The field was pretty, the soft grass a lovely shade of green, and plush enough that her bare feet sank in to the ankles as she skipped through. Many of the stalks were crowned by wildflowers, mostly clusters of baby's breath with a few scattered daffodils. She held out her hands as she ran, pulling buds from their stems until the petals dripped from her fingers in two long trails behind. Her dress blew back in the breeze she created, fluttering about her legs and arms, the white fabric quickly turning green at the hem.
She stopped without warning and looked at the crushed blooms in her hands.
The daffodils were in pieces, petals slipping between her fingers even as she watched, but the tiny baby's breath held together. She gave a wild laugh and raised her fists to the sky, greenery sticking out in several places, and opened them, letting the mangled flowers float down over her head, several catching in her matted hair. She began to twirl in the brief shower, but did not stop after all of the petals had landed.
She sang.
And then her foot landed in a puddle. She jumped back to drier ground and shook her leg to see if the mud would slip off. When it did not, she walked backward, dragging the foot through the grass to clean it. She stumbled over the hem of her dress and fell.
Another song formed in her mind, and she gleefully raised her cracked voice to the clear sky.
A handsome orchid caught her eye. Bringing herself to her hands and knees, she crawled over to it and tore it from its stem. It was a beautiful shade of purple. She waved it over her head for the sky to see.
Then, humming, she seized and handful of nettles and began to work them with the orchid to fashion a chain. Once finished she tucked it into her hair and began to make another. She found more wildflowers to add color, then daisies to ring her wrists.
At last she stood. Fantastic garlands covered her arms, dripped around her neck, and crowned her tangled hair. Daisies sat behind each ear; crowflowers were tucked between her toes. Her white gown was covered in smears of brown mud.
She flung out her arms, petals shaking loose in a small rainbow flurry, and threw her head back to face the sun. The grass around her was trampled into the mud, some torn up with white roots exposed.
She broke into a run.
The tree was so bent she hardly had to crouch as she scuttled along its trunk, flowers falling into the clear water beneath and drifting lazily away. Dappled fish flickered into view, nibbling curiously at the blooms.
She laughed and tore off a small branch, leaning over and sticking it into the water, poking mercilessly as the quick fish disappeared beneath the wide, glossy lilies.
But she lost her balance and slipped as she leaned forward. She wrapped both arms and legs around the limb, hanging sloth-like with the hem of her tattered dress floating in the water below.
The limb, already bent too close to the water, snapped.
The splash was very mild. She sank quickly at first, but her hips touched the bottom and she slowly floated back up to the surface, her head never dunked further than her ears. Her dress fanned out in the slow current.
She smiled at the flowers that broke free of her garlands, singing farewell to them, wishing them luck on their journey. But when the cool water lapped at the purple orchid, she snatched it back and held it up to the sky, laughing as the petals dropped water onto her face.
As she sang she hardly noticed her skirt sinking beneath the surface, the water creeping up her legs and torso. Her face was covered last, water pouring in the corners of her mouth as she continued to sing to the flower held aloft, water closing over her pale forehead, her tangled hair finally sliding beneath the crystal surface.
Her hand suddenly clenched on the orchid, shaking so violently that the petals fell from the bare stem, then released it, both dropping lifelessly into the tranquil stream.