Flower Garden

(A little girl walks outside from the house) “Mama, I’ll be outside in the back yard” as the door slams shut and she runs down the steps. Her long blond hair flies away from her face as she runs towards the suns fading horizon. (The little girls mom comes looking for her) “Jenny!” She yells, but Jenny is already far out in the field. Her mom looks ahead, turning her head from side to side at a slow pace and at a glance can see Jenny’s small frame between the tall pieces of grass and shrubbery filling the land. In her heart, she knows Jenny is safe, knows the rules about coming back before dark, and slowly turns to go back inside as she throws the dish towel over one shoulder. Jenny keeps running until she almost falls, but catches herself, just a bit wably and finds her balance. Brushing the dirt off of her hands, she then looks down to see nothing but a stone, black with a bit of shine on the surface, not too small, but almost as big as her eight year old hands. (A bird flies over, distracting her attention. The sky turns dark with the sun almost gone) “Tweet tweet” Jenny says, mocking the bird like it was just a silly thing interrupting her play time. Holding the rock, she brings it close to her face, inspecting the shimmer and glimmer it has. An unusual rock she thinks to herself, but then becomes bored and drops it back down. Just a bit further, she comes to the garden of flowers her mother plants every year, full of begonias, Lillie’s, and tulips in multiple colors with a gentle smell that makes Jenny smile. Jenny loves them all as she leans her head down and smells a Lilly, fresh and full bloomed. But she knows not to pick it as her eyes widen in wonder, feeling the stem so tall and smooth. She brings it up to just under her nose and takes in the scent. “Mmmm” she whispers, remmenicing the first time her mom put a rose tucked in behind one ear and told her it was for having a heart of gold when she found a hurt puppy and brought him in to save him. Seeing the darkness begin to take over, the bird still flying over ahead, another gut feeling that something was wrong filled her eyes as she looked all around. She had a gut feeling that something was near, but couldn’t quite place what it was as she took a step back like it it right there with her. A noise made her jump and turn her head back, but all she sees is her trail of foot prints leading back to the house. She takes one hand and brushes her hair away from her face and feels a drop of rain fall on her nose. Disregarding that it may soon rain and the feeling of danger somewhere near, she kneels back down to smell all the flowers, then picks one and says “This one’s for daddy.” For just a few minutes, she then plays with the dirt, getting her hands dirty as another drop of rain fell on her nose. The dirt is damp and sticks to her hands while a few peices fall on top of her legs. Not realizing, she had dug up a whole a few inches deep, but paid no attention as her hands kept pressing and playing with the dirt. Just then, it starts to sprinkle as the sun has fallen just a bit more. She looks up at the sky. “Not yet Daddy” she said, “I still want to play”But the rain still fell as she then took a deep breath and brushed off her hands, looking around as though someone was near. “I have to go now” she says to the air, as though there is someone close that can hear what she says. The bird then squeals , this time louder and flies down further, faster and close to where she was standing. She screamed and ducked down, watching it land a few feet away, fluttering it wings until they settled. (Rain starts to fall and she turns to go back) Still holding her flower, she begins to run, her feet landing hard on the field of grass. She begins to run fast when thunder claps the Montana sky. She feels the wind blow in her face as the rain becomes faster, almost too much to see just ahead. Fear bubbles up as she starts to breathe fast until she reaches the front of the porch and falls face forward, her face in the grass and just barely misses the bottom step of the porch. Almost with instinct, her mom flys open the door and runs down the steps to help pick her up. “What happened?” she asked, scared as she grabbed her and pulled her up from the ground. Jenny looked at her mom straight in the face and said “I just saw a bird flying like he was angry” she said. “He landed just by my side” she finished, as her mom walked up the steps, keeping her safe and snug in her arms. Her mom looks back before they go inside, scanning the field to check for anything that shouldn’t be there. She hears the bird screech and wonders if maybe it found something dead. “It’s ok” she whispers, the door to her hip and goes inside. (As the door shuts, lightning strikes. A car in the distance then screeches and stops when a tree limb falls in front of the car) As Jenny’s mom takes her upstairs, she hears police sirens coming in the distance. Her mom senses danger as she pauses on the third step, looks back at the door and waits to see where the police are as Jenny tucks her head in to her moms shoulder, now getting tired from a bit of exhaustion. “What is it mom” Jenny said, her innocent voice now soft and worn out as she took a big yawn. Jenny’s mom took a deep breath not wanting to scare her, but could sense with her heart that danger was near. “Nothing sweety” she said and turned back around as her eyes scanned the house, then walked upstairs as every step creaked. The noise made her cringe until she came to the top. “Mom, look” Jenny said as she took her index finger and pointed to the window at the end of the hall. “What?” her mom asked, but saw nothing but sunlight just before dark. “The ghost” Jenny said, gripping her moms arm and didn’t let go. “The ghost, the ghost” she said and just kept repeating, then closed her eyes and tucked her head in. Jenny’s mom was scared that something was wrong with Jenny. Her mom just stared with fear and concern and then said “Honey, I don’t see a ghost. Let’s get your pajamas on and tucked into bed, ok sweet heart” she said as she brushed her hand through Jenny’s hair, got to the door and then turned the knob.