Never Forget The Flowers

• Phoebe Taylor-Thompson , Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2015

Bright red shoes filled my vision again as I walked through the cities heart. Huge crowds of people talked about their own lives. I kept watching my shoes, click clack click clack. The endless grey of the city bores me despite all the interesting things to do. My feet stopped walking when I reached the curb and soon I was immersed in the dull people of our city. When the lights flash, I walk with the hoard of people, some move out of the way while the stubbornest people push and shove at each other like hungry vultures. This is how every morning in our beloved city goes, it’s unnatural though. The sounds of the city only gets louder as I pass the cities centre. I stop to see what’s going on, this is highly unusual. I divert my eyes up to see a huge mass of people standing there, doing nothing. It reminds me of the time my father would take me here to watch the evening lights. My eyes fall back down to my shoes, I see a single yellow rose just sitting on the ground as if it were waiting to be picked up. As my hand went down to grab it, I feel the familiar sensation of another human hand. I look at my feet again now seeing another pair. This time it looked like army boots. Guiding my eyes up, I see a boy about my age staring down at the rose. He slowly picks it up and hands it to me.
“It was at your feet so it must be yours.” He tells me while placing the delicate flower in my hair. When he finishes this action, the sky rained petals. Petals of all shapes and sizes, colours and types. The colourful display make me gasp, we have never had such an event like this before. The crowd breaks into an infectious laughter and soon the boy and I are joining in. The petals keep showering down like rays of sun.
“I never caught your name?” I say in between my laughs.
“Call me... One of your service men. Nice and easy,” he says while smiling at me. I smile back at him, just meeting him, has made my day less saddening, distracted me from the world we live in. The petals make my day bright and fun while the laughing makes me feel less alone. Today has distracted me from the times we had to fight for what’s right and many have served us in this endless battle. Even if it never ceases, I’m glad I’m here, in my home while many others aren’t. I promise I will never forget. Never forget the flowers.
Lest We Forget.