The Lane of Glowing Flowers
This is a modified version of a snippet I cut from A Summer with the Immortal. It was originally a flashback where Taryn remembered the start of her relationship with Michael (her ex-boyfriend who gave her her signature hourglass necklace). I decided to post this for Valentine’s Day.
1K words.
The graduation party had stretched on for longer than planned. When Taryn and Michael stepped out the doors of Chicory Vale High School, the sun was halfway below the horizon.
It had been a good time. Taryn usually disliked parties - too loud and hectic - but this one was just fine. (It helped that there wasn’t a band this time. She still winced at the memories of last year.) And she’d gotten to spend it with Michael, her unspoken crush.
By coincidence, Taryn and Michael lived on neighbouring streets, so they were going to walk home together. Their homes weren’t far from the school - not far enough to make taking a riding-animal worth it - so it wouldn’t be a long walk.
Yet Taryn found herself wishing the walk were longer. The faster she got home, the less time she would spend with Michael.
Then an idea came to her. It was a great one: not only would she get to spend a little more time walking with Michael, but she might just impress him.
“Hey, I know another path home,” she said, hoping her nervousness wasn’t creeping into her voice. “It’s a more interesting route. Want to take it?”
Michael thought for a moment.
“Sure.”
Success! Taryn looked away to hide her grin.
She led him through an alley that went to the space behind the street. On the other side was an expanse of grass with a small hill in the middle. If you walked through this field on a diagonal path, up and to the left, you would reach the street next to the one where Taryn lived.
“It’s dark out here.” Michael looked around. “Are you sure about this interesting route?”
“I’ve walked this path a hundred times,” Taryn reassured him. “Wait a little bit, then it won’t be so dark anymore.”
They walked to the hill and climbed up its gentle slope. They were well behind the street now, and it was almost pitch-dark: the sun had fully set, and the moon was but a thin crescent tonight. Michael was about to say something when they crested the top of the hill and he saw what Taryn had been talking about.
At the bottom of the hill was a long lane of bioluminescent plants. They were a different species from the lamp-plants used to light homes and streets: instead of small yellow-leaved herbs, they were tall sunflower-looking plants with thorny stems and blue petals. The petals were where the light came from. Not wasting a moment, Taryn and Michael went down the slope and into the pale light.
Normally, Taryn would’ve occupied herself by looking at the flowers. She never got tired of them. But tonight was different: tonight, her eyes were drawn only to Michael’s face. His strong nose, his sharp jaw, the fluffy hair that fell into his eyes, all silhouetted by the ambient cyan glow of flowerlight… he was so handsome.
Suddenly, a loud chittering sound came from somewhere within the flowers. Taryn jumped, and Michael staggered back. A yelp came from behind her, accompanied by a sound of crunching leaves: he must’ve fallen over.
“Are you okay?” she asked, rushing to help him up.
“The thorns cut me up a bit.” He winced as he got to his feet, and Taryn could see a tiny line of blood on his forearm. “What the hell was that?”
Taryn looked in the direction the sound had come from, and promptly spotted the culprit. A huge insect, a cricket or something similar, was perched on one of the leaves.
Taryn stared at it. It wriggled its antennae back.
“It’s just an insect,” she said.
“Would’ve been good to have known that,” Michael muttered. “I thought it was something dangerous.”
“I don’t think there are any dangerous animals around here. We’re still in town, you know.”
“Right. It just looks wild out here, that’s all.”
It was then that Taryn realized she was holding hands with Michael. With a slight blush, she wondered whether she should let go. On the one hand (no pun intended), it would be less awkward, but on the other hand… did she really want to bring this moment to an end?
Michael looked down at their clasped hands, evidently coming to the same realization.
A flicker of apprehension went between them. What should they do? Should they unclasp their hands, or…
Before she could reconsider, Taryn squeezed tighter.
Was it just her, or could she feel his heartbeat quickening in his wrist? And if she could, could he feel hers too?
“Let’s go,” she said.
They walked, hand-in-hand, to the end of the lane of glowing flowers. Then they ventured through the darkness again. Finally, the two of them reached another alley and stepped out onto the sidewalk. They were almost home: Taryn’s house was just across the street. As they started to cross it, Michael suddenly coughed.
“Taryn, before you go home…” he started, then wavered.
“Go on,” she said, knowing - or hoping she knew - what he was about to say.
“I just think you should know that I like you. I like you a lot.”
“I like you, too,” Taryn replied.
That was it. It was so easy.
What wasn’t easy was deciding what they should do next. Should they kiss or something?
“What about a date?” Michael asked when they stopped at Taryn’s doorstep. “We can go tomorrow.”
“Great idea! Where?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. You choose.”
Taryn thought for a moment, and remembered that Michael liked trinkets.
“Let’s meet at the thrift store on Cinnamon Street,” she said. “Ten o’clock.”
“It’s a date!”
They bid each other goodbye (and goodnight), and Taryn stepped inside.
“How was the party?” her mother asked, rushing to greet her. “I was starting to get worried.”
“It was great. Just went on longer than planned.”
“What do you want for dinner?”
“Pasta’s fine.”
As Taryn ate her dinner, and until she went up to bed, she couldn’t stop thinking about the date to come. When she fell asleep, that route of luminescent flowers showed up in her dreams. But there was no dark grass on the other side: instead the flowers led to tomorrow, a promise from a budding love.
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