Prompt: Rose in Bloom

Thanks to Brian Scott for permission to use his beautiful image, “Breeze”!

And a hat tip to Louisa May Alcott.

Lilian was the most beautiful girl in town, but she didn’t know it. She didn’t know much of anything, other than her flowers. People said she wasn’t smart, but they were closer to the truth when they said she “wasn’t all there”. Lilian wasn’t really made for this world.

She could not, or would not, say anything about it when it became evident she was expecting a baby. She spent more and more time in the greenhouse her grandfather had built and her father had expanded. Her flowers thrived and bloomed under her tender care, while her belly grew larger every day, and Lilian grew ever more pale and still.

One morning when she did not come to breakfast, her father grew concerned and looked all over the house for her. He finally walked out to the greenhouse, and as he approached, her heard a squalling baby. Racing inside, he found a beautiful, healthy, pink-cheeked baby girl lying on a mound of rose petals. But no sign of Lilian.

He fell in love with that baby from the moment he saw her. Of course he named her Rose, and he showered her with affection. It took no time at all to learn that she had to have roses around her at all times. When there were none, she was inconsolable. She would not eat, and she quickly became listless and pale. Fearing she would waste away like her mother, he quickly planted whole gardens of rosebushes and filled the greenhouses, too.

As Rose grew, she always wore roses braided in her hair. Every morning, she would run to the greenhouse after breakfast and choose her rosebuds for the day. She was never pricked by thorns. Indeed, the roses grew better when she tended them. Other than her love of flowers, Rose could not have been more different than her mother.

Outgoing and curious, her grandfather often lamented that she never met a stranger, just new friends. She would wander off at a moment’s notice, drawn by a butterfly, or new horse and carriage, or a friend’s new toy.

But Rose never slept away from home, and she never missed visiting her roses each morning. When she did not appear for breakfast one morning, her grandfather remembered Lilian and immediately ran out to the greenhouse. But there was no sign of Rose. His heart clenched in his chest, and he stumbled back to the house. He could not bear to lose another beautiful child.

Where could she be?

Dogs in house:	Houdini, Bacon, Brindle
Music:	John Williams, Latin American Guitar Music By Barrios And Ponce
Time writing:	30 minutes
July word count:	13,185