Chapter 9: An Echoing Sonnet Part 1

Spring came happily into the city of Central, as well as into Casi's heart. She and Al spent almost a week preparing a plan for the types of flowers that would be planted within her garden. There were so many varieties to choose from, and it saddened her to pick only a few of them. Al added in an idea of his own, and soon enough Casi agreed to have one flower of each color in her yard. So on a nice, warm day, Al took Casi into the inner ring of shops near her house, and they spent hours trying to pick the perfect bulbs or seeds to be planted when the weather was much warmer. After thinking like a couple of pirates in search of treasure, they decided on red roses, blue bell flowers, yellow tulips, pink azaleas, orange bouvardias, and purple irises.

The venders were very much happy to search around for a flower that Casi particularly wanted in her garden, saving her and Al a lot of troublesome searching. Some even tried to offer her fresh flowers as a token of their appreciation for her shopping, but Casi politely turned them all down, saying that each flower that they were trying to give her would not make it back in one piece on the way back to her house. One of the younger vendors, a boy who looked to be in his late teenage years, tried to give Casi a red rose, giving a poetic sounding line about her feminine beauty, much to the dislike of Al, who muttered that it would take millions of roses to ever match up to her beauty. Casi just smiled and blushed at his remark, enjoying his praise of her and his slight jealousy towards the boy.

On their way back, one particular vendor they had passed by on their way in caught her eye. There, on her selling table, was a basket of orchids of every color. Though Casi hadn't said anything to Al, orchids were truly her favorite flower, especially the ones with the purple tips. She looked longingly at them, which immediately caught the vendor's eye.

"Orchids are so beautiful." The woman said, smiling at Casi.

"Yes, they really are!" Casi exclaimed, looking up at her with a sheepish smile. "You wouldn't happen to have any bulbs would you?"

"Actually, I do, miss." She replied, pulling a few bags out from underneath her table. "What color would you like?"

"Oh, purple please." Casi gushed, fumbling for her wallet.

"A lovely choice!" The woman replied, picking up a bag wrapped with a purple ribbon. "That will be ten dollars, please."

Casi opened her pouch, only to her dismay to find that she had six dollars in there. Though it seemed stupid, she felt like crying, because she always bought some orchids to liven up her house, if they were freshly cut, or growing her garden. She shook her head, and put her wallet back into her coat pocket.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have enough." Casi said, trying to smile at the vendor. "Thank you, anyway."

"I do, though." Al said from behind her. Knowing that she would have to turn his offer down, she turned around to face him.

"Oh, Al, don't." Casi said, waving her hands in front of her. "Don't waste your precious money. This is for my garden, which I have to pay for."

"Come on, Casi, think of it as a gift." He said, smiling at the vendor. "I'll take two bags of the purple ones, and give me a few fresh ones for this lovely maiden to take home with her."

The vendor smiled, and handed Al the two biggest bag of bulbs she had of the purple orchids. She also fetched three purple and two pink orchids from her basket and tied them up with a silky ribbon, before handing them to Casi.

"Thank you, m'am." Al said, handing her the money. "Have a good afternoon."

"Same to you, sir!" She replied, as the two of them made their way back to Casi's house.

As they walked, Casi kept staring at the bouquet then back up at Al. She was so happy for the gifts that he had bought for her, but she knew how much time he had to work to receive those twenty dollars. She wanted to pay him back, but since he said that the flowers were a gift she couldn't just give him money and call it even between them.

"Why do you keep staring at me, Casi?" Al asked, grinning down at her.

"Oh, I'm just so happy for those orchids!" She exclaimed. "They're my favorite flowers."

"Then I'm really glad that I bought them for you." Al said, taking her free hand in his. "I love making you smile."

She blushed lightly, laughing. "You make me smile all the time, dummy, gifts or no gifts."

He laughed, squeezing her hand lightly. "Then that makes me the happiest man on the face of the earth!"
They got home, and put themselves to work, trying to figure out the best setting to put all of the flowers they had bought in. Casi wanted them all to be surrounding the walkway that led to her house, but Al thought it was a better idea to put the flowers in beds closer to the house, so it would make it easier for Casi to care for them. In the end, they made a compromise, putting a few of the smaller flowers that didn't need very much tending out along the trail of her house, and the most needy flowers in beds the were within a few feet of the house.

Luckily within a few days the temperature gradually increased, and the two of them began the steady, but tiring work of actually planting the garden. Al wouldn't let Casi do much of the heavy work, like lugging around the big bags of fresh soil and fertilizer, so she spent most of her time digging the holes in which the seeds and bulbs would go in, and spent the rest of the time planting them. This task took a few hours for several days, so that it would not be something done in one day, which would be completely straining.

After they were finished everyday, Al and Casi would take a seat underneath one of her large trees, sitting silently as they basked in the growing midday sunlight. It was soothing after working so hard on the garden, just laying on the soft newly grown grass as a small breeze swept gently across their skin. The birds high in the branches sang their songs beautifully, their presence also welcoming after a dead and silent winter.

