Please Enjoy The Scent

The orphan gondolier boy made his usual stops along the quartz canal.

"Please, enjoy the scent." He says, passing lifeless Hoplen flowers to his passengers.

His starlight gaze is persuasive. Passengers accept dead bouquets, peering into their color palette as if they were mystic relics. The gondolier boy, upon lighting his smoking pipe, smiles at the waters ahead. He secretly finds humor in his mystified patrons.