Chapter 17:
Nymphaea: A Tale of Flowers [ABANDONED]
~ "Was it really that good?" ~
She waved her hand in front of my face, trying to break me out of my daze.
~ "You can have the rest of it if you like it that much." ~
She reached out a finger and poked at my cheek. The warmth from her finger pushed that thought to the back of my mind. Hitting the cherry blossom tree behind with the back of my head as I snapped back, shaking it, and the snow piling on the branches above rained down, covering me.
She stared at me with a straight face as I pushed and wiped off the snow on my thigh and shoulder, then slowly turned to her unamused, and had unintentionally started a staring contest, but only for around thirty seconds before she bursted out laughing.
~ "Alright, stop… Stop looking at me like that, it’s weird. But since when your taste buds change? You always hated sweet things." ~
"It just made me think of someone."
~ "Really? Who is this someone?" ~
Intrigued, her laughter stopped, not even sparing a giggle. Her hands pressed down, bending forward with what I assumed were starry eyes behind those fogs, waiting for my answer as I skulked back, avoiding to give it. But the more I shifted back, the further she crawled forward, forcing me to give some sort of response, lie or not.
"It’s… It’s someone from a dream I had last night, you poking at me made me forget who it really was."
We locked eyes for a few more seconds. I tried to fake a laugh to make what I said a bit more convincing, and she tilted her head, confused at what I said, but then just accepted it and turned back to watch the snow fall.
~ "Dreams…" ~
She pulled her legs in, wrapping them and swaying side to side.
~ "Weird dreams… I think I remember some from a few days ago, now you mention it." ~
She put a finger to her cheek, trying her hardest to recall those fantastical lost memories. I sat back, a drop of cold sweat running down my neck, overly curious at what those dreams could be, but awfully afraid, dreading that they were about me and my companion, like how I was dreaming about her and whoever I am right now.
Her finger drifted to curing her hair around, then that turned into both hands grasping her head with both eyes clamping shut, trying to squeeze out anything she could remember.
~ "Ah! I remember now!" ~
Pointing a finger out, like she was connecting the rouge floating notes on a pin board together.
~ "I was on a sandwich with wings made of lettuce and tomatoes flying through a rainbow and a herd of talking llamas wearing top hats chased me through it. Then, the sandwich turned into a giant pancake and started bouncing across hills made of syrup." ~
She threw her hands up, excited that she had finally remembered, but also accidentally washed away what she was about to say next, desperately regrasping those weak and fading memories.
~ "Oh yes, then a group of singing carrots popped out of the ground to perform. Then something happened, and I was on a cloud made of cotton candy, surrounded by floating unicorns playing ukuleles and I woke up." ~
Her head turned back to me to hear what I had to say about her dream and for my reaction, only to be met with me left half confused, half disgusted. Like I was questioning her intelligence, unable to fathom how her mind could conjure up such insanity strung together into a story with this little cohesion.
The enthusiasm in her completely vanished. Her shoulders dropped and I could feel her gaze leaving me.
~ Now that I say it out loud, it does sound kind of stupid…" ~
A moment passed, and she jumped up, stepped back into the snow and reached a hand out to me for her to help me up.
"And you said you weren't going back out into the snow."
Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a wool hat and placed it on her hat.
~ "Do you want to just stare at the falling snow? And trust me, the snow is going to stop soon." ~
Doubt raised a corner of my eye, and she let off a giggle.
~ "Just trust me, when have I ever been wrong about the weather. And did you forget your hat? The snow is turning your hair white, you look like an old man." ~
She shoved her hand back into her bag, and I brushed over my hair with my hand, pushing off the snow.
"No I don’t. And it’s fine, I don’t need a hat."
The sound of crushing snow drew my attention back to her, and she was already a few paces closer. Standing on her toes, her face was way too close to mine. She hooded me over with a second hat she had before stepping back.
~ "Now we match! And you can stop looking funny, hehe. And it looks great on you, Rosa..." ~
The fog over the corner of her left eye slowly peeled away. Though only a hint peeked through, her eye was as blue as azurite, so bright and clear that it could be rivaled by none. More fog rolled off, a wave of emerald green washed through, rippling on the tranquil lake-like surface, circling and dancing with the royal blue, mixing into a deep aquamarine.
Her pupil rolled into sight, flowering into a spiraling arrangement of countless pure white petals, shading into light pink toward the center. Floating on its blue iris, riding on the waves and ripples, only to cause more to form, bouncing between them, unable to settle down.
*knock knock knock*
Please log in to leave a comment.