On the Other Side

New Friend

Liby

I arranged all the flowers that are ready for pick up and swept the floor. The door opened, "Good morning, how can I help you?", I asked the red-headed teenage girl. " Good morning, I want a pink rose bouquet please", she said. I never saw her before, not even in the park where everybody gathers during the holidays. The red-head has an angelic face and she seems like...glowing, like her skin is sparkling or am I just imagining it? " Hey? Are you okay?", she asked. " Sorry, I thought I saw you sparkling", I said. " What do you mean by sparkling?", she asked. " Nevermind, sometimes my mind plays trick on me. Anyway, what do you want as an add- on ?" I smiled. " Do you have daisies? I want daisies as an add-on", she said. " Yes we have", I said. After a few minutes, I finished the bouquet. " Here you go", I said, handing the bouquet. " Thank you, by the way, I'm Amber", she said. " Liby, nice meeting you ", I said. " See you around", she said. After she left, I suddenly became curious. My instinct said that there was something in her that I couldn't recognize. Something that I wanted to know.

I decided to prepare lunch since mom and Laila are out for delivery, so I have to do the cooking or else we will starve. The shop was renovated last month and we decided to add a kitchen and a small room which is more convenient while managing the shop. Mom and Laila got back before lunchtime. We ate our lunch and prepared for the afternoon. After my shift, I went home. On my way home, I saw Amber sitting on the old bench beside the old Narra tree. Since we moved here, nobody has sat on that bench. I didn't know why, but people in the town never sit on that bench. Most of the time, when I'm lonely or sad, I always looked at that bench. I imagined myself sitting on that bench with my family, but I never sat on that bench in reality. " Hi , Are you okay?", I asked. " Yes, I just stopped here to relax for a while", she said. "How do you feel sitting on that bench?", I asked. Amber was confused about my question. "I felt relax?", she said. "Actually, I never sat on that bench, but I always stopped by and looked at this bench everyday", I said. "Why?", she asked. "I thought it would break if I sit on it", I said. "Well, come on sit down, it won't break", she said. I sit on the bench and it is way more relaxing than it looks. " Where are you going anyway?", I asked. " Home", she said. As far I know, there are only two houses in this street, our house and Margaret's. " Are you Margaret's niece or granddaughter? Sorry if I asked too much", I smiled. " No, we just moved in here the other day, and we're still renovating our old cabin in the woods", She said. " I didn't know there is a cabin in the woods. Well now I know", I laughed. " It's a private property and our place is creepy. No wonder people in the town add it to the least favorite place in the town", she shrugged. I had never been in that part of the town before and she's right that it's not one of the famous areas in the town. "You can visit our cabin some time if you want", she said. " Of course, I'm free tomorrow", I replied. " It's a deal then", she said. "See 'ya", I said. Then I headed home.