Beyond the Willow Tree (Under MAJOR reconstruction)

Chapter 1: Budding Dreams

Beyond the Willow Tree 

Chapter 1: Budding Dreams

17 YEARS LATER...  

In the small town of Paradise, South Dakota there was a little flower shop called "Flora's Flowers" where a young 16 year old girl - Willow - worked and lived with her mother. She was your average beauty with long wavy brown hair, deep green eyes, peaches and cream skin, and an average figure. Her mother was a florist who was stuck in the 70's and her father had passed away when she was young. She was a bright young girl. Her life was no different than any other high school student. She went to school and then went home to help her mother in their shop. That was until the day when everything changed...

Everything started off just as every other day. After closing up shop one stormy Friday night, Willow went into the back room where they kept the record books of all their flower transactions. It was a nice room with cream colored walls and a homey feel. On the side walls were wooden bookcases that were stuffed full of books. The back wall had a staircase that lead up to where they lived. In the center of the room was a stained wooden desk that was covered in loose papers. Sitting in a chair by the desk was a woman who was sound asleep. Willow sighed and shook the woman attempting to wake her up. "Mom. Mom. Mom! Wake up!" she said getting more and more impatient.

Her mother woke and stretched, turning to her daughter with a goofy smile across her aging face. "Willow darling! I just had the most amazing dream." Her mother said standing up from the chair and spinning around, acting all dramatic. "Full of dancing spirits and moon beams." She finished as Willow stopped her from spinning into the wall. Her mother's golden blonde hair was a tangled mess in her face. Willow fixed it up for her with a smile, holding back a giggle after watching her mother act so silly.  

"Come on mom. No more nonsense." Willow said with a giggle, her smile brighter than ever. 

"You know very well Willow darling not to call me mom or mother or anything of that sort. That is a title that should only be given to our real mother, mother earth." She said clenching her fist and raising it to the sky, passion dripping from her words. "No. I am no mother. I am just her humble servant Flora Nightingale, keeper of her children, the flowers." Her mother said more passionately than before. Willow just shook her head at her childish mother.  

Lately her mother had gotten even more absorbed into her 'Flower Child' ways and didn't want Willow to call her mom. She was still adjusting to it. They had a strange relationship, Willow and her mother. Their roles almost seemed reversed. Her mother was more like the child and Willow was always more like the mother. She always supported her mother and her crazy ways no matter what she did or believed. That's what their family had always been like; they supported each other no matter what the other did or wanted to do. They were all they had in this world and made sure that the other one was always taken care of.  

Willow took her mother's hand and urged her up to bed. "I think it's time we get you up to bed. I'll clean up down here mom...err...Flora..." she said with a bit of a grin. Her mother yawned and headed up the stairs, Willow close behind. After she made sure her mother was safe and tucked away in bed she went back downstairs into the record room and looked around at all the books. As average a girl as she was Willow never really fit in with anyone and didn't have many friends. Her only real friends were her books and her flowers. All the books on the bookshelves - except a few that were the shop record books - belonged to her. She sat in the chair that her mother had been in and started to work on updating records.  

Time had passed quickly and before she knew it Willow was buried in receipts, but she was finished. She picked up her mess putting everything in its place and swept the room out. When she was done cleaning she picked up the record book lying on the desk and went to put it back on the shelf. When she got there she saw there was another one in its place. "How strange... I don't remember putting this here." She said removing the book. Willow replaced it with the record book. The book she now held was one shed never seen before. "Maybe mom bought it for me as a birthday gift and just forgot to give it to me today." She said as she looked the book over, absorbing its beauty. Today was Willow's 16th birthday, but Flora never liked to make a big deal out of her birthday after Willow's father died. She wouldn't have been surprised if Flora had forgotten all about it. The cover was made of leather. It had a faded face of a woman on it but the hair that covered the woman's face was willow tree branches. The pages were gold tinted and seemed to sparkle when you flipped through them. The letters of the title were etched in gold. 'Beyond the Willow Tree, what an unusual title. I wonder what it's about.' She thought to herself. There was something about it that called her to it. Willow traced her fingers over the letters on the cover and took a few moments to absorb its beauty before opening it up.