The Garden [G.BLYTHE]

[01] WOODEN FENCE

'don't grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form'

Aurelie studied the beautiful flowers as she walked through the fields, holding her books in her hands. They were quite heavy and she wished for a sack, were she to have one.

She wore a blue dress that stopped at her knees. Her hair was in a half ponytail, tied back by a ribbon. She grazed her fingers across the tall plants. Her brown eyes sparkled in the sun that was very prominent that early morning. She picked a few flowers off the ground and held them along with her books.

"Roses; woody perennial flowering plant of the genus Rosa, in the family Rosaceae, or the flower it bears." She mumbled to herself. "Peonies; a flowering plant in the genus Paeonia, the only genus in the family Paeoniaceae." She picked up another flower.

"Poppies...Irises...Dahlias..."

Oh how she would love to be named after a flower. Something about those names sounded so majestic, so elegant. Lily, Rose, Violet, Dahlia, Iris, Poppy. Aurelie loved to imagine herself with these names.

She reached a fence, which she hopped over without hesitation. "Foxgloves...Digitalis... a genus of about 20 species of herb—" All of a sudden, she noticed that she was not careful enough while hopping over the fence. Her dress got caught in one of the spikes. She flipped over the fence, tearing the bottom skirt of her dress and landing on her back. She groaned, clutching the flowers in her hand in pain.

"You know... this fence has a gate."

Aurelie looked upwards, still lying on the ground. Standing by her, was a curly haired boy. He appeared upside down to her as he stood at the end of her hair. He smiled slightly down at the girl.

Aurelie quickly sat up, staring at her destroyed dress. She sighed. Ignoring the boy, she stood up, pushing past him and continuing on her way as if nothing had happened.

However, the boy followed after her. "Miss? Do I know you? You seem familiar." He wondered. Once again, Aurelie ignored him. She had no interest in speaking to the boy. She had already made enough a fool of herself.

"Hello? What's your name?" He continued on. Aurelie sighed to herself. She picked up her pace, but this still didn't stop him. The boy was extremely determined.

"Are you okay? That seemed like a pretty nasty fall." The boy worried. He noticed the destroyed flowers in Aurelie's hands. He chose not to speak on that matter. He simply wondered to himself about it.

"Do you speak at all?" He spoke once again just as they reached the doors to the school. He stepped in front of the door, blocking her way in. Aurelie paused for a moment, then took in a deep breath.