Beautiful Winter (Flash Fiction pt. 2/2)

    One day during lunch, Mark and I walked hand in hand around the outside of the greenhouse while we finished our sandwiches. I stopped, dead in my tracks, when I spotted a rogue dandelion popping up through the hard terrain.

    “Mark,” I whispered, my voice full of fear as I pointed at the bright yellow weed.

    “Shh,” he whispered back and turned us around as if we could run from spring itself. We quick-stepped back toward the doors of the greenhouse, only stopping when we were standing in the safety of a snow patch once again. “Addy,” he pleaded, still whispering while holding my face in his hands. “I know we only have days left together.” I tried to shake my head, not ready to accept that the next nine months would be without him. I couldn’t move against his hands though, Mark held me tightly, forcing me to listen to him.

    “I don’t want to be without you,” I said as a tear ran silently down my cheek. Mark kissed my lips fully.

    “I can’t be without you,” he said. “My family can’t afford for me to move out right now, but I’m going to find a way. I promise,” he said and kissed me again. “I will figure something out.”

    “Okay,” I whispered as another tear streamed down my cheek. “I love you.”

    “I love you more,” he said sincerely before we walked back into the greenhouse and went our separate ways.

    As the work day came to a close, I couldn’t let go of the hounding feeling that the dandelion had given me. I dreaded spring. I dreaded not seeing Mark for months. I couldn’t afford a wedding on the mere pennies I had been saving over the last year. Mark’s family would starve without his measly income to help feed them. How many years would we have to be without each other like this? Mark kissed me deeply and reminded me that he would find a way for us to be together, before we went home with our families that night.

    As I laid on the tiny couch that I spent most of my nights on, my parents emerged from their bedroom each carrying a wooden box. I took a break from praying for winter to last longer and sat up to give them room on the couch. They presented me with boxes full of different coins and faded notes.

    “What is this?” I asked.

    “We have been saving everything we could to help you and Mark start a life together,” my mom whispered, making my eyes fill with tears.

    “I know it’s not much, but it will help,” my father said. I hugged them both and thanked them repeatedly. How could they have known that this is exactly what I needed right now? I couldn’t wait to tell Mark the next morning that we wouldn’t have to wait much longer at all. This would pay for a small wedding and a tiny apartment. We could use my pay for things we needed and Mark’s pay to help his family. I hugged the boxes to my chest before hiding them under the couch and going to sleep. This was the more that we both wanted.

    As I walked to our meeting spot the next morning, Mark wasn’t waiting for me like normal. I waited until my fingers froze and my toes were numb; Mark didn’t come. After the feeling of dread sank deep into my belly, my mom came out of the greenhouse to tell me that no one in Mark’s family had come to work. It wasn’t possible, they were worse off than we were; they couldn’t afford to miss work. Throughout the day, rumors started to run throughout the greenhouse, none of them good. My thoughts were filled with worry and my stomach hurt non-stop. We didn’t have many winter days left together and soon we would have to return to our separate neighborhoods until the following winter.

    When Mark’s mom arrived at the greenhouse the next morning without her other children, I could see in her eyes that something was wrong.

    “Mark went out to sell extra food last night.”

    “They hurt him really bad.”

    “I’m so sorry.”

    My head was spinning and my knees gave out as the words his mom was saying to me sunk in; I dropped to the cold ground. The beauty of winter forever ruined.

Beautiful Winter (Flash Fiction pt. 1/2)

    We knew the way of life. It was hard, but this is how we grew up. We didn’t have anything, but it didn’t stop us from wanting everything.

    In Marysville, everyone had a designated job for the betterment of the community as a whole. A job that was assigned to you based on your abilities and your family’s status. My family had consisted of gardeners for as far back as I knew. Both of my parents were gardeners, my sister and I were both gardeners. I knew that my children would most likely also be gardeners.

    Each neighborhood in Marysville had their own public garden to attend to and we all had to hold up our end of the deal. We barely made enough money to live on, so we didn’t have the luxury of not going to work. Every day was a work day that started at dawn and didn’t end until well after dusk. It was hard work, but it had to be done. I wished for more but that was life and there were no other options.

    By the time I was done with my teenage years, I already knew how to grow everything the government would require of my family. I spent every day during the spring prepping and planting. Long summer days were for caring for the plants, harvesting those that were ready, and weeding the garden. Every day during the fall, I harvested the rest of the plants and then prepped the garden for winter. I loved spending the days with my family and with the other gardeners that we worked alongside, but what I really looked forward to was winter.

    Winter did not bring about much change in duties; just location. There was only one massive greenhouse for all of Marysville to work during the winter so all the neighborhoods worked together for those short three months. We got to expand our relationships outside of just those within our enclosed neighborhoods. My parents rekindled old friendships and my young sister met new friends. Working together in the greenhouse is how I met Mark. Mark was my age, the oldest of four children and a gardener from two neighborhoods over. We could only be together during the winter, but those short three months were what I looked forward to for the remaining nine months of the year.

    Mark and I meet near the west entrance every morning, no matter the cold or the snow; the sun barely risen. Every morning, I would arrive to find him already waiting for me, his back turned to the brisk wind and his hands cupping his mouth in an attempt to stay warm. As soon as I would step into his field of vision, Mark would envelope me in his arms. I never knew how long he waited for me. No matter how cold the morning, I instantly felt warm and safe in his arms. “Good morning,” he would whisper against my mouth before kissing me deeply. I had been meeting Mark this way for the last two months. My body learned quickly to respond to his touch; craving more. We only had precious moments before we were forced into the greenhouse for the day’s work.

    Several days out of the week Mark would find excuses to work as close to me as he possibly could. When we were separated, it was heartbreaking. I would find myself looking over my shoulder during the day to look for him. Sometimes, I would catch him staring at me, a smile spreading across his face when our eyes would meet. During our lunch break, we would share our tiny meals, splitting whatever we had between the two of us. Our arms touching, my head leaning over on his shoulder. I lived for these tiny moments. Mark was the other half of my soul, that I could only have in tiny spurts of time.

    As the days carried on, I wished for winter to last forever. Last winter (our first together) went by so much quicker than time had ever gone before. Those three months, where we learned all about each other, felt like three weeks. As the days started to get longer, spring threatened to take hold of Marysville within days. I spent my nights hoping and praying for a blizzard, just to give me more time with Mark. Whenever the snow would fall though, the warmer temperatures would allow most of it to melt away with the rising sun the following morning. Spring was inevitable, no matter how much I prayed.