Walking back towards my dorm room, I thought about what I wanted to accomplish in my time at Wellston. My goal was already to help John and assure William that John was ok. But I also wanted this time to work on myself. As my second school for the year and my tenth overall, I wanted to make sure that I took advantage of the opportunities offered. This school had some of the most powerful teens in the city, and it would come in handy to study their abilities. Finally, I needed to solve the mystery that had been haunting me for a while, the origin and identity of EMBER.
Deep in thought, I stopped to run my hand through the flowering bushes. I loved the smell of flowers, and my gifts had always drawn me to nature. Bees happily buzzed from flower to flower, mostly ignoring me except for one incredibly ditzy bee that thought my t-shirt had actual daisies on it. I waved it off, and it found another red azalea to pester.
Smiling at the bee, I decided that my room needed some plants. Turning on my heel, I headed towards a local flower shop that I had seen when John and I were returning from the stadium.
Passing through the doorway, I heard a small chime as I set off the bell at the top of the door. Soon enough, a little grandmotherly woman peeked out from between some multicolored carnations.
"Hello there, young lady! What can I help you with?" she asked.
"I'm looking for a few small pots and some potting mix."
"Ah! I have exactly what you need in the back. The potting mix is right by the window, help yourself. As for the small pots, I have some in the second aisle, but I think you would like something more unique. I have some hand-painted pots that are just lovely. Let me bring you a few, and you can select the sizes you would prefer."
"That sounds wonderful."
As she left to get the hand-painted pots from the back, I began to browse through the shelves of flowers. I strolled past daisies, roses, daffodils, violets, pansies, forget-me-nots, and bluebells. From the ceiling, she had hung pots of sizes big and small containing buttercups, cactus flowers, lilies, poppies, and sunflowers. Breathing in deeply, I wished that I spend my whole weekend here. Maybe once things had settled at Wellston, I could see about getting a part-time job with the old woman.
Hearing plodding footsteps approaching, I returned to the counter and saw that the old woman was carrying six flowerpots in her arms. I ran over to help her place them on the counter and then looked at the choices. Some were ceramic, others were terracotta, and a few were porcelain.
"They are gorgeous. What beautiful craftsmanship!"
The old woman blushed a deep pink, and replied, "My granddaughters painted them. They are aspiring artists."
"Madam, I believe they are artists already. I'll take them all!"
"My oh my! You are too sweet. I will let you have them all for $60, and with the potting mix, that will be $80. I'll even throw in some flower seeds so you can use them right away."
As I reached over to collect my purchases, our hands briefly touched, and we felt a little tingle. She gasped and remarked, "You have a garden gift too?"
I nodded, "Yes, I got it from my mother. She had a green thumb and this huge beautiful garden and greenhouse that she loved almost as much as me."
The old woman's eyes shined, and she said, "Come back anytime, miss. I would love to spend more time with my fellow plant lovers. I miss my children ever since they moved across the country. If you want to join the local garden club, we meet every Wednesday at the Botanical Gardens in the neighboring suburbs. My name is Rosaline, by the way."
Laughing, I nodded again, introduced myself as Eloise, and agreed to join them this coming Wednesday, where she would introduce me to the other members.
Carrying my potting mix in my right and the wrapped flowerpots in my left, I headed back to the dormitory. By the time I made it back to my room, Evie had returned. After placing the bags on the floor, I remove the hair tie that she had loaned me at the track and hand it back to her.
"Thanks, Evie, for letting me borrow your hair tie."
"No problem, Eloise. Where did you go shopping?"
I tell her about the small flower shop of South Main St. and show her the hand-painted flowerpots. She seems to like a baby pink pot that is decorated with small peonies.
I extend the flowerpot towards her and say, "Here, have this flowerpot as thanks for welcoming me to Wellston. I have some flower seeds as well. What type of flower would you like to go in it?"
She blushes, a bit flustered by my question, so I suggest some peonies similar to the ones on the pot. She nods and looks as I take out the small mesh bag that the old woman had given me with the flower seeds.
I pick out a couple of peony seeds and take a handful of potting mix and place it in the pot.
As I activate my ability, my eyes glow, and my hands which are wrapped around the flowerpot give off a warmth that beckons the flower seeds to sprout.
Before Evie's eyes, the peonies bloom, and she exclaims with joy. I suggest she place them on her bedroom windowsill.
"I'm going to plant the rest, and I'll bring a few to brighten up the living room."
Then I head towards my bedroom, preparing my green thumb to transform the room into a home.