rose garden | MILEVEN AU

ii. a muddy mess

She had fallen in love with roses, the small buds allowing her imagination to spread wider than ever before, even when her head was buried in a dusty book. As her delicate fingers caressed the rich petals, button nose lifting to smell the sweet essence of the air around her - she could allow herself to dream. If she tried hard enough, she could still feel the brush of soft fingertips in her hair, a smile twisting on her lips as she recalled the gentle tone of her voice. She could almost picture the flower crowns that they would make together, pretending that they were little princesses as they danced around the garden - watering the roses as they twirled. It was her safe place, her secret sanctuary where her father would sometimes find her after many hours, scolding her for falling asleep in her favorite corner of the garden. But nothing else gave her the same sensation, the feeling like she was dancing on the edge of something wonderful. 

But standing there now, she was left with a muddy mess. The stems were twisted around the wheels of the bike, thorns digging into each tire, broken fence laying in a heap. The tender petals that were usually painted with natural strokes of red, white and pink - were torn and splashed with wet mud, nothing more than a dirty mess on the ground. 

"I'm sorry, kid."

She sniffed, shaking her head, "It's okay."

He ruffled her hair,  wrapping a solid arm around her shoulders as she kept her eyes on her ruined garden. "It's okay to be upset, kid. I know how much they meant to you."

"T-They will grow back, right?" she whispered. 

Hopper grunted, "They better, it's that delinquent's fault anyway."

She nudged her father affectionately, giving him a soft yet steady look, "He crashed his bike, Dad. He didn't mean to do it."

The chief curled his lip. "I don't trust him."

"He's going to take care of the garden for us...a-and fix the fence."

Hopper let out a long breath, smiling down gently at his daughter who withheld all of the sweetness of the flowers she liked to grow, "I will make sure he does a damn good job too, kid. I promise you that."

She giggled as he kissed her forehead. 

But in her mind, as she stared down at the muddy mess of roses, she couldn't stop herself from thinking back to that moment. She hadn't meant to watch, she knew that her father had instructed her to stay inside, searching for whatever crashing noise they had both heard. She hadn't expected to look at the window, seeing a body on the ground next to a broken bike with a dented wheel - blood dripping down his face. 

The stranger reminded her of a deer caught in the headlights - practically shaking with fear as her father yelled at him. She couldn't help but giggle to herself, cute, she thought. His dark hair was practically a wet mop, dripping down his face and getting caught in his eyes, starting to twist into tangled curls at the edges. Her curious gaze trailed down to his soaked clothing, thin shivering body covered by a raincoat, looking smaller than ever as he cowered away from the terrifying man. For a split second, she thought that his eyes trailed over to her window and although it could have been the trick of light, she hid behind the curtain quickly. When she gained the courage to peek outside yet again, her button nose pressed against the cold glass, warm breath leaving patterns, she couldn't help but smile. He was stood up, seeming taller and larger than life itself, mouth spitting fire back at her father almost like one of the dragons that she had seen in story books - but a lot less scary. He had his own spark, lighting up the garden with his words like a firework, and she didn't want the marvelous display to end.