at marketing our goods, and we sold well. It was all our money he was using to conduct his experiments. He was the one who made us move to the middle of the woods into a cabin his sister, Aunt Fiona, had loaned him. Now he had taken my method of doing what I loved. Holding back a few tears, I walked out and realized why Brother Akien would want to shout. It was perfect for doing just that. The soft breeze played with my hair, and soft mud tickled my bare feet. Birds and squirrels hopped from tree to tree as I walked along Woodsend Creek. The water had finally broken out of the ice and was gushing along steadily. There was still snow on the banks, though. Forgetting about the drawing instantly, I touched every tree as I walked, feeling the power of the nature course through my body. Finally, I reached a spot I liked. I set down my sack and took out my book of paper. I leaned back against a tree and began to draw the creek and the scenery with my fingernail, imagining what it would have looked like if the gray was actually on the paper. While I was drawing, something caught my eye. Clashing against the melting, white snow, was a splash of purple. It was peeking out of a bush that still had snow on it. I set everything down, and walked over. Bending down, I felt the top part of the little square of color. It was soft and fuzzy and very thin. Careful not to ruin it, I dug all around it and recognized it as a flower. I reached down for the stem and pulled out a gorgeous, dark purple flower. Inside, instead of yellow pollen, it was red. The stamen of the flower was also red. Holding it delicately in my palm, I put the paper book back into the sack and walked home, never taking my eyes off the flower. Upon reaching the cabin, I opened the door and quickly dropped my sack on the floor.

'Ma! Ma! Come here!' I yelled. Even I knew red pollen was unusual. I was the daughter of a botanist, god help me. I heard Ma’s quick footsteps come beside me.

'Goodness, Luna, what is it?' she asked, peering over my shoulder. I turned around and showed her the flower, which lay across my hand. She stared at it for a few minutes.

'It’s a flower,' she said finally. I nodded.

'It looks quite unusual, don’t you think. I have never seen a flower with red pollen before!' I exclaimed. Ma raised her eyebrows, then picked up the flower gingerly.

'I guess we could use it as a decoration on the window sill,' she said, as some of the pollen was blown onto my hand. Suddenly, my hand seared with pain.

'Ahh!' I yelled, the wooden walls of the house echoing my voice. Ma ran and took a hold of my hand, which I was pointing to desperately.

'What happened?' Ma asked, holding it tightly. I took a deep breath.

'The pollen blew onto my cut, the one I got while trying to find a charcoal piece. It stings, Ma!' I cried. She rubbed at my hand, trying to get the pollen to come off, but it stuck to my skin stubbornly. 

'Chris! Chris!' she yelled for Pa. He would know what to do. Yet no reply came, just like usual. Of course Father wouldn’t come. He was always absorbed with being the greatest, not bothering with his family. He was credited with the founding of several plants, but I bet no one even knew he had a family. I bit my lip as Sister Kira came running over along with Brother Akien.

'Luna, what happened?' Sister Kira asked. Ma had run to the sink to get water, and my eyes were screwed shut. I pointed to my hand.

'Pollen. Red,' I stuttered. I opened my eyes to see them both have a confused look on their face.

'What pollen?' Brother Akien asked, staring at my hand as if trying to find something. I looked down at my hand to see it completely normal. No pollen, nothing red and most importantly, no cut. I was speechless. 

'My cut?' I asked Ma as she came with the water jug. She took one look at my hand and dropped the jug. The water spilled all over the floor, but she didn’t even flinch. She grabbed my hand and ran her fingers over it.

'It’s gone. It’s gone,' she kept repeating. Just then, the door to the lab room opened and Father came out. His face was cleanly shaven, his clothes smelling of soap. 

'What is this racket?' he asked. His blue safety goggles were still on. He looked up, and I saw his nose twitching. 'What’s that smell?' he asked. Ma showed him the flower.

'The pollen from this flower. It sealed Luna’s cut. It’s incredible!' she exclaimed, holding the flower to the light. Father’s eyes glowed.

'Give it to me, I’ll test it,' he said, stepping forward as if the flower held him in a trance. Ma began to give it to him before Sister Kira jerked her back.

'No,' she whispered, 'No!' Father tilted his head, confused.

'What do you mean,' he asked, still advancing. Sister Kira pressed her lips together, unsure of what to say. I stepped in.

'You haven’t cared about us. Ever! Now that we have something you want, you come out of hibernation? We’ll never let you have the flower. Never!' I yelled, swiftly taking it from Ma’s hands. Her face was stricken. Father only smiled.

'You think you can live without me,' he said, looking at everyone, 'I pay for everything here. The food, the house, the clothes. You better give me the flower.' I shook my head.

