Fruits of Eden

This is a project based on a painting for class. Juliette is in the belief that her life is utterly hopeless until the remnants of old magic change all that for her.

             Juliette stepped out of her small, white car and felt a wave of icy wind hit her. She closed the door slightly to shield herself from the light raindrops and shivered slightly from the cold temperature. She dropped her keys in the bottom of her purse and brushed back several strands of her black-haired bangs from her face. She glanced into the rear-view mirror and furrowed her brow, sighing at the image of her new haircut. This was the first time she had her hair so short and in her opinion, it didn't suit her. Juliette wrapped her long coat closer to her body in preparation to face the cold rain outside her car. In one fluid motion, she got out of her car, slammed the door, and quickly hopped through the puddles of water, her brown heels clacking and sloshing against the wet ground as she made her way to the entrance of the supermarket.
         She caught her reflection in the glass doors and stopped to stare at the stranger looking back at her. Her once fair complexion was now a distant memory. Juliette stood pale and bloodless, the grey clouds behind her highlighting this new attribute and her colorless lips making it appear as if she were ill. She slowly ran her fingertips along the subtle creases in her skin. They had to have made her increase ten years in age by a first glance. The sound of a car's engine pulled her back into reality and she quickly walked into the store, knowing exactly where she would go. This trip would only cost five minutes of her day and she was glad of it. Why allow a tradition consume your life if there's no one with you to keep it alive?
          She turned the corner into the produce section and stopped dead in her tracks: roses. They were yellow and glistened in the small ray of sunlight that made its appearance just at that moment to give the proper lighting for such a specimen. They were just like the ones she wore that day; they were just as beautiful.
              Five years ago that day had been nothing like this one. It was not dreary, cold, or wet, but held a certain simplicity of a sunny day with a slight breeze that could not be replaced by any other forecast. Her hair had been longer and laid in a bundle of curls down her naked shoulders and onto the chest of her white, satin gown. A single yellow rose was tucked behind her ear, finding its way through the strands of her hair as if it was meant to sprout in that very spot. She held a bouquet of yellow roses in her delicate hands but no veil upon her head. Juliette believed this was the one day for Daniel to see her clearly, not even a thin sheet of lace could part them. She knew the moment she saw him at the end of that aisle that she had made the right decision. If she had worn that sheet of lace, she could've easily taken this wondrous picture as a dream.
          Juliette put the large pumpkin on the conveyor belt and opened her wallet, preparing to pay the young cashier. The entire trip to retrieve her relative to the squash had been a blur and she suddenly found herself wondering how she had ended at this spot. She barely heard the total from the young employee as she handed him the money, retrieved her change, and left without another word. The drive home was routine, just as the rest of her trip had been, except for the gentle yellow roses that had caught her eye in the grocery store. Daniel had picked them just for her. He said the yellow rose against her long, black hair made both highlight each other's beauty. He had even given her a rose the night she met his parents, telling her that would be her reminder from him to always remember how wonderful she was. Juliette had believed him that night, but all she could think of now when she saw those flowers was how worthless she really was.
            She entered her small home and set down her keys and purse slowly, being sure she had a good hand on the large pumpkin. After those items were down, she put down the pumpkin on the island with a loud “thump” before going to the coat closet and grabbing a hanger. She put her coat away and her eyes went to a picture from the china cabinet. It had been three years after their wedding Juliette had discovered she was pregnant with a little girl. Two months later, on her twenty-sixth birthday, when she had discovered there was no more cause for celebration, she threw away all the pictures she had taken while pregnant, all but one. The one she had her eyes on right now. Her hair was curled and flowing down her right shoulder and her smile was so big, it made her cheek muscles hurt just looking at it. Daniel was beside her, his smile wider than ever, and his hand on her stomach. She had never come to the realization why she kept even this one picture, but she couldn't throw it away.
