The Wylie Diaries : Where The Flowers Bloom

Chapter Eleven : Sweet Disposition

"It's being here now that's important. There's no past and there's no future. Time is a very misleading thing. All there ever is, is the now. We can gain experience from the past, but we can't relive it; and we can hope for the future, but we don't know if there is one."

― George Harrison

The past has been good to us and the present is even better. The future is something I look forward to.

Three years have passed since the birth of our beautiful baby girl, Ruby. As she grows, we see parts of ourselves in her. She is not that tall, average height for a child her age. Her hair, a wavy dark brown, brushed backwards behind her perfectly formed ears. Her skin untarnished and without fault, just like her fathers. Her eyes a hazel colour, mimicking the colours of the flowers growing in our meadow during summer times. Her smile so quaint, seemingly old for her age but perfectly natural and giving her face the necessary character.

She is going off to nursery/pre-school tomorrow, a time we are both looking forward to and dreading. Don't get me wrong, we love having her around and it's the reason we decided to create a family but we never seem to have the time to ourselves anymore. Where we would have come home from work and relaxed in each other's arms, the time is now occupied with playing with our daughter and giving her all that she needs. The shift has been one that has taken a lot of getting used to but we would never change our situation for another.

Our house redecoration is finally complete. It is wide and open, providing the necessary views upon the meadow and any area Ruby may go. The path slopes gently down to a cosmic-blue river which sparkles at night like a million stars. Surrounding our house, apple trees run from the corners down to the meadow, stopping at the gateway which leads into the fields. In autumn, their brilliant leaves radiate like the mid day sun, drifting to the ground silently. Behind the house, our meadow. A plush green meadow which stretches out into the horizon. In winter, the flowers wilt and die, the loneliness sending shivers down my spine. In spring, the light reflecting off the stain glass windows. Blackbirds fly from the one tree which play master over the meadow, swiftly moving through the wind like feathers on a breeze. Cobwebs lay in the space between plants, glistering in the light that has been reflected from the river. The meadow as peaceful as it was the first day we found it four years ago.

We often take our float out into the lake and sit on it for hours, letting the current take us where it pleases. Ruby has gained our thirst for nature, liking to take long walks with Puddle into the forest. There's no danger round here unlike the city. It's such a little community that we all know each other and share whatever we can. She's the exploratory type, liking to experience new things and make her own mind up without listening to the opinions of others. For a three year old she is quite opinionated and often surprises us with her responses.

"Daddy,can we go sit in the meadow?" Ruby says, tugging on my trousers.

"Sure,why not? Let me just get some snacks and we can head out" I respond, walking to the cupboard and grabbing several pop tarts and packets of crisps.

"Let's go Ruby, we'll wait in the meadow for dad to come home". Tyler was at work today so it was up to me to keep Ruby entertained. A task which can take hours at a time.

The meadow was just getting to full bloom. The flowers providing a sea of rainbows as far as the eyes could see.