Tea Leaves and Diamond Bracelets

Dragon Tree

Match Ten: Dragon Tree:

Every time Alfred saw Florence she looked like she was slowly wasting away. When did she lose that much weight?

"Has she been eating, dude?" he asked as they all sat in the den.

"I feed her, but she won't eat," Lydia whispered back. "She always says that she isn't hungry." Florence looked half-asleep on the couch. Her color had been drained of any color. It felt jarring to see her like this in summer.

Alfred stood up.

"That's it," he said. "We're going outside." Lydia turned her head with a confused look on her face.

"She's too sick to go anywhere," she complained.

"We're not going anywhere," Alfred said. "We're just going outside into the back yard."

"Why?" Lydia asked.

"Better than staying in here, isn't it?" he asked.

"Huh?" she asked. The American man leaned in close and broke into a huge grin.

The three of them ended up in the back yard. Florence sat in a lounge chair in the sun. She reminds Alfred of a wilting flower.

"She needs a hat," he said. Lydia wrinkled her nose.

"What?" Alfred asked. She snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Haven't you done enough?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" he asked. Lydia sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"What's the point?" she asked. "My sister's going to be dead soon anyway. It's not like you're even that close anyway."

"Well, I am trying to be," he said.

"But why?"

"I've quite fallen for her over our times together." He noticed Lydia's face when she wrinkled nose.

"What?" he asked.

"You for real?" she asked.

"Yes," Alfred said, nodding.

"Whatever," Lydia muttered. The American man looked around the big yard. He spotted the garden over in the distance. Alfred raised his eyebrow at how green and beautiful it looked.

"You've been taking care of the garden?" he asked.

"Yeah," Lydia said, looking down at the ground. "It wouldn't feel right to let it die out like that." Alfred got up and walked over to the fenced off garden. So many plants stuck up from the ground. He could see little white flowers in bloom on some of them.

"Wow, man," he said. "These look great. What all are you growing?"

"This and that," she replied. Lydia stood up and walked over to the garden.

"You did this yourself?" Alfred asked. "Dude."

"I had to," she said.

"Oh, of course. Um... Can I help out sometime?"

"Sure."

The American man lifted his head. "You serious?"

"Might as well. You come around here anyway."

"Nice."

"Whatever."

Alfred glanced over at Florence sitting in the sun. She looked like she was taking a nap at the moment. He couldn't remember a time where she was fully awake over the past couple of weeks. The American man almost envied how peaceful she looked. He thought that she was smiling at one point.