Tell No One

Chapter 9

Kiera looked at the field before her. The rolling stretches of wildflowers gave the landscape blemishes of colour that burst through the otherwise dead looking flora. She could name all of them. Poppies, marigold, corn chamomile, cosmos, chrysanthemum; flowers had always been a big passion of hers. With the sky an ashen grey, the flowers seemed blazingly bright, no cerulean light to steal their spotlight. Kiera had found the field with Alana one day, after taking a wrong turn. The barren road was barely used, if only by locals, but certainly there were no houses about. As far as the eye could see, it was field, only a few trees dotting the distance. It was a walk, but it had since become Kiera's happy place. She went here when she wanted to be alone.

The place felt lonely. 

Sitting on a small rise in the field, Kiera took a deep breath and closed her eyes. On her exhale, she imagined the whole field turning to dust around her, withering and dying in the final cycle of life. As she looked, the flowers disappeared in a rolling wave of death. She followed the swell of power as section by section, the field died. Withing seconds, she was covered in dust, and the scenery was a grey that reflected the sky. 

Grey was such a fitting colour for death. The colour of autumn mornings and dying things. The colour of smoke, ash; of roads paved with dust. Grey was the industrial of concrete, the foundations of our lives. Grey are the rocks, the sea that crashes against them, the sky that holds them. Grey are the forgotten things. If you asked someone's favorite colour, no-one ever says grey. But sometimes, grey is needed to appreciate the other colours. Kiera's favorite colour was grey. Running the dust through her fingers, Kiera watched as it fell back with the rest. Closing her eyes again, she imagined giving life to everything. And yes, there it was again- the field. Although autumn, the field looked like a picture taken in the spring. The flowers were back. But, as Kiera looked at the array of colours that had resurfaced, she thought about how precise these "gifts" could get. Focusing on the red of a nearby poppy, Kiera killed everything else. And, just like that, the acreage became a scape of red and grey. Kiera smiled, laughing quietly to herself. She swapped the red out for blue, forget-me-nots springing from the dust, their yellow eyes fastened to Kiera. Kiera laughed louder now, growing the field back again. Thinking, Kiera killed the field once more and imagined a very different type of plant. As she watched the dust around her, she watched in awe as the new species sprung up. Atropa Belladonna. Nightshade. Their pink flowers and black berries were everywhere, growing rapidly. That was strange. Nightshade doesn't grow here. Kiera walked over to one, squatting over it. Nightshade grows in woods, in undergrowth;  shady areas. But this...

Suddenly, Kiera's phone started ringing, scaring her. Quickly she pulled it out her pocket, glancing around her and resetting the field. The nightshade died, and the more native species grew back.

"Hello?"

"Hey Kerie, you doing anything after lessons?" Alana's voice came through slightly tinny, due to the bad reception.
"Oh um, no. I don't think so."
"Great! Me and Shelia are going to grab some coffee after. You're coming.

"Oh, I-" Alana had hung up. Sighing, Kiera pocketed her phone. Looking around, she decided she should start heading home. It was a long walk back.

***