A Place Called Nowhere

This story begins in the past. Back when everything was empty, there was no life; only the humans and the trash they lived in. It was a miserable fate, but they had accepted it and moved on. The year was 2189, and Theo Williams had just graduated from East Grimswater High, the last school he’d ever attend. There was no time for post-secondary programs, as the average lifespan had shrunk down to a mere 40 years. With the end of school finally here, Theo’s mailbox had been bursting with invitations to numerous weddings. Ever since the council of 7 had instilled the rule that you must finish school before finding a partner, people had been getting married right as the last bell rang. According to the council, education was more important than love, but the citizens disagreed.

Theo had always liked someone even if it was illegal, but she was so kind and beautiful, her reddish-brown curls swept up in a messy updo atop her head, her hazel eyes shone even in the darkness. He couldn’t resist liking her just a little bit. She was always on his mind, she was his love, and his one and only soulmate. 

Rose threw herself onto her bed. The last day of school was… Overwhelming. Rose pulled her hair out of the high messy bun, and her reddish curls fell down in her face, giving her a crazed maniac look. 

“Great.” She slipped out of her white and yellow dress and pulled on a sweater. 

Her cat, Howard jumped up on her bed and gave her a look. He surely wanted something to eat.

“Just a minute.” She spoke to her cat. 

She opened her door and yelled, “mom!” 

“Oh honey! I didn’t see you come in! How was the last day?” Her mom responded. 

“Tragic as ever. How was your day?”

“Lovely. Your father and I walked to work together. It was quite romantic.” Her mother sighed.

Rose smiled. “That’s sweet of him.”

Her mother chuckled lightheartedly, “it sure is. I don’t know what I’d do without him…”

Rose sighed and flopped back down onto the itchy synthetic comforter. She pondered, when will I find love? She thought on and on about who she would want as her dream partner; one that would join her for the next 20 years of her life. 

She heard her mother yell down the long narrow hallway, with ornate Fake-Wood crown mouldings and trim. Fake-Wood was a popular brand these days, as they had nowhere to supply their wood from. They got their breathing air from the factories, water from the chemical plants and food from the synthetic labs. The wood looked real, as far as she knew, she had never seen a real piece of wood before. 

Rose couldn’t make out what her mother was saying, but shortly after she heard the front door slam shut.

She attempted to shut her eyes and sleep, to let the blessed unconscious take her away into a realm of dreams. She waited and waited, but nothing happened. She wanted to be swept up in her high hopes for love, someone that could hold her at night, someone to keep her warm on the coldest nights. That thought was the one keeping her awake. 

Ding! Dong!

She rubbed her eyes as she sat up, why now! She slowly stood up and stretched her skinny pale arms above her head. She walked sluggishly over to the tall peeling front door. She opened it cautiously just to find a group of foot-long green rods with a small puff of colourful… Tissue paper pieces? She didn’t understand, she sat there at the front door staring out at Grimsly Boulevard. The houses all looked the same, synthetic fibreglass exterior walls, thick glass windows and a thin, white, metal front door. 

She picked up the rods and threw them on the small dining table as she made her way through the front door. She slammed the door behind her and sat down in one of the slim folding metal chairs. She took the rods and studied them, rolled them around in her fingers. Something fell out, it was a small piece of plastic with small writing all over it. She picked it up carefully, and read it over and over in her head.

“Rose, Here are some flowers, roses in fact. Flowers were said to be extinct decades ago, but I happened across a small field of them, so I hope you can appreciate this gift, as they will disappear in some time. -T.W.”

She stared in shock at the small note that someone wrote just for her. She feels a surge of joy fill the empty gaps of sorrow inside of her. She then turned the small note over to see four words written in a smooth cursive. Her eyes scan the back of the plastic, her mouth falls slack.

“I love you Rose.”

Her eyes were open as wide as they could possibly be. Someone- someone liked me! She felt the blood rush to her face, her cheeks burned hot, blushing pink. 

