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Flowering Tendencies


Sun beat on the creamy white cloth spread over the table, leaves spread ubiquitously on two tall trees overhead hid the delicacy underneath them, letting the sun visit it, every now and then, making shadows that floated over the table cloth. Breeze pushed the shadows rhythmically, dry leaves rattled away hither and thither, so precious was the moment for Vanessa. She checked the turf, stood her sleek legged chair over it and sat herself grandly, preoccupied with the moment's liberty.

Swan dipped its wings in the pool before her, mercifully fluttered its wings, a school of fish swam dutifully around the perimeter of the pool, glistened and reflected steels of sunlight underwater, the rich sediment bosomed smooth pebbles that augmented the rich colors-blue, green and yellow fish rollicking above. Swan's fluttering rippled around, flowed in waves, ebbed and rose, broke on the turf over a dark brown rock pushing a frog back, which tumbled into the pool with the retreating wave, and only froth remained on the top of rock.

Vanessa finished her breakfast, cleared the crumbs over her frock and walked closer to the pool. A school of golden fish swam away from her, leaving behind them, a trail of two waves that diverged and died as the fish swam away, but the two waves astonishingly stuck on to the tail of school, converged, persisted, never left the tail. The fish's scales gleamed in sun, reflected lights of steel, Vanessa caught the light, stupefied, and she stood there watching the fish change its color from golden brown to steely white. She disturbed the froth over the rock with her pink slippers, funny, froth stuck to the red crown of mound on the middle of her slipper; she bent over to clean it in the water. Earthworms, hundreds of them, made the shade underwater their home, she gaped in amazement at the flower in the middle of the pool, sharp tipped leaves besieged it from outside, undisturbed, the flower blossomed from inside shooting petals outside, that covered the insides of the leaves half way through, fell over them, only leaves mimicked the beauty attributed thus, and curled outwards, allowing the flower to address the dismally beautified surroundings. The stalks pushed the flower straight up, as the petals busied themselves in shooting sideways.

Vanessa lifted her frock up, stepped into the pool, the sediment drooped underneath her toes as she heavily lifted her leg 'I must be stepping into a quick sand' thought she, and examined the ground; the sand between her toes slipped away, as she walked inside, it got deeper and deeper, with sand giving way to rich mud that stuck to her toes, blocking the gaps between them. She plucked the flower, brought it close to her face, stood transfixed at the beauty of yellow petals sprouting from red stalk inside, as the water around, and blinded her eyes with the vehemence of radiation. The flower smelt of a rich fragrance that evaded her memories, so pure, so beautiful, that a slight shake of her hand would spoil the moment, the transpiring nature of beauty, how beauty left the shrub and now surrounded her, embellished her, enamored her.

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