A Storm Approaches the Garden

"Thank you again for helping with my lawn!" The old woman said as she handed me a water bottle. The sun was beating down on us, though there were obvious storm clouds in the distance. 

"No problem Mrs. Hallford." I opened the water bottle and downed the contents in one take. "I think we agreed on twenty dollars?"

"That's right! You wouldn't mind if I offered a little bonus, for doing so well?" She reached into her purse and pulled out a small wad of cash, then handed me the money.

"Ma'am, it's only a lawn." I said with a slight smile. "I don't know what I did to deserve a bonus." I looked through the money out of habit, and noticed that there wasn't any extra cash.

"W-well, you did it so quickly! And you barely look tired!" She pulled out her phone and snapped a photo of me before I could protest. "You know, I have a lovely daughter about your age. I'm sure she would love to get to know you!" The clouds in the distance rumbled and I took a step back.

"That's very nice of you, but I'm really not in the market for a relationship right now." I said as clearly as I could despite the sudden heat I felt in my face. This had happened once or twice before, where old ladies tried to get me with their daughters; it was never a fun experience. "I do appreciate the offer though!"

"Oh Mr. Guillermo, she doesn't bite! She's the sweetest girl you'll ever meet! Here, I can send you her phone number!" She started tapping on her phone screen.

"Mrs. Hallford, this is my business number, please don't-!" I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and my face fell. "Sumecha." I whispered, quiet enough that Mrs. Hallford couldn't hear me. I took a deep breath before looking at the old woman and extending my hand towards her. "Have a good day ma'am. It's been a pleasure working for you." She pursed her lips and shook her head before taking my hand.

"You've got to be more careful Mr. Guillermo, or you'll end up all alone when you're older." She wagged her finger at me and winked, before heading back towards her house. The clouds rumbled again, but they weren't as distant anymore. 

I swallowed as I watched Mrs. Hallford go back into her house. It took me a few minutes to finally get into my truck and start driving away. 

My other jobs that day were cancelled because of the rain. Instead of going back to my apartment, I kept driving around Edinburg. The rain was a bit heavy and it completely covered my windshield between each motion of the wipers. My stomach felt a little empty after a while of driving like this, and I absentmindedly drove into the nearest fast food restaurant I could find. 

I went through the drive through and bought myself a small cheap burger. The rain kept beating down on the truck as I did so, and after the teenager at the window handed me the burger, I steered the truck into one of the open parking spaces and unwrapped it. It was a small, simple thing that, even if it only cost a little more than a dollar, didn't feel like it was worth the price. I bit into it.