The words: they will disappear in some time, resonated throughout her. She felt the words spread further through her mind and body, rushing through her blood, they filled her with mixed emotions. She felt anger for whoever killed these beautiful flowers, happy for whoever gave her these, sadness for the flowers lives that were taken and thrown in the trash. She felt so strongly for these flowers. It didn’t make sense, why did she feel so strongly for some small, flimsy inanimate object. It was so beautiful and graceful, who would murder something that did nothing wrong. She wanted to save these… Things- living things. 

She pulled out her phone, the newest iPhone LIV, also known as iPhone Liv or iPhone 54. She searched everywhere, how to take care of flowers, how to keep flowers alive, what do flowers need to survive, and just flowers in general. But she couldn’t find anything, there were no sites that had any information on this topic. So she searched, plants.

She scrolled down the page, only finding one page that gave her any insight into her inquiry. The one page she found was, Inquiry Express - Everything You Need To Know - Plants. 

This was it! She thought. It was a plain website with an average template, the colour scheme was a boring white, black and green. Not a pretty green, an ugly swampy green. She scrolled down to the block of text that mentioned how to take care of flowers.

Flowers need sunlight, water, and room to grow. SO put them in sunlight, either on your windowsill or outside. Remember, don’t water them too much or else they might drown. If you really want your flowers to grow, put them in a pot with soil that has good fertilizer. If they’re already picked and you want them to keep growing start with them in a vase or tall cup of room temperature water, not to much water.  Then, when the roots start to grow, move them into a pot with soil and then let them grow. That’s how you take care of flowers!

Oh! She thought to herself, that makes sense, kind of. She grabbed a tall plastic cup from her cupboard, filled it up with room temperature water from the small chrome water spout that hung above the vast void of the sink. She put the flowers in the water glass and set them on her windowsill in her room.

***

The flowers continued for weeks, one set every day. Every new bouquet, a new note, and more love messages. Until one week she was reading her book on her itchy fibrous mattress and she saw a flash of red by her front door through the window. She sprinted to the front door and opened it as the doorbell chimed.

She was face to face with a short boy, a swoosh of chestnut brown hair, just above his shining brown eyes, between the two cute dimples was his charming smile. He looked nervous and surprised, he broke out a smile, wider than before.

She felt that hot rush again, all the way from her toes to her cheeks, making her blush brighter than the pink sunset.  She felt the flutters in her stomach reaching up, grabbing at her throat, trying to make her spurt out a childish giggle. She held on to her control and just break out into a smile.

She was staring at the love of her life, the one she wanted to be with for her last 22 years. It was Theo Williams. 

“Theo.” She said.

“-Rose”

“Where did you- um, get these flowers?”

Theo looked down at the roses that he cradled with his small, fragile arms. “I- I can show you…”

***

Rose followed Theo around the final bend in the street, behind a small wooden shack. She came to see a small patch of crimson petals, help up by small green spokes that popped out of the earth with vibrant colour. 

“It- it’s beautiful!” She exclaimed.

Theo rubbed his arm nervously, “yeah,” he looks to the box in her arms, “what’s that?”

Rose opened the small cardboard box for Theo to see. It was a box full of all the roses he had given her, every single one. His jaw drops.

“You kept them?”

“Of course!” She smiled widely.

He smiled back and turned to face her. 

“Rose May Archer… Will you be my life-partner?” He asked nervously.

She stared in shock. “Of course!”

She wrapped her arms around him, he returned the gesture. 

They danced to the song of the chirping birds as the sun slowly set behind them.

***

Theo takes a deep breath as he finishes the last details of his story. 

“That’s it, not too exciting, right?”

The twins share a look before shaking their heads.

“No! That was more exciting than Harry Potter!” Giggles Lily. Her curly hair bouncing as she prances across the room with her stuffed moose, Musa in her hand.

Kael laughs as his twin sister dances around with her moose. Theo watches his children while his wife, Rose sneaks up behind him with his well-needed coffee. She kisses him gently as the kids watched in horror.

“Eww!” The kids scream in unison.

Rose and Theo chuckle as their kids shield their eyes from the horrific sight. 

“Love you,” whispers Rose.

“Love you too.”