Roses

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Roses. Roses are flowers that are not only very beautiful but also have many meanings. Red rose means love and fidelity or respect and courage.  Deepest red means unselfconscious beauty. White rose means worthiness. Yellow rose means jealousy or it also can associate with new beginnings. A color of rose can easily say what the person, who gave it to you, thinks about you. Not always though. Sometimes people choose a rose that just looks the most beautiful. Roses are like people - they grow old and die. But unlike many people, they stay with you until the very end... Roses are the symbol of love and friendship. They are very beautiful, but have some flaws, just like the feeling of love...

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I'm sure that something happened two days ago. Something important or just strange... But what's even more odd, I can't remember what. No matter how hard I try, it's like my memories are locked somewhere far away. And usually I remember everything... Many people had said that my memory is really good.

I look at my phone, my phone call history once again. There are a few calls to my mom and dad, as usual. And that is what I don't understand - I have called some unknown number for 10 times just two days ago. Why would I try to contact unknown number?

I suddenly hear the doorbell downstairs. More frequent and loud footsteps suggests me an idea that we have guests. However, my mom didn't say anything about it.

I rush downstairs in case to not miss anything. 

There is a family, I suppose, standing at our doorstep. One that I have never seen in my life.

The boy, who looks about my age, has messy white hair, like Jack Frost. His very skinny body is covered in pale skin. He is wearing blue T - shirt, slightly ripped, and black jeans. He looks so pale that I wonder how he is alive. His sister, as it seems, has the same face features and the same hair color. They look almost identical, probably twins. Both of them have bold cheekbones and lips red like blood. 

Their father, however, looks completely different. His face is spry, he seems a lot healthier. He also has white hair and white thick beard. 

"Hey," the boy comes to me. "So this is your house, huh?"

"I'm sorry... " I grumble. "Do I know you?" I'm pretty sure, I don't.

"What? Oh, I know what you're doing..." he chuckles. He must have thought that I'm kidding. Weird... 

I imitate laughter, so he thinks that I'm joking. But for real, it's really weird...

"Do you want to come to my place later?"

"Yeah, sure..." I don't really know what other to say to him.

He and his family soon leaves. I look as they walk away. They all stop in front of the house other side of the street and walk in. They are probably our neighbors. How did I not know that either?

Once I get to my bedroom, my head starts to ache. The headache is very hard. It's like someone hammered me. My head slightly whirls. 

As sudden as it appeared, it vanishes. I turn my head around, but no headache anymore. Maybe tension from school... or anything else...

I glance through my window. That white boy's bedroom is vividly open for me to see. He's sitting on his bead with three other boys, probably just hanging out. I decide not to disturb him and go back.

As I close my bedroom door, I notice something slightly shine on the doorstep. I try to touch it, but it's just a wall in front of me. The second time I try to touch it, I get a slight electric shock through my finger. I quickly rush to the bathroom to hold my hand under the cold water and hope that it would help with the pain. But as soon as I get to the bathroom, the pain vanishes. Just as the headache earlier. 

I might sound completely crazy now, but I see a bouquet of red roses on my doorstep. I swear nothing was there before. I bend to take them and get a peek at a small paper that falls out of the roses' posy. There is nothing written on it. 

I start to wonder if I am not dreaming and just imagining all these things happening. Roses appearing from anywhere, our neighbors, who I'm supposed to know about. Isn't it totally weird?

I pinch myself on the palm, then on the arm. Oddly, I'm not dreaming because I should have felt that and woken up. 

"Okay, don't panic..." I tell myself. It's strange, but I can live with that. Just don't think about that...

I slowly go downstairs to find a vase for the roses. 

"Hi, honey," I hear my mom shut the door. Probably came back from work.

"Hi. Where's dad?" 

"He's stuck at work. But he promised to be home as soon as he can," she explains. 

My dad is a radio sound manager, I'm already used to him staying late at work. But it's also kind of sad because all he does is sleep at home, sometimes he doesn't even feel like my dad. Just a stranger, who I have to live with...

"Sure," I mutter under my nose.

"Hey, he's trying for all of us. He wants us to have everything we want. It just takes hard work and little sleep. Appreciate it, damn it," my mom always gets angry when talking about my dad. No matter what I say, she always raises her voice at me when the conversation goes around him. 

I know that my dad tries so hard for us all and I'm thankful for it, it's just sometimes I even forget that he lives there with us. He's always at his work. I don't recall any days when he was free and we would hang out together. Or vacations, festivals... He always has an excuse somehow connected to his work....

"I'm sorry. It's hard for all of us," she quickly comprehends what she has said and, as usual, tries to apologize. I can't blame her, she misses dad too.

"Don't worry. I understand."

When I climb upstairs once again, the roses on my nightstand, where I put them, are gone. I search for them all around my room, but there's no sign of them anymore. 

I can't explain it... I was just gone for a second. No one has been in my room, my window is closed. My mom hasn't been in my room either, I just saw her. I'm sure that I've put those roses on my nightstand and left them there. What's happening here?

I'm not dreaming, nor imagining. It just wouldn't make sense...







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⏰ Last updated: Apr 06, 2021 ⏰

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