Sunny Grove

Prologue: Spring Awakening

Spring was approaching California. Sunny Grove was lit with the fresh sunlight. The new year had been a bit rocky, with snow storms that usually never hit, and the ruined landscaping. The normal sunny beauty had been overrun by flurries of virgin snow. Animals ran through the last of the crystallized grass, that started to peek through the snow about a week ago. Everyone was excited for the warmer weather and to get back to the normal swing of things.

Juniper was sitting comfortably on the porch swing, reading The Da Vinci Code. She had been waiting to read it until spring came so she could go outside. She thought that reading  outside was the best way to read. In her mind, you could see what was happening in front of you, in a more open space. It's also a good way to get the fresh air you need, she often argued. 

Her mother sometimes questioned why she was so different from all of her friends' daughters. They were as normal as the warm weather they usually got. Juniper reminded her of the strange winter that just occurred.

___________

Titus had just scrubbed the kitchen floor after his drunken stepfather walked through with muddy boots. The melting snow had created a perfect sludge, that just happened to dry on the expensive marble floor. His knees had become blistered from kneeling, scrubbing, standing, rinsing and repeating. All week, Jackson was heading out to bars and coming back with the muck all over himself. Titus thought him just like a pig. 

After doing one last wash, and rinsing his hands, he decided to go out to the garden. Titus was different than most 17 year old boys, given that he hated sports and loved nature and everything it created. His 'friends' made fun of his garden and love for books. In the small field out back behind his large house, he had planted flowers and fruits and vegetables. Every holiday, Titus used to give his mother a different bouquet of flowers from his garden, and she would laugh, kiss him on the cheek and say, "You're the sweetest man alive Titus, you're just like your father."

Of course, Titus never knew his father, and when his mom remarried, Jack was not the person he imagined would be his replacement. Jackson acted like a kind hearted man with all the love in the world to give, but when he said I do, everything changed. His mother died, and whenever Jack felt like it, Titus was his slave. He often felt like Cinderella. Trapped. Another year and he could move, get away and live on his own. Get away from Sunny Grove, and possibly start his life and be happy again.

___________

Juniper strolled down the bustling sidewalk with her book in her basket, watching the cherry blossoms bloom. The flowers looked like confetti sprinkled through the green grass. With the school year about to start again, she thought of all the projects she could complete in art class. It was quite possibly her favourite class. As she walked a bit further, she approached one of the larger houses in the neighborhood. 5223 Apricot Lane, Sunny Grove CA. The building reminded her of a castle, with its towering columns, and white exterior. She imagined salt and pepper marble sprinkled throughout the house.

Juniper smiled and stepped forward a bit, looking around the back to see the quiet boy from Western Civilization working in the garden. She repeatedly envisioned him as the castle's caretaker, him always being in the field. His mocha skin and crystal blue eyes that reminded her of the Bermuda beaches she used to visit with her father. His plants thrived in spring, showing their most vibrant colour, and she would regularly walk down the street to see them. 

He didn't know her, or ever see her, but she loved to look at the lush plants that grew from his handiwork. Sometimes he would turn around, but it seemed as if he could only see the wind that rustled the bushes and grape vines that wrapped the house in vivid colour. She would like to talk to him and ask him what inspired him, but whenever she would set a foot in the front yard, bubbles formed in her stomach, and escaped into her ribcage, making her light headed. So she kept going down the sidewalk, minding her own business.