Fan Fiction ❯ In the Garden... ❯ Midnight Blossom ( Chapter 2 )

It just so happens that in this small village, it is rumoured that on the right night.. when it's hot and humid, and the sun has shone bright all day, the most beautiful sunsets can be seen from the balconies and terraces and docks which overlap the sea. Tonight was just such an evening, and the sky was bursting out in all her glory... the entire land was painted golden and orange. The docks were lined with families watching the sunset over the peaceful waters; above them, on the terraces of expensive restaurants, upper-class importers and traders sat down to a meal set again the gorgeous warm sky. In the streets, though, there was just reflections, and glimpses in little bits and pieces of what everyone else was seeing. The tall buildings of stores and such, along with the narrow streets crowded the views of those unfortunate enough to be working on these nights... this was the view that Lunali always saw.

She used to be able to see the real sunset from the docks when she was just a child. Often times her father and mother would take her... then, when mother passed away, her and father would carry on that tradition. It was only carried on for a year or so, though... it was then that her father had recieved a business opportunity in another village, which was more than three day's travel from Lunali's bustling hamlet. They kept in touch after he moved, and she carried on the family business, but the sunsets weren't the same without him there. She tried going once, but it felt plastic, and fake.. it felt really forced. She knew, right then and there, at the first star in the sky that night that that wasn't what she wanted the sunsets to be. She wanted to preserve her fondest childhood memories just how they were. After that, Lunali never attended another legendary sunset... though she never told her father that. She always kept the illusion that she attended every one, because she knew that within days of each sunset, a letter would arrive from her father, and he would ask just how beautiful it was. That was fine... he just wanted to perserve the memories, too. He just wanted to preserve them by reliving them every time possible.

She turned the corner around her shop on Main and Marinalt, running her fingers along the coarse bricks of each store as she passed. She glanced up at the sky from time to time as she continued on her path from Marinalt to Gerje circle... it was always a long walk, but Lunali didn't mind. Gerje was an abandoned little street on the outskirts of town. There were some run-down huts on the sides of the road... mostly made of palm leaves and the like; these were mostly used by squatters, and those not intending to stay in-town for any real length of time. One of them, however, just at the end of the road, was made out of wood, and considerably larger than the others. This house, too, was abandoned, but not forgotten. This is the house that Lunali's father had been born in... the house his mother had been born in, and her father before them, for many generations. This was her family's homestead when they first came to this land, and this is where Lunali's garden lay.

The entire circle seemed dead... with dead weeds, and brown grass abound.. dying palm trees, and yellowed yukka plants everywhere, except for Lunali's garden. It lay there, behind her family's homestead, like an oasis in this post-apocolyptic circle. Inside the tall stone walls of this garden seemed to be the Garden of Eden... giant green hedges reaches towards the golden sky. Red and orange and pink and white flowers bloomed all around: on bushes, shrubs, trees, and right out of the ground. Weaving in between this luscious green was a small stream, in which goldfish played, and next to the stream, a hand-laid grey stone path. In the middle of the garden, there was a statue of her mother, and her as a tiny child... and next to this, a small wooden bench. Lush green grass covered every spare inch of the place, making it comfortable... secluded... like a second home.

She made her way through her garden nibly, and carefully. She didn't want to disturb anything that lived there. Once she reached the statue, she stared at it a few moments. In the time it took her to get from the dird road to this spot in her garden, the sun had set, and the moon was now shining brightly in the black sky, and it reflected and irridescent silver-blue light on the tall white statue. She didn't look long, though, before she sat down on the bench in front of the statue, resigning herself to just relax, and listen to the sounds in the garden. The trickling river and gently chirping crickets calmed her nerves... gave her just what she needed to recover from a arduous day in the thick of the city.

Before long, though, this pleasant interlude was disrupted, by a sudden rustling in the bushes. This immediately made her jump to her feet, and look around warily. Before long, another rustling, and another. She began inching towards where she now noticed the noise was coming from, her bare feet running through the thick grass, and leaving trails from the bench over to a large bush, "Hello? Who.. who's there?" she said quietly, continuing to inch towards the bush. It seemed odd to her that anone else would be here. It was surrounded by a great stone wall, and locked up safely behind a generous iron gate... how did they get in here?

As she stand there, wide-eyed simply staring at the bush, all of a sudden, she felt two arms wrap around her shoulders, and two hands folding just over her chest. She took in a suden gasp, about to scream, when just then, she was suddenly spun around, and one of the hand that was previously just above her chest firmly clasped itself over her mouth. It was then clear who this unknown intruder was. It was the same woman from before... Meriam.

"I thought I might find you here," Meriam's thick and melodic voice seemed to trail effortlessly through the air, as she slowly let her hand fall from Lunali's face.

"What do you mean? How did you even know who I was?!" Lunali seemed a bit annoyed. Some nerve of this woman to simply break into her garden!

"I had seen you in the flower shop... I saw you first when you were opening it in the morning. I had just arrived in town, and I saw you through the window, and it kind of made me think," With this, she let her hands and arms fall away from Lunali, and Meriam began walking towards the bench, eventually taking a seat, "I came here, because the village is known far and wide for it's residents and visitor's escapades. The town is... virtually... without law. I had heard horrendous stories in inns and pubs from men who had visited the village, and helped themselves to it's women. There are prostitutes in the port, but it's not just enough to have their way with them... they have to abuse them; they have to make the women feel pain an degradation. How can I let that happen? When I was a young girl, my aunt was raped and killed... I was very close to her. I didn't think it was right for women to have to face these injustices just because they're not as strong as these muscly, thick-headed boat-hands! ... But I digress, hmm? I saw you in the flower shop, and checked in on you from time to time during the day... I came to the conclusion it was your shop... how wonderful for my heart... a woman in control of her life. After our encounter in the ally, I asked around about you... who you were, your history, and where I could find you..."

"You asked around about me? From whom? I mean... how did you get information on where I'd be?"

"There's a wealth of information to be gained in the inns and pubs of the world, you know. I talked to one man... a little taller than me - what was his name - he had long black hair... dark green eyes - oh right!! It's Luc-"

Lunali let out a long sigh and shook her head, walking over to the bench as well, and seating herself next to Meriam, "Lucien...! That rat! He can never keep his mouth shut about anything!"

"He seems to have quite the affinity for you..."

Lunali just hung her head, shaking it, and sighing heavily. Lucien was back in town... what next?