The Flower Girl

The Flower Girl

It was spring in the city.  The messy, ugly grey snow was mostly gone. The grass, plants and flowers struggled to gain some type of root and the birds were busy gathering all types of material to build nests in anticipation of future arrivals.

Duane Jennings worked in the city and lived on the outskirts in a rather nice suburban section. The commute was forty-five minutes one way, every day, but it was worth it. He had a really great spot and the idea of living in the congested, dirty city was revolting.

It was a typical week day and he was coming home from work when he saw her. She was average height, dressed in a flower dress with flowers in her hair.  The girl was beautiful beyond words. There was something mysterious about the female.

There was a twinkle in her eye, a dance in her step and a carefree spirt the way she flooded the street with a presence that was greater than all the shops with their neon signs advertising their various goods.

“She’s my flower girl.”

He wanted to go out there and chase her down. Maybe take the girl out for a coffee or a drink to get to know her.  There was something irresistible about her.  

The next day, he was hoping to see her again, but she never showed up.  

Duane was disappointed and the disappointment grew every day for a full week as there was no flower girl.

“Was she a mirage?”  He said out loud more than once.

Then one day, after a particular tough work session, she appeared again. He was on the bus and saw her walking the other way.  She was carrying a basket of flowers and had some in her hair and clothes.  

It was true that she was genuinely beautiful, but the flowers seemed to accentuate that beauty. It made her look like a creature of nature.

“I’ve got to talk to her.  I need to find out who that girl is and why she loves flowers so much.”

She gave out flowers to various people as she walked by handing them out with the greatest smile and friendliness.  Her entire ensemble was like a breath of fresh air.

“She is really a genuine flower girl.”

He got off at the next stop and ran back tracing the steps. He ran down one street and down another, but she was no where to be found. After an hour of running around, he gave up.

He walked the rest of the way home and was really low.

It would be another week before he saw her again.  This time, he was coming home after doing some grocery shopping. The flower girl was walking across the street.

Once again, she had flowers in her hair and wore a beautiful flower print dress.  The gorgeous female looked like a happy child moving down the street without a care in the world.  

He turned around and started to chase her but once again the girl vanished seemingly in thin air.

Duane was very frustrated and went home.

“I can’t understand how she can just disappear in thin air,” he said to his cat Blue Ninja.

The next week there was no sign of the Flower Girl.

Then one day, while he was riding the bus to work, he saw a flower shop and smiled.  He had a brainstorm.

After work, he stopped at the flower shop.  

He walked in and Mrs. Taggert smiled at him.

“Hello, can I help you?”

“I am looking for a girl that wears flowers in her hair and is always dressed in a flower print dress. She is always handing them out and is a true flower girl.”

“Oh, you must mean Volla?”

“You know her?”

“Yes, every day she comes into my store and buys flowers.”

“I would love to talk to her.”

“Well, she is a slippery one. I think your best bet would be to be here when she buys her flowers.”

“Okay, that sounds like a plan. What time is she here?”

“She is here at nine every morning.”

“That is just fine.”

He would have to miss a day of work, but he didn’t care.

The next morning, he was standing across the street and watched her walk in. All night long, he had practiced what he was going to say in front of Blue Ninja. The cat just looked at him and seemed unfazed. 

As soon as she walked out, he was waiting for her.

“Hello, how are you?”

He had a bouquet of flowers for her.

“Hello? Do I know you?”

“No, my name is Duane Jennings. I have seen you about half a dozen times and I am enchanted with your beauty.  I think you are just breathtaking.”

Volla smiled and didn’t know what to say.

“I would love to take you out for a coffee some time.”

“That would be wonderful.  Do you like flowers?”

“I like the girl that seems to love flowers.”

She laughed and smiled and he was over the moon.

“You are Volla.”

“Yes, that is right. How did you know that?”

“The lady in the flower store told me.”

“Nice to meet you, Duane.”

So they walked toward a little cafe and had a coffee.

“I really like your name, Volla. It is very mysterious and unique like you.”

“Thank you, Duane.”

“So you really like flowers?”

“Flowers are my great passion in life.”

“That is very interesting. “

“I guess so. I lived out in the country as a little girl and in the spring the valley would be in full bloom with thousands of flowers. I would go and roll around feeling guilty when I crushed them.  Often, I would just lay there amongst a huge patch of lilacs or sunflowers and stare at the infinite blue sky and the clouds moving about.”

“It sounds wonderful.”

“Yes, it was wonderful and someday I will return to the valley.  But, right now, I have to work and make money.  What do you do for a living?”

“I work in an office. I am a survey/data analysis.”

“It sounds like an interesting job.”

“It is okay. So what is it that you do?”

“I work for the city and am a trained botanist.  I am responsible for making the place beautiful and what is better to make the concrete jungle beautiful than flowers?”

“Nothing is more beautiful than flowers except maybe the girl who loves them.”

He blushed and she blushed.

The talked some more and then she sighed.

“I have to go to work now. Aren’t you working today?”

“Well, I played hooky from work so I could meet you.”

“That is so romantic.”

“I was hoping that you would see it that way and not creepy.  I just had to meet you.”

“Well, you have met me and now let us make the most of this.”

“I agree one hundred percent.”

They started to date and got engaged. But, they had to wait to get married.

So they started to work harder than they ever did in their whole lives.  They saved up enough money to make their dreams come true.  

One day, the two love birds had saved up enough money so they could both quit their jobs. They bought a small parcel of land that was out in the valley.  They timed it so that it was spring and everything was in bloom.

The natural flowers were breathtaking and the two of them were on their backs staring at the blue infinite sky watching the clouds float over.  

“This is the life, Duane.”

“Yes, Volla this is the life.  I mean Flower Girl.”

She giggled and they embraced.

They were married in the middle of the valley amongst all of the flowers and it was a terrific day of two people truly in love brought together by the power of flowers.