Wednesday, August 17, 2016

WEP Challenge: Gardens


It's time for another WEP Challenge with Yolanda Renee and Denise Covey!  This month's theme is: Gardens.

The story that came to mind with this prompt is a bit strange and disturbing, but hey, that's all right.  I hope you enjoy it!

Flora and Fauna

Flora tugged at the skirt of her pink dress.  The garment was patterned with yellow daffodils, tiny bluebonnets, and lovely little violets.  The pink shoes and pink bow that adorned her blonde hair matched perfectly.
She listened to the tinkle of children laughing as they darted between the rows of peonies and tulips.  She imagined running like the wind, the reds, purples, yellows, and greens blurring around her like the colorful whirlwind of a painting.
Two hands clamped down vicelike on her arms, pinning them to her sides.  “Stop fidgeting.  You’ll tear your dress.”  Her mother’s alto voice ignited a surge of bitterness.
What if I want to tear the dress?  She ached to ask the question, but she knew the consequences would be severe.
Her mother let go of her arms, her hands going instead to adjust the tangerine sundress she was wearing.  “Stay here like a good little girl.  I’m going to talk to the Greenwalds.”  Her mother scuttled toward a tall, dark-haired man with a rich baritone voice and his petite wife with the bright red hair.
Flora sighed, keeping her arms obediently at her sides.  Mom didn’t want a kid.  She wanted a doll to look at.
She’d been to a lot of these garden parties over her ten years of life, and they were all the same.  Other kids got to run around and have fun.  Mom got to drink wine and socialize.  Dad got to stay inside the house.  Flora got to stand off to the side and look pretty.
Her mother glowed whenever friends praised her for raising such a “well-behaved daughter.”
“She’s so quiet,” they said.
“We hardly realize she’s there.”
“She looks like a doll.”
I may as well be a doll, Flora thought.  That’s what Mom wants me to be.
Rage simmered as she watched her mother and guests move freely about the garden.  Bees buzzed between the flowers, and a sparrow washed itself in the black marble bird bath.  The plants and the food each emitted their own distinct odors, and all she could do was take a deep breath and savor those smells, tormented by the temptation.
Everything else was filled with life.  Everything but her.
I may as well be a statue.  I’m a decoration, anyway.  Maybe if I stay still for long enough, Mom will forget that I’m a person.
The more such thoughts ran through her head, the angrier she became.
If I could become a statue, I would.  I’d hold so still that I turn to stone, and maybe she’d eventually miss me.  Maybe she’d feel bad she never let me play.  She might even cry.
Flora tensed her muscles, determined to turn to stone.
I am a statue.  I will not move.
She willed her bones to turn to the same kind of decorative rock that composed the walkway.  She prayed that her muscles would solidify, and that her blood would stop flowing.
She deserves this.  She needs to see why she should have been happy with the daughter she has.
The party went on around her, everyone oblivious to Flora’s dark thoughts.  The sun tracked steadily across the sky, the reddening light shining through the pungent branches of the mammoth lilac bush. 
Then the guests began to leave, making their apologies for having to go so soon and thanking Flora’s mother for such a splendid party.  They left by twos or threes through the white trellis, which was covered by a sprawling trumpet vine.  They laughed and chatted on their way out, the sounds of their voices soon swallowed by the falling of night.
Flora’s mother started clearing the dishes and wiping down tables.  Though she was expected to fly into action to assist with the cleanup, Flora had a new goal that couldn’t be tossed aside.
I am a statue.  If this is the way she thinks she wants me, then let her have me like this.  Let me turn to stone.
The sounds of tiny scuttling feet told Flora that the creatures of the night were coming out to play.  The brush of fur across her foot startled her, but she surprised herself by remaining rigid.
This is easier than I thought it would be.  Even the animals think I’m a statue.
“Flora!  I need you to help me!” her mother shouted angrily.
She’d gotten under her mother’s skin.  Flora would have smiled about that, even tried to smile, but the smile never came.  Her face had lost most of its feeling, and the muscles didn’t respond.
A few moments passed, and her mother stalked over to where she stood, nostrils flaring.  “Flora!  Why aren’t you listening to me?  Honestly, I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but . . .”  Her mother’s voice trailed off, her eyes going wide as she looked down at the hand she’d just placed on her daughter’s arm.
“Flora?” she said softly as she squeezed the flesh, only to find it unyielding.
Mommy!  Flora tried to call out, but nothing responded.  Her heart should’ve been hammering, but it was beating abnormally slowly.  Mommy, help me!
“Flora!  Answer me!”  Then the panicked woman turned and screamed to anyone that might hear.  “Someone help!  Please help me!”
Her father came, but his efforts to rouse her were also unsuccessful. 
By the next morning, Flora’s once peach skin had turned gray, and her blood no longer flowed through her veins.  Her parents sat at her feet for hours on end, pleading with her to do something that she simply couldn’t do.
Flora saw the police come, saw the incredulous looks on their faces as her mother and father explained what had happened.  A few days later, they were escorted away in handcuffs, and she never saw them again.
Months passed and the garden was swallowed by weeds.  Birds perched on Flora’s shoulders each morning as they sang to the world.
There were no more garden parties. There was only Flora and fauna.


