Chapter 2
"Well, hello, Mr. "Vincent", why don't you go court my sister. I'm certainly no prize for you, am I?" I laughed self deprecatingly. In truth, it was what my parents had taught me my whole life: I was a second daughter and so likely to live out the rest of my days as a spinster.
"No, honestly, I'd rather stay here and figure out what to say to your sister. Is she a great beauty like you?" he said. I snorted. "Get these three things straight: Number One, I'm not a great beauty. Number Two, my sister is a lovely girl who deserves a lovely man. Number Three, I'm immune to flattery, so don't try and butter me up." He looked stunned, and I laughed a little. "Now, I'm going to go look around in that meadow over there. Are you coming or not?"
Striding away, I was surprised when he actually followed. "So why are you all alone out here?" "It's my birthday, but my parents "forgot", so, here I am." I said, shrugging my shoulders as if it didn't matter."By the way, I think you have a nice face, so why are you hiding it with that red hair of yours?" I groaned inaudibly. This person, this boy who I had never met before, was trying to butter me up again! Unbelievable. "My face is not pretty and my hair is even uglier." "No, honestly I like your hair. It looks like some really pretty red spider lilies." "Spider lilies? What are those?" I asked.
"Well, they're these really pretty flowers that are spontaneously beautiful. In Japan they mean, well, I guess this doesn't really apply, but it means you may never meet again." That was the moment I began to fall in love with this boy. We reached the meadow, full of alien flowers and plants I had never seen before.
"WOW! Look at that! Red spider lilies!" he exclaimed excitedly, pointing at a clump of red flowers. I could see why they were called "spider lilies." They did look like spiders. He picked one and held it out to me with a flourish, saying, "A birthday gift for you, Madam." Wherever this boy came from, he sure knew how to make people feel appreciated. After that, he looked at his watch and his face grew pale.
"Oh no! I have to go!" and with that he bounded away. I was left in the meadow, holding a spider lily. I tucked it behind my ear. "Might as well…"