wildflowers/marcus abbott/on hiatus

iii.

FLO DIDN'T SLEEP A LOT THAT NIGHT.

she was full of excitement, anxiety, sadness, stress, and happiness. she was finally going to get rose to a safe place (she hoped). but what if they were attacked on the way? what if they got lost? what if they didn't want to help them? flo finally calmed herself down enough to go to sleep at about 5, right before the sun would rise. but the moment that it came seeping through the trees...

"flo..." rose whispered, grabbing her sister's face gently and shaking it gently, "flo."

her eyes fluttered awake and saw rose standing above her, nothing but smiles on her face.

"hey kid," flo whispered, "can i have a couple more minutes? i didn't sleep good-"

"i made you this picture." rose interrupted her, holding up a piece of lined paper over her sisters face, causing her to squint her eyes.

flo sat up right and took the piece of paper out of her hands, scanning over the paper to see what she drew. on it was a picture of the wildflower that she picked for her. it was a very pretty picture.

"that's...very pretty, rose." flo smiled softly, kissing her sisters temple as a sign of how much she loved it.

••••

FLO CAME OUTSIDE WITH THE LAST OF THE SUPPLIES, placing down her bag and buttoning up her two buttons on the front of her shirt.

she reached into her bag and grabbed rose's hat, placing it on her head and making sure it was comfortable enough for her to have on for the whole day.

flo grabbed the bag and swung it around her shoulders and grabbed rose's little hand, as the two began to walk into the forest.

••••

THE WALK WAS PEACEFUL. there wasn't a lot of wildlife out at the time, besides the occasional butterfly and went by, or even the mosquito that stung flo right on the hand. but other than that, the forest was quite beautiful.

rose was holding her bunny by the ears and making it seem like the bunny was walking with them. flo noticed this and smiled.

"do you remember that mall visit?" flo whispered very quietly.

rose looked up at her and shook her head no, which caused flo to smile even more.

"it was easter. you were 3. mom made you take a picture with the bunny and you freaked out. i remember i had to take you to a toy store while mom flirted with the mall manager for forgiveness." flo explained, smiling at the thought of her beautiful mom.

expecting rose to laugh at the story, or at least smile, she didn't get the reaction she wanted. instead, flo looked over and saw rose walking along like she had heard nothing at all.

flo grabbed her shoulder and stopped her. she removed her hat and pressed her hand to her sisters forehead, feeling it burning up. flo turned to her bag and picked out the last pill, not caring if it was the only one left. she gave it to rose, who swallowed it quickly without any water.

the older sister wondered what to do with her. should they just say in the forest until she gets better? they only were walking for about 30 minutes. they doubted they were close to the house.

"c'mon. let's keep going." flo pushed her sister, picking up her bag and beginning to walk again.

"wait, flo-"

"rose, you can rest when we get there. i'd rather get there then just stop in the forest and rest. it's too risky." flo whispered, as she began to walk away from rose, knowing she'd catch up.