Purple Flowers

Chapter 4

“Guys, you’ve got to friggin’ help me,” an anxious Danny pleaded. “Prom’s coming up and I still can’t find a date.”

“Relax, Desperate Dan,” Megan said. “A lot of people are going on their own these days. What’s the big deal?”

“The money is,” replied Danny. “The tickets go for 140 bucks for singles and just 250 for couples. That means a couple has to pay only 125 bucks each for one ticket. That’s fifteen bucks less that the singles ticket.”

“It’s only fifteen bucks, Danny. It ain’t much,” Alice remarked.

“Hey, let me remind you that the economy is bad now and the company I’m working for may start laying off some people ‘cause they can’t afford to pay them. I’m just preparing my umbrella for a rainy day.”

“Whatever,” Jacob shrugged.

A wild thought crossed Danny’s mind. He never thought he would say it out loud, but……

“Megan, will you go to Prom with me?”

“I’ve already bought my ticket. A single’s ticket.”

“Alice?”

“Same.”

“Oh.”

***

Danny skated gloomily by the seaside of that town. He had no other solution in mind, except to address it with the supernatural……

He parked outside the flat and looked around him, making sure no one was watching, and entered the front lawn. The ground was once again covered in purple flowers.

“Hey. I’m back. Are you there?”

The flowers lifted off the ground and gently swirled in the breeze, welcoming Danny back and acknowledging his presence. Danny smiled and began explaining his problem to the creature.

The flowers fell back down to the ground. Nothing but silence for a moment. Danny thought that the creature had gone to sleep because it could not answer his question. But then the flowers began swirling again, slowly at first, then increasing in pace and motion. They swirled and gathered in the center of the lawn, forming a strange figure. Danny could not make out its shape, but as he watched the magic happen, the shape gradually became more and more human.

At last the wind died down, and where the flowers had gathered stood a beautiful girl. She had golden blonde hair worn in a bun and was clad in a long ball gown made entirely of purple flowers. A soft “wow” escaped Danny’s lips as he breathlessly admired her beauty from head to toe.

The girl smiled at him, not saying a word.

Nervously, Danny walked towards the girl, stepping on the purple flowers. Strangely, the girl did not wince in pain. “Hi, I’m Danny.” He stuck out a hand towards her. The girl took and shook it. “I already know.”

***

The couple had a wonderful time at Prom. Everyone was fascinated at the girl’s beauty and her dress. A few other girls have walked up to her and asked to touch or smell her dress. The girl only laughed and let them proceed. It was a really magical night, especially for Danny. For the first time in his life, he felt something he had never felt before towards the girl. It stirred in his stomach and somewhat affected his appetite that night, he could only eat around the food he was offered. It was a strange, strange feeling. He wasn’t sure if it was nerves, as it was the first time he went out to such a fancy event with a girl, or if it was guilt that he only went out with her in the first place to save him some money.

Then came the time for them to dance. The music played softly and slowly, sweeping everyone of their feet. They swayed and spun in their partner's arms. Even Danny and his partner was having a good time.

“Wow, I didn’t know you could dance so well,” Danny gasped.

“When you’ve been living alone in an old, empty flat for years, you find and learn some ways to entertain yourself,” she winked.

“So all that swirling and transforming with your petals in the breeze was just you dancing? You dance to transform yourself?”

The girl laughed. “You don’t need to have a solid human figure to be able to dance.” She twirled around him in time with the music. She leaped into the air and landed on both feet in a professional ballerina-like style, impressing many of the onlookers. That was when Danny found himself having to agree with her.

***

The night eventually ended with every attendee going home with a smile on his or her face. Danny took his partner by the hand and drove her off to the seaside, back into the town she resides in. They arrived outside the flat and parked there. They stepped out to enjoy the beautiful moonlight by the rocks.