'No, father, we pay for everything. We’re the ones who make the trips to town, selling thing we make. You can’t argue with that,' I said, tightening my hold on the flower. He smiled again. 

'Remember my most recent discovery, the one I made two years ago about the plant you children call ‘The Metal Eater’? Well, turns out sponsors loved the fact that I made the discovery and have been depositing $10,000 a month. That’s how you’re surviving, insolent fools,' Father sneered, stepping closer, 'ask your Ma.'  I turned to Ma, who’s face flushed red. 

'I...I,' she stammered. I shook my head, my plan dissipating. Father sighed and held out his hand. I took a step back. Then Sister Kira pushed her way forward.

'Will you pay more attention to us if we tell you where we found it. We used this flower up already,' she proposed. Father nodded forcefully.

'Yes, yes I promise! Now tell me where you found the flower,' he said. I dropped the flower and lunged for Sister Kira, trying to stop her from telling. But she ripped my fingers away and yelled.

'The greenhouse! It was growing near it. It looks like weeds, but it’s not,' she said. I stopped moving before her plan slowly surfaced. I started acting like I was horror struck and began to sob. Father laughed and ran out the door, headed for the greenhouse. As soon as he was out of earshot, Sister Kira yelled, 'Ma! Get the horses! Everyone else, pack your things!' We all jumped into action. I gathered my book of paper and managed to get my charcoal piece from Father’s lab room. I pushed them all into my sack. Brother Akien walked over and handed me three, stout pieces of wood and a worn out, stuffed bear to put in my sack, which I did. I looked up to see him crying. It struck me then how hard this was for him, even though he barely knew Father. 

'Akien…' I began, but he shook his head. 

'We need to leave, and we need to hurry. I’ll be fine,' he said, walking back to his carving table to fetch his carving knife. Sister Kira had put her notebook and all of Ma’s herbs and concotions into a bag. I walked over to her with mine, and she smiled.

'We’ll get through it together, Luna, with or without Father,' she assured, and took both of our bags out to the two horses. I walked out and patted the two chestnut mares, Helios and Jupiter, while Sister Kira tied the sacks around them. Ma came running out of the house with another sack of food, which she said she would carry. 

'Luna, you’re with me on Helios. He’s more feisty. Akien, your with Ma on Jupiter, he’s more calm,' she instructed, and we obeyed. After we all were settled on the horses Ma and Sister Kira clicked their tongues to urge the horses to move, accompanied with a kick of their heels. The horses began to move, before a horrid thought came to me.

'Ma, we need to get the flowers! We need them!' I yelled. She shook her head. Without hesitation, I began to jump off the horse before Sister Kira grabbed my arm and planted me right back into position.

'Let me go, Sister Kira!' I yelled, but she held firm until we were out of the woods. It was then that my actions came back to me. I had been as greedy as Father. That’s why when we arrived to Glensdale Town, we decided to not tell anyone about the flowers.

'But Ma, we can’t survive on our own. Father has been helping us for the past years,' I complained while we were walking back to our old home. She shook her head.

'I’ve been saving it for your educations. We’ve been eating our own money after all,' Ma said, smiling. I laughed, letting it ring all over the town. 'But,' Ma interrupted, 'this flower can do good even though we won’t advertise it. Once I set up my clinic, I’ll use the flowers to make an ointment and give it to people at a low price.' Sister Kira nodded. 

'We all can make routinely trips to the woods. Luna will add more drawing, Akien can collect wood to carve, and Ma can collect her herbs,' she said. We all agreed to this plan. 

‘But how will anyone know about it after we die,’ Brother Akien asked. Ma leaned down to give him a hug.

‘Because, you’ll tell it to your children, and they’ll tell it to their children, and so on. 

This flower will live on, don’t you worry Akien,’ she said, rearranging the sack on her shoulder. Finally, we reached our old home. We all grinned at each other as we stepped in and closed the door with a final click,” I finish the story, glancing at my daughter, Sara, and my son, Ilian, to see what they will say. Sara laughs and claps, but Ilian looks suspicious.

“Why don’t you just use the money you make from the flower to get rich,” he suggests. I shake my head.

“I thought that too, Ilian, but your Grandma brought me back to reality. Your Grandpa was ready to tackle me over these flowers, and I was ready to jump off of a moving horse. I think we can all agree what this flower can do can be dangerous, but useful also, which is why we’re selling these medicines all over the world for a very low price so that even the poorest can afford it,” I explain. Ilian nods, satisfied. 

“I understand, Mother. Well, I’ll make sure to keep those flowers safe,” he says and skips off to his room. Sara gives me a kiss, and follows suit. I smile as I hear their doors close and thank my lucky stars for giving me such a wonderful life.