Chasing dreams

Always on the road

  - " This time, I promise myself, I won't give up"

   In a small town, Moonbrook, Linalee was the daughter of a maid who worked for the Goldshires, a rich family. Her father was a merchant, being away from home almost all the time. Linalee became a garder because she loved flowers. The colorful view of her garden allowed her to see a rainbow every day. The town folks preferred her flowers because she had the most beautiful ones, with a sweet scent.
  The years passed by and she finally achieved the age of 18. Unfortunately her birthday wasn't the best, her mother got sick and her dad didn't show up.
- " I'm sorry my sweetie, I wanted to bake a birthday cake for you, but I failed."
- " Don't worry mom, just rest and get better. I'm glad I have you, that's the only thing that matters "
Two months passed since then. Her mother's condition got worse. Linalee had to neglect her garden in order to take care of her mother. Since her mother began to be very sick, her father came home almost daily, but it was a nightmare for Linalee. "Gardening? Do you call those bushes, flowers?" "Can't you see how bad it looks?" "You are useless" " You should've helped your mother more " " it's your fault that she got sick" were the words she always heard. Even though Linalee did everything around the house, she managed to earn some money to take care of her mother, but for her father it wasn't enough.
  After 3 weeks, on a silent night, her mother passed away, leaving behind tears and pain. Near her bed, Linalee stayed, holding her mother's hand.
- " I'm sorry mom....I'm so sorry...I couldn't cure you. I will miss you so much...why...why you had..."
Suddenly her father slam the door,taking her away from her mother.
- " What are you doing?! Let me go! "
-" You useless daughter! I can't even call you a daughter"
He slapped her hard, making her fall down. As she fell,she hit the table and the glasses fell as well. She got hurt, bleeding from the broken shards.
-" I don't wanna see you ever again"
Her father said, leaving.
Hurt, in pain, she laid on the floor, sobbing. After a couple of minutes, she stood up and bandaged herself.
  Since that day, she was left with a scar on her left cheek, reminding her of all the pain she had to go through.
  One year after the incident, she started to grow flowers again and slowly she became the Goldshire's gardener. They took her to their house because her mother was a person they appreciated. She got along pretty well with them, even helping with house chores. Their son, Shigure, didn't talk too much to her. He was mostly occupied with his friend, Alana. But his attitude changed when he decided to see the garden.
- " What...is this?" he said amazed
- " Hi Shigure, can I help you with something? Are your parents away again?"
He got closer to Linalee
- " Is this...all your work?"
- " What do you mean?"
- " The garden...you...took care of it the whole time?"
- " Ah,well yea...actually this is my job. Your parents pay me for this,hehe "
- " But....it's so beautiful and the smell is so sweet and relaxing "
- " Thank you, I appreciate. One day...I wanna go in  Faeria and become a herbalist."
- " Showing people another world but also curing them with herbs. You're so pure"
Linalee blushed instantly.
- " W-what are you talking about? "
- " Haha, you're actually cute. I should've ...
He suddenly got interrupted by a girly voice, calling his name
- " Shigureeeeeeee, what are you doing here?"
- " Alana? I could ask the same question, the food is not ready yet"
- " Yes I know, but I got bored at home so I came faster...and...who's she?"
He softly sighed
- " Be a bit more friendly Alana, she's just the gardener...I actually told you about her"
- " Ah,yea...I remember. Well never mind "
- " Um..hi...nice to meet you, I'm..."
- " So Shigure, shall we go?"
She grabbed his arm dragging him.
- " I'm sorry Linalee...talk to you.."
He couldn't finish his sentence, Alana already pulled him with her.
"What a nuisance" Linalee whispered to herself.
Some days later, Shigure invited Linalee to see the sea with him. Linalee accepted happily,being her day off.  They spent the whole day together, arriving to the sea at the sunset.
- " Whooooa, this is sooo beautiful" she said excited
- " Haha, you're acting like you never saw a sunset before"
- " Well...I haven't actually. This is my first time seeing the sea aswell" she said with a gentle voice
- " What? Really?"
- " Yes. And...I'm very thankful to you. Because of you, I finally got to see it"
He didn't reply, just stared at her. Her big sparkling eyes, her smile...she shined in his eyes.
- " Linalee..."
- " Hm?"
He grabbed her by her waist and kissed her gently. She tried to oppose it, but her heart was racing so fast, she lost her strength. The day ended with a passionate kiss and a sunset which introduced the night in a romantic manner.
The weeks kept passing and Shigure and Linalee got closer. They were not together but Shigure occasionally kissed Linalee. Unfortunately Alana saw them at some point. She began to be very jealous so she decided to get along with Linalee. She would hang around when Linalee took care of the garden.
- " So Linalee, next question..hmm...favourite flower from here?"
- " Hmmm, well...oh I know. Come with me."
She showed Alana the blue roses
-" These are rare here and I love them "
- " Wow, Linalee, the roses are very beautiful. You really are talented"
Linalee was happy to have another friend since she had no one and they became rather close.
One morning, Linalee went to water the flowers as usual, but the blue roses were gone, torn apart. Shigure started to search for her because she went missing the whole day.
- " Linalee! Are you in the garden?!"
He then saw her standing in front of the torn flowers.
-" Oh my God, what...happened? Are you ok?"
- " My roses....are...gone"
He hugged her
- " I...can see...I'm sorry that..."
- " Shigureeeeee, can you not make me wait?"
Alana appeared,running towards Shigure
- " Oh my, what happened?"
- "Alana...not now...she is sad, I'll tell you..."
- " You...." Linalee said,cutting Shigure phrase
- "Huh?" Alana smiled
- " You did this." Linalee said using a calm voice
- " What?! Why would I? "
- " You are the only one who knew about my favourite flowers"
- " I can't believe you can put the blame on me... I was so nice to you"
Linalee clenched her fist, raising her voice
- " Stop acting! You did this and you know it!"
- " Enough Linalee. Alana is right, why would she?"
- " See Shigure? I tried to be nice to her...and now she's mean,blaming me"
- " Wow, you really do know how to act. It makes me sick"
- " Stop already Linalee. Apologize to Alana"
- " No, I won't"
- " If you won't apologize these days, you'll lose me as well. I'll let you think. Let's go Alana"
  Later,at night, Linalee went outside in the garden. Laying on the ground, surrounded by flowers, breathing in,breathing out slowly. Letting out a short sigh, touching her scar, she said " I already lost". She smiled, looking at the stars.
One week passed and Linalee haven't met Shigure's gaze. Linalee started to learn more about flowers and herbs. In the end Shigure searched for Linalee.
- " So? Did you reflect on what you did?"
- " You questioned the wrong person."
- " Still the same attitude? You'll lose me like this"
- " How can I lose something that I never had?" she smiled
- " What do you mean?"
- " I was good to heal you and show you new things, but in the end, Alana is the one you're seeking for. Even tho you know that I couldn't sabotage myself and only you and her saw my garden, you kept her side. Deep down you know she was the one,yet you're blaming me"
- " You're wrong..."
- " Am I?" she smiled
- "..."
- " That's what I thought. Well excuse me, I'm tired and I need to sleep"
The next morning Linalee left the Goldshire house. She went to Faeria where she was trained by a high rank herbalist. Step by step she achieved her dream.
  Three years later, Shigure found out who Alana truly was and how much she sabotaged him. After that, he tried to find Linalee, but she was the Prince's own herbalist and no one could reach her.

Looking in the mirror at her scar, she said " Mom, it's been hard, very hard. I've been down many times but...I did it. Now, I can finally save the people. I won't disappoint you anymore"