Danny looked around. A few seagulls still circled in the air above him. It was a magnificent view, just as breathtaking as it was during sunrise. For a brief moment, Danny felt envious of his partner. Imagine waking up and going to bed to such beautiful views every day even though you live alone.

“Nice view, huh?” he said, trying to break the ice.

“Yes. It certainly makes living alone in this place a little less sad.”

“What do you do when you are lonely?”

The girl looked down and smiled. “I just count my flowers and remind myself that as long as I have them, I’m never truly alone.”

“Do you do anything else?”

“Well, I look over the walls and observe the people that pass by. No one has sent foot in my area for a long, long time. Until you came along, that is. You and your friends.”

“You… you observe people? How do you keep hidden from their view?”

She giggled. “When you become a flower, you can go anywhere and look at anyone without raising any eyebrows. Just let the wind take you.”

Danny nodded, taking it all in. As he regarded the appearance of his date once more, he blinked a few times. She was just as beautiful as the scenery that laid before him.

Danny decided he should pay attention to her inner character as well. “You certainly are a very interesting person…… uhm, creature.”

“Glad you think so. Most people don’t know that.”

“Most people haven’t seen this version of you.”

“A few. Only a few people have seen the first version of me that you saw.”

“What happened to them? You know, once they saw you…..”

“What? What happened to those people?”

“What did you do to them?”

The girl smiled and looked away. “What do you think I did to them?”

Danny didn’t really what to say the answer on his mind, lest he offend her. “I don’t know.”

The girl sighed. She looked at him. “I know what you’re thinking. But no, that’s not what I did to them. That’s not what I do.”

“Y-y-you don’t…… eat them?”

“Throughout the years I’ve been living here, I’ve learnt that you humans tend to exaggerate and over-explain things to make them seem interesting, especially things that you may be frightened of.”

“And?”

“And that’s probably what lead you and your friends to explore my grounds in the first place, right? You heard some story about some weird creature that other people are so afraid of that sounded so interesting that you just had to go check it out.”

Danny thought about it for a moment. “Guilty,” he sighed.

“See? You should know that the story was probably exaggerated a bit to make me seem like I seemed to you people at first.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. Just try to be able to discern fact from fiction next time.”

“Yes.”

They sat in silence for a while. The moonlight shone on them, making them look like glowing angels in a dark, dark neighbourhood.

“But what about the black hole?” Danny suddenly spoke up. “You know, the one you tried to drag me into when we first met?”

“Black hole? Why are we talking about space now?”

“You know about space? Have you been there? Did you… did you… come from there?” Danny shivered.

The girl threw her head back and laughed. “Oh, no, Danny. Flowers certainly don’t come from space! I’ve eavesdropped on enough humans to learn some basic science and how things work around here in this world.”

“Oh.”

“I wasn’t trying to eat you when we first met. I was simply trying to scare you away with whatever I can do so you never think of trespassing on my land ever again.”

“S-sorry……”

“But if you haven’t trespassed, we wouldn’t have met.”

Danny nodded. “True.”

The girl suddenly turned to face him. Their eyes met, staring deep into each other’s souls.

“I’m glad I met you, Danny. I’ve been in love you since I first saw you, closer.”

Danny’s eyes widened and he blushed. “R-R-REALLY?”

She nodded. “That’s why I didn’t want to harm you. Creatures like me are capable of feelings, too.”

Danny was beyond blessed. He had to confess! He had to……!

“I… I’m in love with you, too. Not when we first met, but when we danced……”

“I know. I can see it in the way you tried so hard not to step on my toes when we were dancing,” she chuckled. “It was a bit awkward, watching you move like that, to be honest. But you were quite good, too. So don’t worry.”

Danny blushed again. He didn’t know what to say at this point now.

They looked at each other with the most mesmerised of eyes. They inched closer and closer to each other until their lips touch. Then they embraced, kissing each other in the bright white moonlight.

“I love you,” Danny whispered to the creature.

“I love you, too,” it whispered back.