What The Wildflowers Know

Chapter One

Kvetina left her shack of a home and grabbed a pail from her little shed. She was worried about her sick parents, but even more so about having no food for their broken family. The job she was offered, if you could call it a job, was for her to weed dandelions from a school yard. That couldn't be too hard, she thought.

Walking across the road with her bare feet, she felt like she was entering a paradise. Or the opposite. She saw the dandelions growing for a mile, if not more around the school. There was a clank. Her bucket had fallen from her hand, the same hand she was going to have to use to dig up the weeds. Sighing, she reached for the nearest plant and tugged at it with all her might. With a rip, the plant's leaves fell apart in her hands. The roots were still embedded deeply in the rocky soil. A wave of nausea fell across her as she wondered how she could ever possibly get the entire area to be rid of the dandelions.

She barely found it in herself to try again, this time with her nails. After a minute of digging, the root finally came out of the ground. Sighing, she dropped the plant into her bucket with a thump. As she looked up, her body crumpled into a ball as she imagined just how much time it'd take her to dig up all of the plants. Sobbing, her tears flowed freely, unrestrained by the glares from her parents.

As tear after tear dropped onto the ground, and her voice began to wear out from her cries, she wiped her face with her dirt-covered hand. Smears of soil were on her face, but she barely noticed, because at that moment, a boy appeared from behind a tree and ran at her with an ear-piercing yell. She raised her bucket uncertainly at him, but the boy ducked underneath and shoved her away.

"What are you doing?"

"These are dandelions! They can't do you any harm!" Kvetina was shocked at the boy.

"Who do you think you are, anyway? You killed a plant! Murderer!" The boy glared at her, gently picking up the dead weed in his hands.

"Look, I have to do this. It's my job. I'm the new school gardener. So leave, please." Her thick accent surprised the boy, as he stepped back.

"You... you were told to dig up these flowers?"

Kvetina nodded. "By a Mrs. Matilda Slefersman."

The boy turned and ran, but Kvetina remembered his face in her mind. Suddenly filled with anger, at the boy, at the weeds, at everyone, she pulled her sleeves up and dug with all her might into the dirt. Kvetina knew the boy was behind her, watching from behind the trees, but she ignored him and kept pulling.

Dig. Pull out. Throw. Dig. Pull out. Thr-

"Ouch!" she hissed. A pebble slammed into her shoulder. The idiot boy, from behind her, shouted, "Hey, Dandy! Eat this!" He threw another rock at her, but she blocked it with her bucket. Kvetina glared at him, and he wisely retreated. But as soon as she turned and reached for the next plant, there was that taunting voice, calling to her.

"You should pick on someone your own size- oh, wait! They are your own size! Ha!" Growling, Kvetina ignored him and waited for when she could strike. She heard the crunch of gravel and rocks, and then the boy was behind her, grabbing her hair and yanking on it. Kvetina whipped around, and punched him square in the stomach.

"Oof!" he cried, and this time fled for good. Sighing to herself, she thought, This is going to be a hard year.