5 Minute Reads | Anthology

Dead Flowers by Starlestiale

She had a garden. It was beautiful, breath taking, almost heavenly. The flowers smiled at her touch, and gleamed as she passed by. Everyday, she would water them, sing to them, read to them, love them. Her garden was her everything nd more.

Then one day, HE came. He was wondering about and stumbled upon the garden. He had never seen such a beautiful sight. Rose bushes littered the pace, along with beautiful, bright sunflowers. Lilies dotted the ground in an array of colors, and the fruit trees lined the sparkling white cobblestone paths. His eyes widened as they took in the various species of plant life, from Orchids to Petunias, Marigolds and Bluebells.

He bent down to touch a beautiful Spider Lily. It was as if it was calling upon his fingers to touch its petals, but as soon as his fingertips grazed it, it started to curl back and... die. A horrid brown color started at the petals, then it worked its way down until the whole flower was dead. He gasped and pulled his hand back. He looked at his shaking hand in shock. What did he do? When he had recovered, he went further into the garden with caution.

Suddenly, he heard singing. Careful not to touch anything else, he made his way to the sound. His eyes widened as he found a beautiful girl with silk black hair and charcoal black eyes, with pale skin, sitting among some Tulips. He listened to her beautiful tune, and couldn't help but want to hear it more clearly... so he stepped closer. However, he didn't watch his step. His foot stepped on a twig and it gave a loud snap.

She stopped singing, and shot up, making her pure white dress flutter.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" she demanded.

"I...I was wondering and stumbled upon your beautiful garden," he said as he wrung the hem of his shirt.

Her eyes softened at him.

"What's the harm" she said to herself, even though something was nagging at her in the back of her head that something was wrong. She shook it off

Her bare feet padded against the cobblestone path as she walked to him.

"Do you care to see the Roses?" she asked him with a soft smile on her face.

He was confused at first, but a smile slowly made its way to his face. "I would like that."

The days went by, and there wasn't a day when the boy didn't visit the garden. He enjoyed the garden, and the girl's company. He would always observe the flowers at a careful distance, so as to not destroy any of it.

However, one day, he came to her crying by a patch of Spider Lilies. She looked at him with tears streaming down her face and a wilted Lily in her hand.

"They're dying," she sobbed. His eyes then shifted down. He gasped when he saw that the rest of the Spider Lilies were dying just like the one he had touched. Suddenly, his heart rate quickened as the flashback of him touching the Lily and it dying plagued his conscience.

"I...I," he said as he stepped back, which resulted him in hitting a tree. His hands felt the rough bark, and immediately, the whole tree turned ash grey and the leaves fell off in a heap. Panicked, he staggered to the side, tripped and landed in a patch of Daisies. They all died at his touch. He crawled, trying to get up, only to fall amongst the Rose bushes. The roses opened up then turned black and withered.

"STOP IT!" she screamed as she watched in horror as her beloved flowers was destroyed.

He tried to stand up, but his foot touched the Marigolds, which died and since they were touching a field of other flowers, the death spread.

Her breath hitched and her heart felt as if it were going to explode. A wave of pain and sadness washed over her as she watched her garden die right before her eyes.

"Get out," she whispered.

"I'm sorry," he said as he tried to walk towards her.

"GET OUT!" she screamed as the tears streamed down her face.

He got up and scrurried out of the garden and only looked back once to see her break down in tears.

She picked up a wilted Spider Lily only for it to crumble and be carried away by the wind.

"I knew I shouldn't have trusted him," she said then she too crumbled and was carried away by the wind.

The end