Short Stories

2) When Roses Wither

I appeared on a market, just next to an ally, which I quickly entered and I dove behind a small wall. I looked around if I could see someone, but luckily it was quiet here. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down. Often times I could anticipate the change, but not this time. I stood up slowly.

I cautiously looked around again, but when I saw nothing, I slowly looked around the wall I was behind. The market was very busy, everyone was brushing past each other to get where they wanted to go.

However I was focused on what they were wearing. The women wore elaborate dresses, with their hair in all sorts of fancy updo's. The men on the other hand were wearing jeans and something that looked like a button up shirt and they all seemed to have short hair.

Thank god that I am always prepared for this to happen! I thought, while pulling my backpack from my back. First things first, I changed to roughly match the clothing of the men, with jeans and a polo shirt. Then I pulled off my wig and searched for my scissors.

I had been growing my hair out to match the women in the last culture, but since I would never manage to mimic the women here, I would have to cut it off again. Since I had done this quite a few times, I managed to quickly cut my hair into a reasonable style.

Since I was done with my transformation, I looked at the market, trying to see if there were any stands with shirts. Ah! Over there! Okay, be confident, stand up straight and act like you belong.

Since the market was so busy it was difficult to get to the stand, especially since some people would stop to look at what I was wearing with startled faces. When I finally managed to reach the stand with shirts, I got the same startled look from the owner.

"Yes, I'm sorry, but I stained the shirt I was wearing, can I buy another one here?" I asked, talking rushed to seem like this shirt really bothered me.

"Of course, I think this will fit you," the man said, while grabbing a shirt form me. He sounded like he was having a hard time staying polite, but I took the shirt anyway. "That would be three coins."

I'm glad the currency always seem to stay the same. Every time I changed cultures like this, things like the currency and the language would stay the same, making it way easier for me. I gave the man his three coins and thanked him before I walked away, back to the ally.

Once I was there I changed my shirt and made sure my hair wasn't sticking up straight. Then I began to follow the rest of the plan I used every time this happened. The next step was searching for someone who would take me in.

Since more people meant more chances to stand out, I went in the opposite direction of the market, where I found a lot of small roads. Mostly I just choose randomly, but I always tried to follow the roads with the bigger houses, because rich people often had more work available than poor people.

When I judged the houses to be big enough, I started ringing some doorbells, searching for someone who could use an extra pair of hands.

~~~

After a few hours of ringing bells and asking if I could work there, I found a job as maid. The household had seven children and while they already had some people working for them, they could always use extra help.

"The children live on this floor and you will have to help cleaning here," the maid who was giving me a tour around droned on, until she suddenly spoke in a more urgent tone: "There is one thing you need to watch out for though: never, ever, under any circumstances, touch Charles' flowers, especially his roses."

"Why not?" I asked, dreading the answer. Roses, I always end up near roses.

"He likes to do some experiments on them and apparently if someone touches them the experiment fails, or something like that." She explained, sounding like she didn't agree, but couldn't win the argument. "It's really weird, but it's not worth the fight." she sighed, shaking her head.

"Can I see them? I won't touch them."

"I- Alright, just don't even come near them, do you hear me?" She gave in.

"I won't, thank you." I opened the door and the first thing I saw were all the flowers. The whole room was filled with them, every available spot held flowers. But the state of the roses made my heart stop. They did not look healthy at all, like they would wither in about three days.

~~~

"Charles?" I called out while knocking on his door, holding onto my backpack.

"What do you want this time?" he asked impatiently, while opening the door.

"The same as last time, could you please water those roses?" I begged him.

"No."

"Are they almost withering?" I asked, afraid of the answer.

"They are, I still don't get why you're so interested it them. One of them is probably going to loose its first petal in a few minutes."

"Can I watch?" If it's really withering I must know.

"Only if you promise not to touch them." he answered sternly.

"I- alright, I won't touch them." I gave in.

He stepped aside and I walked in a little bit, spotting the roses immediately. They all looked sad, but Charles was right, one was going to loose a petal very soon.

Luckily the curse seems to make up a cover story each time. I thought, feeling a little relieved.

Suddenly the petal fell, and then I appeared in a mall, in a dark corner. People didn't seem to have noticed me appearing, so I keep still for a moment, watching everyone. Alright, here we go again. I thought listlessly.