Picking Flowers

A short horror story.

One day, in a valley surrounded by mountains, a place almost too scenic and sunny to be colonized, a small village was built. It wasn’t too far from the rest of the world, but far enough that it would take about a day's journey on horseback to get to the nearest city. For adults, living in a small village had its pros and cons. The place was peaceful, away from the industrial age and the factories being built in the larger, more bustling areas of the world. On the other hand, people said it was too peaceful in the village, and too small, with a population of only 75 people, only 5 of them being children. Some of the more superstitious villagers even got the idea into their heads that the low number of children this past generation was a sign from god, that it was time to leave and build a new life with the rest of the world. Some people even left for this very reason, leaving their old life behind them. None of that business bothered Jesse though. He was 7 years old (in his prime, if you asked him) and his life was tinted with sunshine. He and his best friend- Daneilla Cindere, spent their days causing mischief, much to the dismay of their adult neighbors. Climbing the fences to see who could get to the top first, racing through the town square and getting in the way of the workers, and even picking apples off Mrs. Kaser’s apple tree. Nevertheless, everybody loved Jesse and Danelia. Young souls were just so precious this year. The children loved their hometown, and now that they were old enough to explore more parts of it, Jesse felt like a dog let off its leash. When Jesse’s mother sent him on his first trip across the village to deliver a package- all by himself- he was ecstatic. And of course, he had to bring Danellia. The two children tried to act old and mature at first as they walked calmly, their hands at their sides, through the town square. It didn’t take long for their excitement to boil up though, and they broke into a run. Good-humored Mr. Speidfeild chuckled as they went by.

“Going to deliver a package, eh?” 

“Yes Mr. Speidfeild!” Jesse responded.

“All the way across to the other side, way over there!” Daneila added, pointing vaguely in one direction.

“Well, maybe if you come back fast enough, I can give you some 5-cent candies. How about that?” 

“OK!” With the blink of an eye, the kids were gone, on their way to deliver the package, now in even more of a hurry. After running for so long, even kids become tired. As they slowed to catch their breath, Daneila complained.

“We might not get back in time for the candy if we don't run the whole way.”

“I don’t know that I could run just a bit more, even for the candy!” Jesse said through breaths. 

“Oooh, I know!” Daneila pounced at the idea. “We could take a shortcut!” She pointed to the forest. Now, the children had two options. They could stay on the path, take the long way, and go around the forest to the post office, or cut through it to get to their destination faster. Normally, they would be scared into taking the long route, even if it meant the loss of their candy. The dark thick brush surrounding the fence was foreboding, and everybody knew about the boogeyman and werewolves stalking in the darkness, waiting to gobble unsuspecting up unsuspecting children. This particular morning, however, a shaft of sunlight shone through the bramble bushes and Jesse could just make out some small yellow golden flowers growing on the forest floor. They were inviting him inside. And there was candy on the line. After all, they were big kids now. They could fight monsters, if the monsters were even real. What was the worst that could happen? 

“Ok. Let's go!” Jesse walked over to the fence and with some effort, climbed over, and landed in a heap on the other side with his package, still panting and out of breath. Daneilla followed, and the pair went into the woods, towards the post office. Sometime later, Jesse decided he was ready to run again and tapped his friend on the shoulder. “Tag! Betcha can't catch me!” He ran ahead and Daneilla went after him. They were both fast for children, and they ran for a long time before Daneilla caught up to Jesse and tagged him. 

“NO TAGBACKS!” She seemed to have forgotten the point of the game. Jesse, distracted and about to call her out, tripped on a tree root. 

“OW, you made me fall!” He complained. Daneilla doubled back and came up to him.

“Are you ok?” She seemed a little concerned. Jesse jumped up in a brilliant show of trickery and tagged Daneilla. 

“Tag!” He ran from her, but when he got up, he was no longer heading north, towards the post office. He wasn’t running to where they came from, either. He was running deeper into the woods, and distracted Jesse didn’t notice. 

His friend followed, right after grabbing the package he had left on the ground. Along the way, as Daniella found it increasingly harder to get back the headstart that Jesse had gotten on her, her eyes caught on a single yellow goldenflower. All of a sudden, she stopped. She had to see the flower. It was so pretty, with its butter-yellow colour and slightly wrinkled edges. And all by itself in that clearing. It invited her in, to pick it and bring it with her. She reached out to touch it, and suddenly she was gone. There wasn’t smoke, sound, or any such warning to the world that she would just disappear like that, or where she had gone. There was just the silence of the woods, broken by nothing but a faint whistling coming from far away. 

