Espoir

Six

Uriah

He was holding someone's hand. More precisely, someone was holding his hand because the other hand was much larger than his. What really mattered to him was the warmth he was feeling.

But who was it?

Uriah glanced up. The sun shone glaringly and the intense brightness made him squint his eyes. He couldn't see very well, but it was a woman with long hair.

He hardly noticed the corner of her lips curving up a little as she said something to him, but he couldn't quite catch it. When she finished talking, she turned away and pointed a finger in front of them. Uriah's gaze was led by her.

It was a field of flowers.

She started walking, pulling him along. The roads, the flowers and the scenery; they were all familiar. It was the path to home. Even though he couldn't recognize certain things like the wooden bridge where a stone bridge now stood and the huge apple tree that he only remembered from the past, it still smelt of nostalgia.

Before Uriah knew it, he was now sitting under the shade of the apple tree with the woman crouching down a few steps away from him. He stared at her, as she returned with white and blue flowers in hand.

He watched her nimble fingers folded and tied the flowers into a flower crown. It was like magic happening in front of his eyes. Everything went really slowly, but he never took his eyes off her.

She placed the flower crown on his head and planted a kiss on his forehead.

"Life is never fair, Uriah, and you might not always get what you want. But remember, to be able to live is already a blessing itself. So promise me just one thing. Live the way you want to, and don't ever come to hate the life that was given to you."

She smiled at him. This time, Uriah could see her face clearly. Then she stood up as everything stopped. The wind wasn't blowing anymore, there were no birds chirping and the serene summer atmosphere was broken.

And she was gone.

That woke him up. Her words and her voice in a soft whisper like the wind. The way she had disappeared just like that.

The familiarity was too much. It wasn't his first time having this dream, but somehow it felt a little different than usual. It was the fact that he could see her face much clearer than he did for the past years. Her smile was pained unlike the uncaring one he had always seen.

Uriah sighed. "Mom..."

Jasmine

"Here's your flowers and thank you for coming."

Jasmine glanced down from her seat on the second floor to the counter where the voice was coming from. Uriah handed a bouquet of camellias to a woman in her mid-fifties and they were both smiling at each other. It was a nice sight to see.

This was her fourth visit but it was the first time she had come across Astilbe in such a busy state. Jasmine had been sitting here for two hours, drinking her second cup of tea ever since she came in. He smiled apologetically when he told her he had work to do.

Well, it wasn't like he would be free every single time she came. No big deal. It wasn't bad to just observe him anyway. Even though he was only 20, he seemed reliable enough handling the shop. From walk in customers to phone calls orders, trimming the flowers to preparing the tea, taking in stocks and personally delivering orders. He did everything alone but smoothly.

Was she bothering him then? Perhaps there was no point in waiting and making him worry. She could come another day.

She stood up and walked down the stairs, but he was already down there waiting for her.