A Dandelion's Dream

All throughout the night, a storm drummed through our sector, beating on everything in its path. Raindrops that had not yet found a resting place fell from the ceiling.The rhythmic tinging sound of the drops falling into a metal pot that sat on the floor of my bedroom accompanied the soft whistle of wind that blew through the cracks of my window. Thankfully the biggest part of the storm was now over. All that's left is fear of how much damage it caused. “Edith!” I hear my mother call my name. She calls it two more times before I finally respond. I laid on the twin sized mattress that sat on the floor in the middle of my small room. Other than a dresser that held three pairs of clothes in it, the rain pots were the only decoration. After sitting up and putting in a good stretch, I change into an old, faded pair of jeans that have tears at the knees, not by choice. I grabbed a faded red shirt that had dirt stains embellishing the bottom of it. The day after a storm usually meant hard labor and getting dirty. I prepared for the challenge that awaited. After going to the bathroom and freshening up, I walked to the kitchen where I heard my parents talking softly. My mother was wearing her usual, simple dress and small apron. My father was dressed for work and sitting at our small table. The kitchen and living room were all in one small room together. The few windows and cracks in the walls allow light to pour into the room. Mother had a fire going on the stove to help heat up some bread and eggs for breakfast. “Good morning my favorite butterfly, how did you sleep?” he said as he sipped his cup of milk. “Please stop calling me that. No one knows what you're talking about. I didn't sleep, again,” I said as I shoved some toasted bread into my mouth. My father has always called me his butterfly. He says that he hopes that I one day fly away like them. He saw them one day out in the forest and told us about them. One of the guards told him that it was called a butterfly and that they liked flowers. You couldn't find flowers in the sector so it makes sense why we never saw them. “Did you try counting sheep?” my mother chimed in with a smile. Both my parents always tried to stay positive despite the decrepitness that continuously surrounded us. They believed that if they worked hard and stayed positive that the king would bless our sector. In the eighteen years I've been in the sector, he's done everything but bless us. “How am I supposed to count something I've never seen before?” I remarked. My father gave me a quick look of distaste in an effort to tell me to fix my attitude. “I counted trees. I counted all 29,822 trees, but it didn't work.” I hadn't slept in days. I could not figure out why I wasn't sleeping, but I wasn't. My mom tried to make some syrup from some flowers and herbs we bought from the market to help. All it did was make me want to puke. “That's so odd. My mixture has never failed before,” my mom looked puzzled, “I'll have to double check what I did. Maybe I forgot something.” My mom owned a shop where she sold solutions that she made using herbs and flowers. She believed that she could fix any problem with one of her solutions. If only her solutions could fix the hell that is sector 7. After a disastrous civil war about 600 years ago, the Cornet family took power over everyone who was still alive and broke us into sectors. There are seven sectors to the Cornet Kingdom. The first sector is the capital where the king and his most loyal followers live. Then you move outwards in a ring around the capital until you are met with thick forests. Going into the forest is f*******n unless you are required to work there to collect wood. Living in sector 7 meant that most of the strong, healthy men worked in the forest including my father. “Have you checked for any damage to the house?” I broke the silence. My father shook his head no and said that we'll deal with it later. Our house has been falling apart for years, but my father always says that it can be fixed. There aren't many houses in our sector, and there definitely isn't one that is empty and stable. Most people in our sector have either died or found a way to move to a more inward sector. “I'll make sure to check while you're at work and do whatever repairs I can.” He smiled and thanked me. Our pleasant moment of silence was disrupted by the running of feet to the kitchen. “Jason took my bunbun and dropped her in a rain pot!” Phoebe yelled. “It was an accident! I didn't mean to drop her in the pot,” he yelled back. I quickly went to the twins to stop them from fighting. The twins were the handful that neither of my parents ever wished for. It was hard enough to make ends meet when it was just the three of us. Since they were born six years ago, my parents have to work more hours to help support us which leaves us home alone frequently. “Now, we just fought a nasty storm last night. We shouldn't fight each other. If you keep this up, you won't get to help me fix the house later. Go sit at the table and eat breakfast,” I said in a calm voice. Both shook their heads in agreement and went to their seats. After we finished breakfast, my father left to report to the forest. My mother took Phoebe to work with her at the shop. Before she left, she handed me a piece of paper that had drawings of some flowers and herbs