Jesse ran ahead for a while before realizing his friend was gone. He turned around to taunt her and… she wasn’t there. He backtracked, calling her name, but found only a cardboard box, the package he was to bring to the post office, standing where she had just been. He looked around one more time, wondering if this was a trick, a ruse for Danellia to catch up to him, and a strange feeling shivered up his spine. 

He reached up to grab the back of his neck, and it was cold, his hair standing on end. He thought he heard rustling in the bushes, and directed his gaze to the forest around him, not moving one bit in his burst of sudden instinctual fear, looking for his friend. Jesse thought he heard something, in the bushes. A faint whistling sound.. He felt that feeling on his spine again, reaching up to his neck and tickling his arms, and shuddered. He grabbed himself and fear shot through him. His instincts told him something was wrong. Jesse called Danellia’s name. His voice wasn’t carried far, and it came back to him. An echo. The wind was shouting back at him. 

Danellia, Danellia, it said. And that whistling- I grew louder before it faded, but soon, as Jesse stood there, it was gone. And the echoes of Danellia’s name faded with it.

He suddenly wondered why he was scanning the trees. What was he doing? Daydreaming, perhaps, but Jesse got the strange feeling he had been looking for something. He turned around, expecting to see some misplaced shoe or another article of clothing, somewhere, but there was nothing. Indeed, he had all his clothing on, his shoes on his feet, and there was the package on the ground, sitting right next to the two bright yellow Goldenflowers. There was nothing Jesse was missing, nothing to be looked for, so reluctantly, Jesse picked up the package laying by his feet, and went on his way, retracing his steps instead of heading to the post office. He wanted to get out of the woods.

 Two of them… Jesse could have sworn he saw only one when he was running before. Why had he been running again? He shook his head. What was he doing? He had to bring the package back home. This was his first time delivering mail all by himself, and he had to get back in time for the candy Mr. Speidfeild had promised him. 

Confused and still a little dazed, he picked up the box, and went on his way, backtracking all the way back to the tree root that he had tripped on running up the path. He listened to the noises of the forest as he walked on the path. The rustling of tree branches in the wind, the sound of crickets in the hot summer heat, and the sound of the small stream trickling close by calmed him. And there was that whistling- he thought it was birds, but it sounded so human that it couldn’t have been. 

Well, he decided, the mockingbirds must have come out this day. And he was lucky to hear their song, considering how rare they were in this forest. They were so rare that some of the adults even said they were angels. From there he followed one pair of footsteps, not two, of course only one pair of footsteps, back to the village, listening to the singing of angels as he went, the noise almost seeming to follow him. 

He climbed back over the fence and went along the long way to the post office. For some reason, he didn’t want to be in the woods anymore. The singing had begun to unnerve him. He delivered the package and walked back by himself, beginning to feel bored. He turned around, reaching out to tap someone on the shoulder, but no one was there. Of course. He was alone. He hurried back to the town square, and ran up to Mr. Speidfield. 

“I made it!” He said. “I delivered the package!” 

“Good job!” Jesse beamed up at the praise, and brightened even more when Mr. Speidfeild retreated into the shop and came back out with two pieces of candy. “Now, one for you, and one for..” He suddenly was confused as to why he had brought out two pieces. “You know what, you can have two pieces for your hard work! Your first time out at the post office! It must have been fun!”

“Yes Mr. Speidfeild! I even heard angels singing!” Mr. Speidfeild smiled and blessed the child’s bright imagination, handing the candy over. “Thank you sososososo so much for the candy!” Jesse ran away. Mr. Speidfeild smiled. The kids- all 4 of them, were going to grow up to be amazing people, and they were all such precious souls. Running home, Jesse passed a certain yellow house that he thought he would go to. He realized he actually knew the two adults who lived there well. The Cinceres, he thought. He couldn’t think why he knew their names though. Jesse just kept running home, a wide smile on his face and candy in his mouth, excited to tell his mother all about the exciting trip into the forest he had trekked that day.

Meanwhile, back in the forest, an old man whistling a jolly tune picked pretty yellow goldenflowers. He handled each one like a baby, cradling them, roots and all, back to his home. He knelt down on the earth and planted the flowers in his garden. He dusted his dirty hands off and wiped the sweat off his face. He had been pacing back and forth through the forest all day, looking for the lost souls. He smiled and counted the flowers after he had planted them. There were 16 more of the pretty little things added to his garden this year. He was sure they would give him a few more centuries to live and enjoy the forest before he had to go pick more. His whistling picked up and grew jollier. It had been a great day, a great day indeed, for picking flowers.

Reviews

[Alexis_McLeod]

I thoroughly enjoyed this story! Again, like your other stories, I don't want to give away spoilers. But I love that it starts off so light and carefree but ends so darkly. This was well-told. It was like the actual Grimm's fairy tales and not the sanitized modern versions. Great work! Looking forward to reading more!