            Juliette did her best to put it from her mind and walked back into the kitchen, approaching the large pumpkin. Years ago, she had been standing there, listening to her parents scream indistinct words at each other. It was almost as if the words didn't really matter; it was empty clamor. This had not been the case when she had fought with her own husband not barely a week ago. Each word she said to him came from the pain that had a hold on her heart. “I can't be the perfect wife!” she had screamed at him with tears running down her face, but this wasn't to him she was screaming at. No matter how much he consoled her, she would not forgive herself for how her body betrayed her. The night Daniel left, Juliette cut her hair off into the bob she had now. There were no more roses left.
             Juliette picked up the large knife from her cutting board and prepared to carve into the pumpkin. The tradition in the Carter family was to have pumpkin pie after every Thanksgiving dinner in order to prepare themselves for the countdown to Thanksgiving the next year. It had always been the Carters' opinion that Thanksgiving was the best holiday of all because it wasn't about material things or differing beliefs, but of something every human being needs: food. It was on this day when she was seventeen that Daniel came into her life. Perhaps if pumpkin pie had never been in her life, she would not have been in this spot right now, preparing to resuscitate a tradition with no one to share it with. She again tried to not focus on the past and placed her hand on the pumpkin. Suddenly, Juliette felt heat circulate slowly into her hand and up her arm. The fruit was radiating with warmth, but she felt no heat on the skin of the pumpkin itself. She took her hand off in an effort to discover the origin of the heat, but then felt it escape her the moment her fingertips left the pumpkin. She stared at the orange object before her and gently placed her hand on the skin of it again, the warmth returning to her hand. She dismissed the peculiar feeling and raised her knife, preparing to make her first incision when the strangest thing occurred. The invisible rays of heat surrounding the pumpkin began to reveal themselves as a bright light. She lowered the knife and it grew even brighter. As she placed the knife on the fruit, she felt a small tap on her right shoulder, but looked to see nothing there. Shrugging, she cut slightly into the pumpkin and felt a stinging pain overwhelm her shoulder. She winced the grabbed her upper arm, feeling a small cut the same proportion as she had put on the pumpkin and applied pressure to the scratch. She watched as the pumpkin grew brighter and brighter as she walked closer and closer to it. Deciding it was worth the risk, she placed both hands on the fruit and felt her eyes shut.
            She opened them again and saw her home, but in a completely different light. She sun was shining and there was a gentle breeze coming through an open window. She suddenly felt a familiar feeling of the veil being removed; the world was clear now. “Mommy!” a small voice cried out to her. She whipped around in disbelief to see a small girl with her black hair before her. “Mommy, Dad's teasing me again!” the child cried out in a whining tone. Juliette stood with her jaw dropped, her knees quaking, and her eyes stinging with tears. This can't be real, she thought. The small child walked toward her and smiled. Juliette knelt down and looked into the eyes of her child. A tear went down her cheek as she felt more blessed than she ever had in her life. The girl wiped her tear away and whispered, “It can be real.” She placed her hand on Juliette's stomach and Juliette looked down to see her stomach round as it had been on her twenty-sixth birthday. Her hair was long again and she looked up to see a vase of yellow roses on the counter. She saw Daniel walk into the archway of the kitchen and smile. Juliette smiled back and shut her eyes again, opening them to be back in her kitchen, her body returned to normal. She felt tears go down her face in disbelief of what had happened and noticed a small seed stuck to the side of the pumpkin. She raised an eyebrow, not having seen it previously, but picked it up and placed it in her dress pocket. She smiled and ran to the phone, dialing a familiar number.
            “Um, yes, hello, is this Daniel?” she said into the receiver, walking out into the garden. “Yes, it's me.”And as she had said these words, the small seed fell off the pocket of her dress and into the soil, beginning the roots of a life that would one day blossom in the fields of yellow roses.

Author's Note

I wrote this as an assignment for my English class based on the drawing that is attached to this story. Tell me what you think--good or bad!

Reviews

[Prateeksha Khot]

that was interesting. i enjoyed reading it. The only complain i have is that because of the spacing and font size , i was finding it difficult to read.
But other than that it was great