“I’m sorry I’m late.”
“It’s alright.”
Noah is busy adjusting the lens of his camera. His back is facing Karen, who arrived fifteen minutes late. She’s upset. It’s not usual for her to be late especially in business appointments. And who can blame her? Her boss just asked her to drive all the way from the city to his rest house which is practically located in the middle of a forest.
Now, she’s standing here in her boss’ safe haven surrounded by trees which are approximately fifty feet tall. She watches him take pictures of leaves and flowers and insects and so much more. The trees around her scare her a little. But the place is peaceful…very peaceful and she likes it.
Noah turns around to face her, “Do you have it?”
“Yes,” she answers, showing him a white folder.
Noah covers his camera lens, packs it in his bag and says, “Come with me.”
He immediately makes his way through the thick forest.
Are you serious? Karen says to herself. Is there any living person on earth who would actually sign a document in a forest? She adds.
Nevertheless, she follows Noah. As she makes her first step into the forest she finds herself entering a different world. The tall trees still scare her but she tries her best not to be bothered by them.
Noah and Karen can smell the fresh scent of nature and the only sound that they can hear is the music made by the serene voices of the trees. It gets cooler as they continue to make their way into the forest. They step on moist ground where wild grasses grow. They step on dry leaves, on twigs, on small stones. Karen is just glad that she’s wearing flats today.
Noah keeps his eyes straight but his thoughts are with the woman behind him. He has seen the look on her face when he told her to come with him. He smiles with the thought of it. He hopes she’s not scared or displeased.
“Are you okay?”he asks.
“Yah…”
After a few minutes of walking inside the forest, Karen feels better. She realizes that she needs that particular moment, that moment of peace.
“We’re close…”
“Okay…”Karen replies.
It’s funny how two people who used to be friends suddenly feel cold about each other or perhaps pretend to be cold for some reason.
This time, Karen can see a colorful lawn ahead of them. She’s excited to see what it is. A few more steps and they reach the place.
“We’re here,” Noah says.
Karen is speechless. She is now looking at a small circular meadow surrounded by trees. She can see roses of different colors. She has never seen such gorgeous roses like these, right at the heart of the forest.
“You’ve grown all of them?”she asks.
Noah smiles and nods.
Of course, she tells herself. Noah was good in growing different kinds of roses.
“I’ll show you something,” Noah says.
Noah leads her closer to the roses and shows her the only white rose planted in the middle of the other colored roses.
“Why, she’s alone,” Karen says.
“She’s the only survivor among the other white roses that I planted. I never thought growing white roses would be that difficult.”
