The Day the Flowers Died by Ami Blackwelder Read Free Book Online

dimmed and Eli held Rebecca close.
    Rebecca draped her arms around Eli’s neck and rested her head on
his shoulders. They swayed in a naïve bliss forgotten by society
outside the doors.  When the slow jazz-blues music ended, the
band revived the quick stepping swing and the room filled up with
throbbing musical improvisations, causing everyone to get up and
dance. The long night of dancing tired their feet and they sat down
at a table near the wall.  Rebecca watched Eli laugh and
smiled as he watched the youth of his generation free and jovial
inside this room.
    “When am I going to meet more of your friends or your family?”
Rebecca asked him with inquisitive eyes.
    “New Year’s Eve, I’m having a party at my house and I want you
to come.  Many of my friends will be there.  They’re
looking forward to meeting you.”
    “You’ve told them about me?”
    “Well, not everything,” he smirked. “What about your family?
When will I get to meet them?” Eli turned away from the spontaneity
of the swing around him and focused on Rebecca.
    “I’m not sure. I mean if you have time, you could come up for
Christmas.  My parents were asking about meeting you.”
    “You’ve told your parents about me already. I must admit, I’m
impressed.”
    “You haven’t spoken to your parents yet about me?” Rebecca asked
with a hint of hurt in her voice.
    “It’s complicated with my parents.  I will, but I have to
find the right time.  After the New Year, I promise.”
    “I’m not waiting any longer than that.”
    “I would never make you.”
    They left shortly after that, and Eli drove Rebecca, checking to
make sure she was warm. The weather had progressively cooled from
autumn into winter and snow already lumped up in corners of streets
and trees.  When they arrived home, Eli strolled with Rebecca
to the front door, bent down in her favorite spot of grass and
broke off a single rose dressed with a  light snow lace
dripping off its petals.
    “I think we ought to keep this a secret,” Eli smirked while
handing the purloined rose to Rebecca.
    “You could get thrown in jail or something,” she teased, knowing
the offense would only ever escalate to paying a fine to the
landlord.  “Then they’d throw me in there after seeing all the
evidence laid out in vases in my apartment.” She chuckled into
Eli’s coat shoulder.
    “How are you going to keep all your flowers alive in this cold
climate?” Eli asked.
    “I keep them close to the window for the morning sun and give
them lots of tepid water and nutrients.” She darted her head upward
with an idea.  “You know, you could help me next
weekend.  I’m going to change them into new pots and refill
their vases.”
    “Next weekend?”
    “The twenty-first.” She clarified the date, knowing Eli kept a
tight schedule.
    “Alright,” Eli hesitated, thinking of his former obligation to
attend synagogue.  “I’ll see you in the afternoon.”
    “About two?”
    “Let’s make it three.”
    “Alright, it’s a date, a garden date,” Rebecca smiled.  Eli
strolled with her up to her room, kissing her on the lips, and then
headed to his room.
    The week progressed like all other weeks in Rebecca and Eli’s
life, going to work, coming home, and repeating the cycle all over
again until the weekend arrived, when they could spend time with
one another.
    On the twenty-first, true to his promise, Eli knocked on
Rebecca’s door while he juggled a few pots, bags of soil, and vases
in a brown box.  He purchased the items during the week in
between his hectic schedule at work and stored them in the box for
this day.
    The knock on the door ripped Rebecca from her work and to her
feet.  Eli walked in, lowering the box next to the wall, then
scanned the untidy room with pots and bags of nutrients sprawled
all over the floor and dining table.  A small gardening shovel
with an orange handle sat next to one of the pots on the coffee
table and many flowers lay in the