that she needed me to collect. She said it was urgent. Looking at the pictures, I knew that one of these plants would not be for sale at the market. I knew how to get it, but it'll be difficult with Jason by my side. I packed two apples in my messenger bag and grabbed the five silver coins that my father had left on the counter for me. I changed Jason out of his sleeping clothes and into some jeans and a T-shirt. As we walked out the front door of our house, the steamy air filled my lungs with the scent of fresh rain. I walked around our small house and assessed the damage the storm caused. Other than a few new holes in the ceiling above the twins’ room, the storm didn't seem to actually cause us much damage. I thought to myself, I'll check the price of lumber at the market and see if I can fix it before the next storm. I grabbed Jason’s hand and headed to the market. Our sector was one of the smallest, or so I heard. Being the outermost ring, I always thought we would be the largest, but the ring is thinner the farther out you go. As Jason and I stepped onto the small patch of dirt called a porch, I stared blankly ahead of us. Behind our home was a tall, grey wall that cloaked everything behind it. In front of our home was a small dirt road that ran against another wall that was even higher than its parallel partner. The brown path guided everyone around the sector. As long as you stayed in the path, you would easily find your way back home. The walls separated us from sector 6 and the forest. Sneaking into the forest would be a life sentence in the prison, Alcho. Sneaking into another sector would be a death sentence. My brother and I took ten steps and turned onto the dirt road. I started to count my footsteps as we tracked towards the main market area. Every 115 feet would be a home that has a meager farm to each of its sides. After 46,000 steps, we finally reached the market area. Lined beside each other, there were 23 shops. The shops looked better than most of the houses in our sector. My mother’s shop was the fourth shop we came across. She had flowers in wooden planter boxes in front. A small sign that said “Andrew Edith’s Remedies.” I walked a little further down past her shop until I reached “All Flora.” I looked down at Jason and gave him the look of “don't you dare touch anything.” He nodded and gripped my hand tightly. “Hello Edith! How are you to…” Mr. Alsten started to say as I walked into the shop. The sight of Jason made him stop in the middle of his question. A look of worry overtook his previous smile. “Oh, Jason. I didn't expect to see you here again,” he said as a bead of sweat trickled down his forehead. Last time we came to the shop, Jason decided to eat a flower that he said “looked pretty.” He ended up getting a major red rash and had trouble breathing. Thankfully with mom’s remedy and three days of sleeping, Jason was able to bounce back like it was nothing. “I promise I won't touch anything,” he said as he shifted his body to hide behind me. There was a brief moment of silence between us as we tried to figure out how we can navigate this awkward tension. “I have some flowers that my mother needs. I hope you can help me out,” I said as I handed him the list. “I have all but this one,” he said as he pointed to the picture of the yellow flower that seemed to have a million petals cascading around it. “I don't think I have ever seen that flower before. Did she say if it has a name?” He asked with strong interest. I shook my head no. My father likes to tell us about flowers and animals that he sees in the forest. He then tries to draw them from memory. Over the years, he has started to draw the things he sees and uses ground up plants with water to add color to his drawings. I could tell that he drew this flower on the paper for my dad. It was a new flower that he told us about two nights ago. He said that they went to a new spot in the forest to collect some lumber. It took them about 30 minutes to get there on the bus (whatever that means). Once they stopped, my father said these flowers were everywhere. A nearby guard said they're a w**d and spread like crazy when left alone. He told all the lumber workers to not pick any of the flowers or try to bring them back into the sector. “It takes less than a week for that bright, ugly flower to make its way to the capital if it makes its way into sector 7. We don't need a bright little thing destroying our capital,” is what one of the guards yelled. Dad decided to not sneak any to mom. The punishment would probably be severe. Every punishment from the capital is severe. Mr. Alsten came back with a box that had all the other flowers and herbs my mother had requested. I was able to talk my way into a great discount and only gave him 3 silver coins. With one silver coin, I might be able to get some lumber to fix the roof. Jason had sat on the floor by the door where there were any flowers or plants when we first came in. I looked back at him, and he hadn't moved a spot. I guess he does know how to sit still. All it took was almost dying to learn it. I grabbed Jason’s hand and left the shop. I know that I need to take the flowers and herbs to my mother quickly. So I turned towards her shop with the box in hand. I started to think of how I can get that other flower. If it's only in the forest, I need to go to the forest.