The Flower People

I love taking pictures. It's practically my favourite thing to do. So on my way home from my friend's house I take pictures of people's flowers. Today I have pictures of Hydrangeas, Lilies, and Sunflowers. Up ahead I see some strawberry candy flowers and I decide to take a look. The lens snaps shut and then opens up again in a split second and I lower the camera from my eye. What I'm looking at is not a strawberry candy flower. What I'm looking at is a very small girl, the height of my camera, wearing a strawberry pink dress. Her hair is a light pink and is tied up. It cascades down her microscopic shoulders down to her waist, curls ruffling it occasionally. "W-what are you?" I manage to stutter out. "What do you mean 'what is she?'" Another small girl flies over, her tattered dress flowing behind her. Her short, wispy hair brushes back from the slight wind. "Um…. exactly what I said. What are you guys?"

"We're flower faeries of course!" the pink one says happily. The black one nods. "Flower? Faeries? Like from faerytales?"

"I guess. But we're real! You can see us, right? Therefore, we're real." I don't believe this. There is no way that these guys can exist. "No way," I say, straightening and continuing to walk home. "No really!" the pink one insists. She brushes across my hand and I actually feel her gliding over it. "Did you feel it? Huh?" the black one asks. "Yeah. But it's hot and I'm tired." I see them staring at me like I'm an idiot. "So I must be delirious."

"You're not," the black one laughs. "You're far from it. We are 100 real."

"Yep! Yep!" the other one chirps happily. "Prove it," I say flatly. "Okay. You asked for it." The black one comes over to me and pinches my arm hard. "OW! What did I do?"

"You asked me to prove it." She grinned sadistically at me. I glowered at her as she said. "Now do you believe me?" I looked down at my arm. A red mark was budding there. "Yeah." That mark could only be made by a pinch. And I should know! My friend pinches my all the time. "What are your names?"

"I'm Lilyree!" the pink one said. "I'm Rosamirth."

"I'm Gwen."

"Hi! Pleased to meet you Gwen!" Lilyree said excitedly. "Yo," was all I got from Rosamirth. "Hi. Nice to meet you too," I responded. "Come on!" Lilyree said, puling at my hair. "Ow. Where?"

"To meet Lady Valery!"

"Who?"

"Our leader. She is in charge of all the flower people of Hollyhock. She's the spirit of an African Violet. She lives deep in the woods by a small brook," Rosamirth explained. "What? We're going there?"

"Yes!" They dragged me off into the woods. Soon enough, we reached a giant stone and it looked like a perfect photo opportunity. "Hey guys. Come up on here," I told my newfound friends. "Why?" Lilyree asked. "I want a group picture!"

"It's fine with me," Rosamirth said. Lilyree agreed by nodding her head. "Okay! Everyone smile!" The lens once again snapped shut and then opened quickly again. I snapped the switch that put my camera on picture review and we looked at the picture. Rosamirth and Lilyree were on my shoulders and giving the peace sign. We were all smiling like we were the best of friends.

Half an hour later, we reached a cave. A purple faery came out. She seemed to float more than fly. As if she was in the water. "Hello. I am Valery." Rosamirth and Lilyree were on the ground, bowed on their knees so I did the same. "Get up. There is no need to degrade yourself."

"Um. Yes. Pleased to meet you Lady Valery."

"Hello. And you are….?"

"I'm Gwen Minna."

"I see. You're a human."

"Yes. I am." Rosamirth and Lilyree rose and went into Lady Valery's cave. They walked out a minute later holding a pendant. On it was a lavender water lily surrounded by chips of quartz found in the brook beside them. "We want you to have this," Lilyree said. "We made it a long time ago but we have nothing to do with it. We want you to have it to celebrate our new friendship." I looked to Lady Valery. She nodded her compensation and Lilyree and Rosamirth clasped it around my neck. "Thank you so much. I wish I had something to give you in return." Then I remembered something. "Do you want this? It plays music." It was my old Discman with a CD in it. I was getting an I-pod soon so I didn't need it anymore. "Yes! This is so cool! I saw people using these!"

"So you know how to use it?" Rosamirth asked. "Yep!" I smiled at them. "I had better get going," I told them. "Okay! Can you come back tomorrow?" Lilyree asked. "Yes."

"Goodbye!" They called after me as I ran out of the woods. When I reached the edge, I waved back to them. I would definitely be back tomorrow.

I woke up the next morning to a sunny day, wondering if yesterday had been real. Then I felt a small weight on my neck and I looked down. A lavender water lily hung from my neck. I pulled out my camera and looked at the latest picture I had taken. It showed two flower people and me. I got up, and ran outside. Eager to see my friends from the flowers.