Northern_Lights_2017

10 The Withheld Flower Stacey McDonald The sun is finally setting for the day, cooling down the warm Nevada air. The mixture of pink, orange, and purple in the sky create a striking reflection on the shallow pool. The lawn chairs are glistening with water after an exhausting day of swimming. Soaking in the last few rays of the disappearing sun, the girl gazes at the cars speeding on the freeway in the distance. An immense white marble manor is set in the landscape behind her. The colossal home is unlike anything else in the suburban neighborhood. Just a week earlier two houses foreclosed down the street, and the rest of the homes are depreciated at best. The girl sighs, “Where do you think they’re going?” The boy chuckles, “Camellia, we are going to college remember?” “No, not me,” she insists. “All those people, driving. Do you think they are going somewhere far away? Somewhere better than here?” He looks at her puzzlingly. “What place could possibly be better than this?” A young female maid comes from the house with two trays of food. She carefully descends the stairs to the poolside and places the platters in front of the couple. She quickly dismisses herself and disappears behind the tinted screen doors. The girl seems to indulge in the food more than usual. She is a petite girl, her ribs prominent beneath her swimsuit. Undistracted, the boy continuously, and enthusiastically, speaks of the future, his plans for the two in college, and what life will be like for them. The girl nods every now and then, but she could not get a word in the conversation even if she had wanted to at some point. Suddenly, the boy accuses, “You don’t seem as keen about it as I do.” The girl retorts, “I don’t think anyone could be as excited as you Asher.” “Well what’s wrong then? You said you were excited for all the changes after we graduated.” “But, is anything really changing? Going with all the same people to the same place?” “I don’t understand your desire for change,” he says. “Aren’t you happy with us now?” The girl glances upwards, watching the sparkling stars appearing one by one in the dark blue sky. The boy reiterates, “You’re going to love it there, just as much as I already do, I just know it. I will go grab our housing applications now. We can fill them out together!” He flashes a smile, grabs a towel, and runs past the maid and inside the house. The maid nears the girl to clean up the remnants of their supper. She looks at the girl, shrugs her shoulders, and smiles. She states, “He really loves you, you know.” The girl sits motionless, avoiding eye contact, and painfully smiles. The maid rushes back into the house where the boy and his mother are speaking in the kitchen. The girl looks out to the freeway yet again, the sounds of the endless line of cars rising louder and louder. She folds her towel on the chair, grabs her tattered shorts, and slips on her jean jacket that has probably seen better days. She fumbles for her knapsack and takes out a pen and a slip of paper. The girl is quickly scribbling on the slip of paper as a loud screeching noise arises from the street. She quickly grabs two bus tokens out of her bag as her eyes dart back and forth from the end of the block to the kitchen where the boy is standing. Suddenly, she sets the piece of paper in plain sight on a nearby table. As she runs around the house towards the loud noise, she buries one of her tokens into the dark brown soil of a potted plant, and never looks back. Glancing outside, Asher notices something is amiss, and runs back into the yard to look for the girl. He drops his papers in hand and sprints around searching for her, only to find that she is gone, leaving absolutely no trace of her presence. Exasperatingly, he yells “Camellia!” No answer. He squints at the freeway in the distance, watching the usual stream of buses and cars continuing to make their way to their new destinations. The white marble manor has never looked more empty and gloomy than it does at this moment. He sits alongside the pool and sighs. After a couple seconds he notices that the girl is not completely gone. He discovers a crumpled slip of paper laying on an end table a few feet away. He rushes over to the paper, with his emotions clearly rising to the surface. He reads: Asher, You asked if I was happy, and I am… I’m happy knowing I have the chance to make a change. XOXO, Camellia