Lauralee's The Fixer-upper

• Kasey Billett, Grade 11
• Short Story
• 2020

The night was cool and crisp, the full moon being the only light source for the abandoned graveyard. The only sign of life was the deep viridian grass that stubbornly grew in the spots it chose, one of which was around the hole that Lauralee slumbered in. Her sleep was deep and convincing, yet untrue. At the rise of the moon every night she woke her from her dirt bed to explore the unkempt and thriving gardens. Her dress was as white and neat as the day she was buried, her hair still bounced in its curls that fell from her ponytail and her skin was as fair as the soft snow in winter. She stretched her limbs from their tired rest, straightened her dress and made her way around the gardens. Behind the rock at the head of her bed was a little rose garden. There were deep red roses that looked like growing passion and a soft pink that reminded her of soft hugs her baby sister would give her. The yellow roses smelt like the honey Lauralee used to eat by the spoonful when her mother wasn’t looking, and the crisp white like her pretty lace dresses. As Lauralee was about to pick one of the red roses, a sudden noise within the bushes frightened her, which snapped the rose right off its stem and left it to fall to the ground. Lauralee kept her attention to the bush unsure of whether or not to investigate or to go back to bed, but the choice was made for her when a small deer stumbled out, twigs stuck in his little growing antlers. At first Lauralee was excited. She loved deer! They were very cute and very graceful like a ballerina, but as she continued to look at the deer as he walked across the gardens, she noticed his right antler was broken. Would it grow back? He must be so sad, he might get teased by his friends. She was determined to help this poor deer. She looked around for something she might be able to use as a replacement. A twig perhaps? No, it wouldn’t look very nice. Maybe some leaves? No, still not pretty enough. She continued to look until her eyes fell upon the rose she’d dropped when the deer first stopped by. She picked it up and then took a pink rose, a yellow and a white rose. Using some of the vines that overgrew on an old tombstone, she tied the flowers to the stump of the deer’s antlers. As she finished up with the last rose, she stepped back to take in her craft. The deer looked so pretty Lauralee was almost envious. As the sun started to rise, the little deer took off into the woods on the side of the graveyard. She watched as petals started to fall off, but she smiled as she sank back into her bed ready for a good sleep filed with dreams of the pretty deer with his friends.