Word Count: 993
FCA

20 comments:

  1. Wowsers. Unexpected, confronting, and brilliant. Be careful what you wish for...

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  2. Wow. her mother wanted a doll and got one...I hope one day the spell breaks.

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  3. Awesome. My momma told me, "careful what you wish for."

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  4. Oh wow, this is the stuff of fairytales (before the happy endings, obviously!)

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  5. Absolutely fantastic. I like the way you brought into Flora's wish. She didn't even realize that she was changing into a statue.
    Shalom aleichem,
    Patricia

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  6. Wow. Incredible story. It was mesmerizing. And of course sad. But I smiled at the "flora and fauna" ending. So creative!

    I'm glad I could sign up for WEP because now I've met you. I love all the wonderful writers like you that I've met since 2010 when I first began blogging. Blogging for me has by necessity been on and off and then on again. But it's been a great journey.

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  7. I really loved following this short journey from willful girl to one of stone. Well done.

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  8. This is scary. Sadly, children and teenagers sometimes do that. They do horrible things to themselves to punish their parents. What a nightmare of misunderstanding.

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  9. Love this! It's like a fairytale gone wrong. I feel like there could be more to this. Kudos.

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  10. Brilliant writing - so clever.

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  11. Well, that takes 'be careful what you wish for' to a whole new level. Amazing story! loved it!

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  12. Lovely, sad, and brilliantly tied up. Flora and Fauna, perfect! I totally identify with that treatment as a kid. Our parents would dress us up in our Sunday best and take us to visit family and friends and we weren't allowed to play (get dirty) my cousins tortured us because of this. But to turn into a statue and then lose that beautiful garden, too sad! Loved it!
    Your entries are always amazing! Thank you for participating in the WEP Gardens Challenge!

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  13. That was a surprise; well done. Thank you

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  14. Really enjoyed your story, L. G! Excellent ending. LOVED that the parents were carted off... Just wish Flora was happier about it...

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  15. L.G. This is a fantastic story, if creepy. The mind is a powerful tool. I hope Flora is happy with fauna. Her mother was never going to let her be happy.

    Thanks so much for joining us this month and for your wonderful story. It won't be forgotten in a hurry!

    Denise :-)

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  16. What we wish for isn't always in the form that we might think. Now she still doesn't get to run around. . .Very well done - I used to hear that comment when I was a kid - she's so well behaved, so I decided to be a little less so, like most kids.

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  17. Brilliant!
    I love the story...and what an unexpected turn!

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  18. Hi LG - completely absorbing ... Flora and Fauna - clever take on those two words ... horror - could that happen - at an extreme take I guess it could. But as Michael mentions - it'd be good if Flora came back to life and could enjoy herself ...

    Fascinating take on the Gardens Challenge .. cheers Hilary

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