I waited where I was, still holding the door open. Had I frightened her? Collections of plants and flowers of all sorts of sizes were scattered around the hallway. Potted shrubs and ferns sat at every corner, surrounded by smaller plants and numerous flowers. Perhaps the foliage, intermingling around the desks, chairs, and other furniture, made the space a little eerie.
When the girl finally moved, she stood up and crept towards the doorway, stopping briefly at the elevated threshold to carefully step over it. Once inside, I gently closed the door and secured it. Leaving my shoes by the door, I walked past her, my eyes attending so as to not leave her behind. She silently watched me retreat deeper into the hallway, slowing to a stop just before the dining room, before she started looking around all over the place. She seemed a little tense, slouched over, glancing from corner to corner, as if she was being hunted. I watched her from the other end, wondering what exactly was she uneasy about. I realised she had no shoes, though her bare feet appeared fairly tidy. It was after several moments of me standing there when she figured I was waiting for her, and followed.
The dining room had a larger gallery of flowers. Their aroma overpowered the space, thickening the air with the smell of pollen and herbs. It was a bit stronger today than usual, which made me feel a little self-conscious. I was fine with this atmosphere, but I was not sure how the girl felt.
“Sorry, it is a little dingy in here. I don’t often have guests over…” I glanced around, looking at the mess of potted plants scattered around. “Here, I can open up a—”
But before I could move towards the kitchen window, I felt a draft of air ruffle my dress as the girl hurried across the dining room to the back corner. Numerous vases of flowers were stacked up on a large wooden table. They were all wilting; their leaves shriveled up and the petals were losing their colour. Still, the girl took a liking to them, leaning on the table ledge, which was just about her chest height, and excitedly surveying them.
I slacked and gently smiled. Walking over to the table, I squeezed in beside her and started arranging the flowers from my basket into the vases.
“These are all the flowers that were not able to sell before they aged too much,” I explained as I slid a pale red dahlia amongst the back row. “I tried to grow them here, but unfortunately they lose their magic after they’ve been uprooted.”
The girl looked at me in a somber manner, her eyebrows knitted and her mouth petitely open as if she was going to speak, but no words came out. Turning back, she tenderly reached one of her small hands to the centre and stretched her fingers out wide.
“You’re welcome to take some of them if you’d like.” I examined the shelf closely, looking for flowers that were due for disposal. Spotting a withering lily, I reached over to pull it out. But as my fingers touched the stem, it suddenly began to glow, its radiance growing brighter before it regained its vigour and restorated to full bloom.
“…!” In a silent gasp, I hastily retracted my hand as all around it, other flowers began to sparkle as well before they too recovered their vibrance. Then, I realised the girl, whose hand was outstretched above the renewed bouquet, was the source of the glow, feeding streams of golden energy-like substance to the assembly. The energy rejuvenated their heads and leaves; their stems straightened back once more.
Baffled, I watched in silence. The glow eventually faded away, leaving the flowers in full colour, full bloom, as if they were sitting out in the sun, having just gathered today. The girl’s hand retracted back to grip the blue hyacinthum she held closely since I gave it to her, and she returned to her childish swing, side to side.
This time, however, I did not laugh. I was spellbound by the flowers, stepping in closer to see if they had truly rejuvenated. Touching their stems and stroking their petals, they had indeed felt fresh again. Even their fragrance regained its tanginess, and I was blasted by their rich aromas all at once.
Slowly turning, I gazed in amazement at the girl, still lost for words. This was unnatural, what she just did. She was unfamiliar once more; all of her uncanny actions from before were adding up.
The girl simply stared back at me, and proudly smiled.