I got Tale of Two Towns recently and I'm really enjoying it. But, I'm not going to lie, the controls are a bit finicky. Aw well :). Hope you enjoy this random, crappy oneshot.
My Last Flower
She came everyday. Everyday she came to Cam's flowershop. He didn't know her name, her background, anything really. But he did know that she came to his shop everyday.
She would arrive into town on her horse. The moment she entered, Laney and Georgia would rush over and help her off, almost supporting her. She would smile kindly but push them away and walk slowly over.
Cam would greet her like he would any other customer. Just a quick "Hello, welcome to Cam's Flowershop." She would always smile and then bend down to look at the flowers. Cam would watch as she picked on up with her frail, boney fingers. She'd only ever buy one flower. She'd pay, get back on her horse with the help of Laney and Georgia and ride off, only to return the next day.
This had been going on for the last five seasons. Cam still didn't even know her name. He heard Laney talking outside his room and decided to ask her about the mysterious brunette.
"Laney?"
She turned to look at him and gave him a grin. "Yeah?"
He decided to just be blunt and ask her directly. "Who is the girl who comes to the shop everyday?"
Laney's grin turned into a sad smile. She fiddled with the collar of her top. "Her name is Lillian... Cam? Promise to be nice to her, okay?"
With that, she left the cafe. Cam walked out to tend his shop. Waiting outside was the girl, Lillian. She smiled weakly at him.
"You're a little later than usual today," she said. Her voice was hoarse and was almost a whisper. Cam nodded and set up the shop. He could feel her watching him. When he was finished, she walked over slowly and leant against the counter, examining the flowers. She picked up a pink rose and twirled it in her fingers. Cam watched as she felt the petals.
"This might be the last..."
Cam looked up at her. He could have sworn he heard her say something. She looked at him with weak violet eyes and payed. She then got up on the horse, with Laney and Georgia's help of course, and rode off.
The next day, Lillian didn't come. Cam must have stayed at the shop from 10 until 1 the next morning. He didn't move. Why hadn't she come? She always came. He stared intensly at the path from the farm to the village, waiting for the horse's footsteps. Howard called for him three times, Laney five. He wasn't going to budge. She always came. Come hail, rain or snow, she would show up.
Cam woke up the next morning and ran out to the shop. He had left out a gerbera in case she came during the night. But the flower was still there. Cam felt his heart sink and frowned at the lonely flower. Why didn't she come?
A week passed. Two weeks. Three weeks. Eventually a whole season passed. There still was no sign of Lillian. Every night, he left out the same gerbera. But every morning it would still be there, lonely and cold.
Business had gone downhill since Lillian's disapperance. Cam hadn't noticed how much she contributed to his funds until now. He knew he wasn't the only one who was curious about her vanishment. Laney and Georgia had been to her house everyday and Ash trecked all the way to Konohana to see if she was there. No one had seen her. It was as if she had vanished from the face of earth.
Two seasons. Cam was still laying out the gerbera. Laney and Georgia had stopped visiting her house. Ash stopped going to Konohana. Everyone had moved on. But not Cam. He knew she was out there somewhere.
The next day he got off, Cam decided to rent a horse from Grady. He trecked up the mountain and scoured the whole area. All the way from Bluebell to Konohana and back. Tired and fed up, he stopped on the mountain top. He walked to the very back but froze when he saw what - or rather, who - lay there.
Lieing at the back, surrounded in bushes and shrubbery, lay Lillian. She was clutching a large boutquet of flowers. Her face was peaceful, like she was sleeping.
Cam ran over, still panicked. He checked for a pulse. There was none. He glanced down at her ice-cold hands. They were holding a large bouquet. Every single one was different. Then it hit him. They were all the flowers she had bought over the year. He reconized a carnation, a blue rose, a sunflower and a snowdrop. His breath caught in his throat when he saw the pink rose she had bought two seasons ago.
"This might be the last..."
She had whispered that and then vanished. Did she know she was going to die? She must have... In fact, everyone probably knew. Cam wanted to hit himself. She always rode on a horse. She needed support to walk. Her hands were frail. Her voice was weak. She had been ill. Very, very ill. Laney had told him to be nice to her. Because she knew Lillian was ill. Lillian must have known she was going to die and gathered a flower everyday to count down her days.
Cam carefully picked up Lillian's frail body. He managed to get her to balance on the horse. Cam put his coat over her body and carried the bouquet while leading the horse down the mountain to the village. He brought her inside her house and lay her on the bed. He gently put the bouquet back in her hands and walked quickly back to the cafe. He called out to Laney and Howard to hurry to the farm. He left and went to walk back but something caught his eye.
On his shop's counter, a gerbera lay. Cam stared at the flower. It looked weak and frail. He gently picked it up and brought it over to Lillian's farm. He walked in to meet with Laney, crying by her bedside, and Howard, gently patting her shoulder. Cam pushed past them and looked down at the deceased brunette. He looked at the flower in his hand before slipping it into the bouquet that lay in her hands.
That would be her last flower.
