Flower Boy

Yagi's Flowers & Greenhouse

When I was a young boy a florist shop opened up across the street from my apartment. I remembered the construction of the once open grass-filled lot between buildings and feeling a little mad about it. It was a nice spot of green getting sun in the mornings till the afternoon despite it being next to two buildings. As a child, I had thought it had so much potential to be a small park or community garden, or just grow some trees for fresh air. When the construction cleared away all the green grass replacing it with chalky white cement and wood I shook my head and felt a bit sad. And the work was loud, the hammering, drills, and noisy trucks pulling in and out of the place made it so hard to watch cartoons or concentrate on homework. I thought 'This had better be a toy store at the very least!'

Finally, a structure stood in the place of the former green lot, with large windows out front framed in white. Just a boring old business building I sighed. I could tell because the man that started moving boxes in was a tall, sickly thin, older man. He was kind of creepy. His frame looked like a skeleton with wild wiry blond hair that looked like he got electrocuted and it jetted out in every direction except for the long floppy bangs that framed his long thin face. His eyes were sunken and shrouded in a shadow and though he didn't have any eyebrows the muscles where they ought to be were scrunched downward. His sunken in cheeks completed the old man's scowl making it clear he did not like anyone or anything! I wasn't sure what kind of business it was going to be with a guy like that around but it was one I would have no interest in.

I put it out of my mind. I stopped looking over at the building when I passed by. Kept my eyes on the clouds or sky when I came home. My imagination had no grassy green lot to fill with future dreams, I was caged in by buildings of the same color, roads that took me to the same places, and someday I would fall in line with the rest of the people who work for all these cookie cutter businesses. Heavy thoughts for a kid only in the third grade.

One day my mom picked me up from school as she usually did. I asked for ice cream as we passed the truck that always waited around the corner from the school. Like usual she told me 'Not today Izuku.' We passed the dog park, a grocery store, and the same woman I saw watering her lawn every single day. Then my mother stopped before we reached our apartment building and pointed across the street.

"Look at all those flowers, how pretty!"

My head came up from the pebble I had kicked down the road to the building across the street, with baskets of green plants hanging outside, tiers of potted colorful flowers, and more of them surrounding the inside of the shop. There was a bright banner at the top that read 'Grand Opening!!' The other sign plated to the building said 'Yagi's Flowers & Green House.'

There were already a few people going in the door with cautious curiosity. Rightfully so, I remembered that mean scary-looking man that had been there before. Perhaps it was some kind of trap! However, I began to realize that those who came out of the store all had big smiles and held a thick green stalk with a large yellow sunflower.

"Let's go check it out Izuku!" Mom held my hand as she pulled me across the street. We entered in the shop to be surrounded by flowers from wall to wall! The sweet floral smell surrounded us as we walked further in. There weren't only flowers but green plants of all kinds, some that draped, swayed, crawled, and climbed. From light feathery leaves to thick water-retaining spiked stems. It was then I noticed that I was smiling, my eyes darting around the colorful indoor meadow with wonder. Just how many plants could you fit in such a place?! And what all was here?! I looked up at my mother and saw her smiling too. A real smile as she looked thoughtfully at some of the plants in their baskets. Just as I was beginning to reconsider my thought of the scary old man staying here we heard a man's voice greet us from behind. Quickly spinning around I saw him, up close for the first time. His eyes were an eerie light blue in the shadows of his eyes. His wild hair was dry and frizzy his bangs splintering in a chaotic direction at the ends. He was still hunched over some but it was clear he was much taller than the average man. He wore a light blue shirt and a pastel yellow apron.