🌼🐌 lost prompt 😭 // ( no longer accepting ! )
@earthlcved sent: “wow, th-these f-flowers are lovely! d-did you pick them j-j-just f-for me?”
PETUNIAS, PEONIES, AND ASTERS WERE BUNDLED TOGETHER at their delicate stems, making a colorful, thoughtful arrangement—one precious enough for her dear mother, Ari deemed. These blooms were not the most difficult to gather, for they did not need to be foraged in an open plain, where Ari often found such friends. Instead, these were found scattered about her mother's shop. Separated from their families as they slipped from the bundles, which were handled poorly by careless shoppers who failed to notice their absence at all, the floor was where they would remain. Ari found it cruel. It must hurt something terrible to be torn away from your family, she thought, and left behind on the ground, all alone ...
LONELINESS was familiar to Ari. But Agatha was the one that cured the previously orphaned child's heart from any of the pain that loneliness caused her. She was a mother one could only dream of. So who better than Agatha, who handled Ari so lovingly, to take care of such lonely, sad souls?
With a soft smile on her freckled face, Ari nodded.
" ye … yes, please! " Ari began. " I fff … fou … I found them. they were on the flll … floor, and they were v — very, very sad … "
Of course, the depths of such a sense could not be conveyed properly by one at the age of six, but Ari's peculiar way of articulating herself, simple as it was, tended to be well understood by her mother regardless. Therefore, Ari spoke freely, and allowed her expression to sadden. She would understand.
" p — people left them all alone … " the child explained. Her gaze shifted away from her mother's to be momentarily kept on the bouquet, which was now held in Agatha's hands. Ari lifted her hand to the heads of the flowers, the tiny pads of her fingers drifting gingerly across their delicate petals. " I … I didn't www … want them to be alone, please … "
Then, as if all the hurt in the world had suddenly been soothed, welcoming reasons to be hopeful, Ari turned her eyes back to her mother, her expression bright and cheerful. Lots of things could be seen in those large green eyes of hers as they fixed on her mother—love, trust, appreciation …
" b — but Mama will take care of them, please … ? " Ari asked, though she felt she knew the answer. The hand that petted the flowers was now gently laid atop her mother's, tiny fingers fitting perfectly between Agatha's knuckles. " mmm … Mama will? "