One day as they were sitting down on the grass, the mail carrier walked up the path to the house. Seeing the two of them half asleep on the grass beside him, he smiled, and gave a slight cough, breaking the two of them out of their peaceful trance. Casi gathered the end of her dress from the ground around and made her way over to the mail carrier. He tipped his hat, and extended a few envelopes out to her.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Marpole." He greeted, looking around. "Getting started on your garden a bit earlier this year, I take it?"

"Yes." Casi said, glancing over her shoulder to Al. "Thanks to all the help I've received, my garden will be the best one yet this year!"

"I look forward to seeing it completed." The mail man said, giving a smile. "Have a good afternoon."

"Thank you, and same to you." Casi said, as he made his way back down the path.

Al got up from his spot on the ground and made his way to stand beside her, casting a questioning glance her way. She just rolled her eyes and shook her head, getting the drift of what he was implying. Al had become a little more jealous than she would have liked over the past few weeks, but in a way it was nice to have someone fretting over you some of the time.

She made her way back towards the front door of her house, flipping through the mail that she had just received. Most were her monthly bills, such as the rent for her house, but two particular envelopes caught her attention. One was from an office in Bellsmont, which was Casi's hometown, and the other had no return address, and all she could decipher from the way her name was written was that the writer was a female.

As she stood in the doorway to her house, she opened the mysterious envelope first. She pulled out a letter, as well as the monthly check she usually received from her father. Pushing the check aside, she lifted the letter and began to read what was scrawled within its contents:

Dear Casiphee,

I know that this may be hard to hear, but our father died of a stroke this week. Mother wanted to push forward for a funeral as soon as he passed, but I finally managed to get her to push it back a few days. Please come back to Bellsmont as soon as you get this letter, or anything that father left for you in his will may be put into jeopardy. I hope to see you soon.

Your sister,

Lilly

Casi felt all of the blood draining from her face. This couldn't be happening. Their father was only in his early fifties, and on the diet that her mother made him keep, he was as fit as a button. Her father was the only one who cared for her anymore; she needed him to be there so that there would still be a slim hope in her heart that her family did not entirely hate her. He couldn't die on her!

"This can't be happening, this isn't real!" Casi muttered, as she frantically tore open the other letter, the one that was from the office in Bellsmont:

Ms. Casiphee Marpole,

You father, Leonard Marpole, died of a massive stroke on March 17th. Fortunate to you and the rest of your family members, Mr. Marpole created a will before he passed. We are requesting that you return to Bellsmont before the 21st, which is the day we have set out to open and read his will. We are deeply sorry for your loss.

Mr. Langs, President of the Law Office in Bellsmont

Dropping the letter to the ground, Casi fell to her knees, everything in the world freezing around her. She began to shake, the tears pouring forth out of her eyes, completely clouding her vision. As all her common sense slipped away, she released all she was feeling in one shrill, heart wrenching cry that echoed through every fiber of being in her body.

Within seconds, Al was right beside her his hands resting on her shoulders. Seeing the state that she was in, he took her into his arms and walked her into her house. The dogs, hearing the ruckus from the inside of the house, followed silently alongside him, and rested at the doorway of the music room, their large eyes following the two people inside. Al situated Casi on the couch, and sat beside her, just staring at her, waiting to see if she was going to calm down or not. To his dismay, she did not, meaning that he was right to think that the matter she was facing was serious indeed.

"Casi, dear, I know this may be hard, but please tell me what's wrong." He said sincerely, gently reaching over to touch her hand.

She sat silently for a few moments, as if she was trying to wrap her mind around what was truly troubling her, or if she didn't want to admit that what was happening was actually true. Finally, she pushed the hair out of her face and stared blankly at Al.

"My father is dead, Al."

He stood frozen after the news hit him. He knew about her father being the only one in her family who supported her after the accident she had as a young adult, and how much Casi must have cared about him. He remember when his own mother died, and the pain and lostness he and his older brother felt the day that they got the news; it was the day that changed their entire lives.

Knowing that words would never help in this sort of situation, Al leaned forward and opened up his arms, and Casi flung herself into them, creating yet another session of deep, heart wrenching sobs. He placed his lips on the top of her head and shut his eyes, trying frantically to think of someway to cheer this heartbroken woman up. What was there that he could do? Tell her that he was sorry for her loss? Try to turn back time and prevent her father from dying? Both of those wouldn't solve anything.

Finally, Casi's sobs finally came to a sniffling halt, and he released her from his embrace, knowing that times like this space was needed, though in his heart he wanted to hold her and kiss away her pain and sorrow, which was of course unreasonable. She looked up at him, her hair sticking to her wet cheeks, making seem so frail and helpless.

"I'm so tired Al." She said, looking down at her hands, her voice barely above a whisper.

"It's fine, I understand." He said, pushing the hair off of her face. "How about you go upstairs and take a nap? We'll talk about everything else later."

She nodded, and got up of the couch, sweeping slowly up the stairs to her bedroom, her two loyal canines following after her, tails hanging limply, as if they themselves understood the severity of the matter at hand. Al just shook his head and went into the kitchen, the scene of a rainy funeral procession playing silently in the back of his mind.

AN: Since a few of you wanted me to continue, here you go. Please comment if you liked it. I hope to keep updating more frequently :) ~E.F.