wings | bbc ghosts

31 | a new flower blooms

"Mummy, what's that flower called?"

"That's a poppy. Do you see it's seeds?"

The young girl nods at her mother's explanation.

"What about that one?"

"Full of questions today, aren't you? That one is a rose."

"Wow I like that one. It's so pretty!"

The girl rushed out excitedly, hand brushing against the petals of the flower, careful to avoid the thorns she had spotted. But then she saw it, and it was the most gorgeous plant she had ever seen, she couldn't take her eyes off of it if she tried.

She was mesmerised.

"Mum! Mum! What about this one?"

"That, my darling April, is a Violet."

~~~~~

"If I had known our daughter had a green thumb I would have had her do the gardening a lot more before now," the man chuckled to his wife.

"She's got a kind heart does our April, she knows exactly what she's doing you can tell."

"Yeah she gets that from me!"

Smack.

"Oh stop it you cheeky bugger!"

"Alright, alright. Hey, look, of course she's planting those "

"Well she has always loved Violets."

There was so much innocence back then in April's life. Her parents watching her with fond eyes as she tended to nature.

~~~~~

April had grown out of gardening and she began to care more about boys, love, alcohol. But it never stopped her love for her favourite flowers.

"A little birdie told me that you like these quite a lot," a boy offered April some flowers as he sat opposite her in a restaurant. It was all too fancy for the girl but who was she to deny a free meal on her first date.

"How did you know? Thank you, these are lovely," she grinned from ear to ear. She looked at him with hearts in her eyes.

He was the one.

~~~~~

The couple sighed as they heaved the last box of items through the door.

"I know it's small, but it's all we need for now, isn't it? Just the two of us."

It was a big step, they were only 17 years old but they knew this was the right thing to do.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that. I'm, I'm pregnant."

Silence in the room. That was until the front door of their brand new flat was slammed shut and never to be opened by the man ever again.

~~~~~

A baby's cries and smoke filled the room. April didn't care though, it was the only way she could cope. She had the help of her parents to raise her daughter Violet, yes, but she was still a single parent herself. Day after day she would wonder what it would be like if she wasn't left to do it alone. But when the thoughts would get overwhelming she only had one thing to go to.

Drugs.

It was peaceful. It was her escape. Until she was trapped after her parents found out.

"April you can't do this! It's not safe!"

"Oh give it a rest Dad, is she crying now? No. You know why, because I put her to sleep. No one else did, me. So now, I'm having my time to myself to relax. If you'll excuse me, I have a show to watch, and I'd rather do it in peace without you waking the little sod up again."

April went to slam the door but her mother appeared.

"Oh April dear, what happened to you?"

You would have to be blind to not notice the dots against her arms.

"Get out! Now!"

And so her parents, her baby's grandparents left. And it was one of their biggest regrets that they didn't take the child with them then and there.

Violets do not possess thorns but with the troubled month of April came danger seeping through.

~~~~~

She was at breaking point. It was a simple task of bathing her daughter but one touch of the water had set Violet off.

"Oh, shut up will you! I'm trying to take care of you, I'm trying!" April sobbed as she held her daughter in her hands, lowering her into the small tub.

But flowers didn't need that much water, or they would drown.

"That's it, that's it, ssshhhh," April soothed the cries that soon turned to gargles as the water filled her child's lungs.

She didn't hear the thundering footsteps enter her flat.

"April! April! What are you doing?!" her father stormed into the bathroom, pulling out the child from their position.

He looked at his daughter with venom is his eyes, cradling the little girl closer to him. Acting quickly he rested his head on her chest, but his heart stopped. Because her one wasn't beating.

"No, no, no," he mumbled adjusting his position of the child so he could start CPR on Violet.

April's mother rushed in after finding somewhere to park the car, only to see her daughter staring numbly as Violet wasn't moving.

"What have you done?"

She screamed this time.

"What have you done to my granddaughter?"

"I can't do this anymore, Mum! I can't!"

"If she dies..."

Miraculously, she didn't, as her cries filled the room. She may have been gone for a minute or so, but she was back. And she'd have a whole lot of people looking out for her in life now.

Dead or alive.