FLOWER

One

It was a bright and sunny day, one of the happiest day of the year. Even the sun kept smiling non stop like it knew a secret no one else does.

Flora woke up for the first time in a long while without anyone forcing her out of bed. Opening her curtains, the ray of sun shined bright that it almost blinded her, but she didn't shy away from it, she smiled her brightest smile, a smile that could melt the moon, and faced it head on. She didn't want to miss a moment from the day, from the rising of the sun to it's setting in the evening, she wanted to be aware of everything, after all, this day would only come once. Looking out unto the boundless flower garden adjacent to her room, she couldn't explain the wave of happiness that hit her seeing those flowers wishing her the best of the day. She smiled and went to freshen up with a skip in her steps and a sweet melody in her voice, greeting everyone she passed with the sweetest smile, making them halt in their steps and wonder about the source of her happiness. Nevertheless, everyone soon contracted her happiness and the whole Wilson household was soon filled with happiness, rivalling the day in brightness.

The Wilson family is one of a kind, living in a mansion in a remote area in Nationsville.

Nationsville is a big and sophisticated city in the mid-west of America, harbouring people from all over the world and with a population that surpasses it's counterpart cities. It is known as the country's eye since it is the main commercial centre in the country where only the rich survive.

And as large as Nationsville is, there is hardly anyone who doesn't know about the Wilsons. They are one of the leading family in the city and infact, the country.

There are really just there main members in the Wilson family, Flora, her dad and her aunt, aunt summers.

Flora's father, David, is one of the strictest person Flora's ever met. Most times, she hated him. He was far too strict and his methods, far too extreme for her. She preffered her aunt whom she considered her mother.

After losing her own mother at the age of seventeen,she became depressed, and aunt summers, her mother's twin sister had moved from Australia, where she worked as a dancer, to Nationsville, in order to take care of her. She had only intended to stay for some time until Flora was completely free of her trauma and she ended up staying for a year and was ready to go back and chase her dreams (her words), but Flora had gotten so used to aunt summers smiles, her scent, the way she sang and danced when she thought no one was watching, her gentleness, yet affirmativeness, the way she had indulged Flora's obsession for chrysanthemums after her mother's death, the way she stood up for her when her father lashed out at her, tired of her mooping around.

Within a year, aunt summers had become her second mother and she couldn't bear to loose another mother. She was ready to follow her back to Australia, but her father would have none of it. Somehow, her father had ended up convincing aunt summers to stay, paying her monthly making her a full time mother to his daughter. At first she was angry, claiming David only wanted a full time nanny and that he was disregarding her by paying her to take care of her niece. So, David had compromised, he allowed her to work, he opened a dance school for her, and she ended up being a dance instructor.

She was satisfied with the arrangement, but even Flora could tell that that wasn't her dream, she was an awesome, independent woman, a woman of valour who had great dreams and did everything she could to fulfill her dreams, she is Flora's role model, and Flora would never be able to understand why a woman like her, who did anything to fulfill her dream, would give it all up for her, like it was nothing. She hadn't just given up her dream, she had given up on her life as well.

Flora could see it was affecting her, it was obvious in the way her smile had deemed, the way her steps sometimes faltered when she danced, like she was losing grasp of her inspiration, the way she became more and more withdrawn until she hardly talked with people. Someone who was once outgoing now extremely withdrawn. It hurts to see her like that without the power to save her. But she was a strong woman, even when her smile falters, her expression clearly reads that she wouldn't stop until she retrieves back that part of herself that is lost in the crowd, she was sure she would find it, and Flora didn't doubt it for a second. And when her steps falters when dancing, she puts in extra effort to retrace it again, never giving up, always looking for inspiration in anything and everything. And even when she stopped interacting with people, preferring her own company, she busied herself with the flowers, she tended to them and spoke to them like they were real people, and when she wasn't doing that, she was busy reading and writing books. She's a wonderful writer.

She was like an angel to her, she had stayed with her and taken care of her till date. She had even sworn not to get married until Flora is completely settled, one of the reasons the day Is so important to her. Finally, aunt summers would be free to live her dreams.

Flora already tried talking aunt Summers into getting married, but she would have none of it. She can be really stubborn as well if she wants, just like David.

Ever since Flora's mom, Liza, died, David had become closed off and hard to get close to. Even his relationship with his daughter became strained. He kept to himself and flared up at any given chance like he was trying to pass his aggression to the world, like he was blaming the universe for the calamity that has befallen him. All the maids in the house feared him, they were always extra careful around him. He was hardly home anyways, but whenever he was, he carries with him a cold atmosphere that seems to seep into the pores of everyone around him like a deadly virus. Even aunt Summers steered clear of him, whether because she was afraid of him or hated him, as she claimed, either way, she stayed away from him. She felt he was overbearing and sometimes wondered what her sister found in him.

In the whole household, there is only one person David respect, and that is Butler Le. Butler Le is an old Chinese man of over seventy years. He had worked with the Wilsons for over thirty years. He is a mentor to David and a grandfather to Flora, he is infact more of a father to her than David ever was. He is a kind, docile and gentle man. Flora didn't think she had ever seen him angry before.

However way David might respect Butler Lee, he still does not bend to him, probably because the old man has never bothered to ask him of anything before or because David is just a sequential asshole who doesn't listen to a man he calls his mentor.

David only bends to Flora, though not willingly, since he does that only when several plates have been broken, several chairs have been up turned and several books in his study have been torn to pieces by his daughter.

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