The smell of rain permeated the truck as I finished the burger. I felt my stomach being filled, but it wasn't the right kind of full. I leaned my forehead onto the steering wheel and closed my eyes. Why did I care about what that woman said? She didn't know me well; I could have already been in a relationship. All she knew was that I was the man who came to mow her lawn and that I was relatively fit. I opened my eyes again and shifted the truck into reverse. I did my best to ignore the empty feeling in my stomach and started driving back to my apartment. 
~~~
"You're back early." Myra was looking out the window at the rain that was pounding against it. She was kneeling beneath the rose in the box garden and her hair flowed down her back gracefully as she did. "The big, strong, independent worker couldn't handle a little rain?" She turned to look at me with a slightly smug expression. 

"My clients all had outdoor work today. The shift in the weather was a little unexpected. What about you? Getting a little lazy with the garden?" I raised an eyebrow and leaned against the wall of my apartment's entrance hallway as I put my wet umbrella in the small closet next to the front door. 

"No, I'm taking a break!" She said quickly, then stood up and brushed the dirt of her knees. "And now my break is over, so excuse me while I get back to my very important work. Not all of us can have our jobs ruined by a little bit of rain." She taunted slightly and turned back to the cacti and wax plant. 

I walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. It was emptier than I would've liked it to be. I checked the cabinets and other drawers. All I had left was canned food; I'd have to go shopping soon. Tomorrow was a Friday and I didn't want to have miss out on work hours in order to get my stuff. The rain may have been a blessing in disguise. I shut the cabinets, started walking towards the entrance hallway again, then stopped and snapped my fingers. I turned to look at Myra as she slowly dusted off each leaf and petal of the wax plant.

"Myra, is there anything you need me to get?" The keys to my truck were in my hand.

She stopped what she was doing and looked at me curiously for a couple seconds before replying.

"Nothing comes to mind." She said simply, then turned around and went back to tending the wax plant. "Thanks for offering."

"Nothing? Is that right?" One of my eyebrows went up.

"Yeah. It'll take me a little bit to get used to the new size of the garden, and the plants don't need any fertilizer yet." She slowed down her movements of caring for the wax plant and her voice sounded slightly confused. 

"Do fairies need anything?" My face was one of confusion, to the point where it almost looked like I was cringing.

"Not really." Myra responded. "Unless something attacks and kills us, fairies basically live forever. It's not like we need to eat or drink. Most of us don't need to sleep either, but we got into the habit of it after seeing you humans do it for so long. Strictly speaking, I don't need to sleep. But I do like sleeping. It's a nice break from all the gardening and tending I do." As she mentioned the gardening, I could see her pleasant demeanor fade slightly. 

I didn't respond verbally. I nodded, waved goodbye, then left the apartment. I walked down the stairs back towards the parking lot as the rain kept falling in sheets. The weather seemed to be getting worse as the day went on. 

"Chanfle!" My fist slammed into the side of the apartment building as I stared out across the parking lot towards my truck. 

Myra couldn't possibly have meant what she said. 

There was no way that she was being honest.

The rain kept pouring and I ran my hands through my hair. I'd forgotten my umbrella. I swore under my breath and started trudging back up the steps. 

If fairies didn't need anything, what could, "Take care of her" possibly mean? I was about a fifth of the way up the stairs. Maybe I had overcomplicated things and I was just supposed to stay out of Myra's way and let her take care of the garden? Except if that was the case, then why didn't the pale lady say something like, "Don't bother her," or "Leave her alone?" 

I picked up the pace as I kept climbing the staircase and reached about the halfway point. Perhaps Myra was being hunted by some sort of shadowy organization or monster and I had to protect her from an outside force? If that was the case, why hadn't I seen anything over the last week? The words hadn't sounded extremely urgent or worried, and I wasn't a great fighter. Plus, if that was supposed to be my job, the lady could have said, "Protect her," or "Keep her safe."

I reached the top of the stairs as another burst of rain slammed against the complex. I walked until I was in front of the door to my apartment again. I clenched my fist and opened the door to the apartment with a firm look on my face. 

Myra was singing something, but as I opened the door, she stopped. I closed the door behind me and walked over to the garden. She didn't seem to be doing anything to the plants. I frowned and squatted down so that I was eye level with her as she stood on top of the old man cactus.

"What am I supposed to do?"

"What? What are you talking about?" She put her hands on her hips and sounded a little defensive.

"Your mother told me to take care of you." I said calmly as I forced myself to take a deep breath. "But all you've asked me for is stuff for the garden to make it prettier. And, strictly speaking, I think you and I both know that my garden is nothing special. An aloe, a cactus, and a burro's tail in a box of dirt on a windowsill barely counts as a display piece, let alone a garden. Qué necesito hacer?"

"I-I don't know! I'm perfectly fine as far as I'm aware!" She snapped back at me. "And listen, I knew that your garden was terrible the moment I saw it. I even told Mother as much, but she told me that it was my job to take care of it and make it better! Don't blame me for this!" She flew until she was only an inch or two away from my face and pointed her finger at me as her orange eyes seemed to blaze with intensity.

"Ugh. Well, then it sounds like I'll need to talk with your mother. Do you know how I could find her?" I didn't back away, even as she hovered very close to my face. The rain outside seemed to be pounding against the window as if it were trying to get in.

"Mother doesn't make herself available for 'talks' with humans. If she wants to talk with you, then she'll do it when she wants to." Myra said as she backed away slightly. 

"Ay-yi-yi!" I put my hand on my forehead and stood up. "Is there any way you could get in touch with your mother so we can both get some clarity?"

"No! Otherwise I would've been telling her about how annoying you are!" She said with a pout, then faltered. "W-wait, I didn't mean that." She landed on the old man cactus again and started rubbing her hands together slowly.

"...It's fine." I closed my eyes and took another deep breath as the rain forcefully landed against the window. "It's not your fault." It took me a few moments to collect myself and calm down. "So what you're telling me is that neither of us knows exactly what we're doing here or why we're doing it."

"Y-yeah."

"And neither of us can contact the person who would be able to explain this to us." I groaned and rubbed my forehead again while looking up at the ceiling. "Que maravilloso." A smile appeared on my face, though it obviously wasn't genuine.

"That's one word for it." Myra quipped. "I'd call it 'stupid.'"

"At least your job makes more sense than mine. You have to take care of a garden; even if it is kind of crappy." I looked at the small assortment of plants that were in my possession. "It's something that fairies are good at. I've never had to 'take care of someone' who was completely competent before."

"Oh yeah, it's wonderful." She crossed her arms. "I get to do what every fairy enjoys doing. Work on a garden day in and day out. Watch the plants grow and make sure they're growing well. Monitor their environment so that they're getting the right amount of sunlight and shade! Keep the worms in the area alive! Over, and over, and over again until the place is as pretty as can be!" She sneered and stomped her foot on top of the cactus and turned to look out the window at the rain, which had calmed down slightly. "Then, when we're done, we get to go somewhere else and do it again!"

I looked out the window and into the storm with her. A thought crossed my mind as we stood there in near silence. I softened a little bit and uncrossed my arms before speaking again, though my voice was much more quiet than before.

"Couldn't you... Couldn't you leave, then? Hypothetically. If you wanted to, I mean." I said the words with more difficulty than I had expected. 

Myra turned around to look at me and tapped the top of the cactus with her foot as she did. 

"I... No, not-not really." She shook her head. "Mother wouldn't appreciate it if she came back and found out that I had abandoned my post. Besides; it's been a little fun trying to improve your crappy little garden." She chuckled a little bit. 

"What if..." I thought about offering to cover for her if she wanted to leave by telling her mother that I had lost her or something had happened, but the thought left as quickly as it came. That was probably putting too much on the line for her. "Never mind. What do you want to do now?"

Myra didn't answer immediately. She brushed some of her hair out of her face and exhaled slowly as the rain continued to fall. 

"I still have to take care of the garden." 

"You didn't sound excited about that earlier." I said as she climbed off the cactus and walked towards the aloe vera.

"That doesn't really change the fact that I have to do it." She shrugged with a plain expression. "And like I said, it's proven to be a little more fun than I expected, you know what I mean?"

I looked down at the little fairy with dark black hair and fiery eyes that was taking care of my garden. I smiled slightly and nodded. The storm outside seemed to lessen.

"Yeah, I do."