The Art of flowers part 23

[krystalkatzfics]

    

“Thanks for your hard work” Nino smiled passing over a warm cup of coffee as his father locked the door of the shop. It had been an exceptionally long day and his eyes were aching to the point of pulsing. All he wanted to do was drink his coffee and then head into his garden for a bit. Not to work on it for today but to just sit and enjoy the flowers. There was still the sorting of the flowers, none ever went to waste, though for some whose time had passed without sale went to the compost heap ready to feed the next generation.

“Thanks for the hard work” Jun replied with a smile taking the offered coffee gratefully and sipping it down with his fingers clasped around the cup. “What did you mean about them being your advertisement?”

“I tell them that so they don’t think of it as charity. Elderly people the ones who enjoy flowers the most, it was more common for them to receive them as a gesture of love from family and lovers. People who have long since gone now, what harm does it do to make them feel special once a week?” Nino shrugged smiling as he thought about all the smiles that he had received as he spent five minutes carefully listening to the stories of the women. “A lot of people are lonely as they get older, they lose their family and friends and disconnect from society. What’s five minutes listening to a fun story and having them smile? At least once a week they are here they talk to each other, they talk to us and then at the end of the day they go home with a reminder of that. They can see it and remember that somebody wanted to listen maybe it makes their day a little bit brighter”

“…Are you sure you’re human? I couldn’t imagine doing that”

“And yet you did it today. Congratulations” Nino smiled bowing his head and lifting his cup his cheeks running pink for a minute. It had been a trip to the grocery store that had given him the idea. A man in his eighties had been buying tissues for his nose. The cheap kind that would have probably taken the skin off before helping his cold. He had tried to talk to the cashier behind the desk but the shop was busy and the woman had brushed him off. It had been sad to watch his shoulders droop and to think that that might have been the one conversation he’d had that day or that week and it had been brushed aside. It wasn’t something that he was going to explain to Jun though. “I have to clear the dead flowers…”

“Don’t you think that it’s sad?” Jun asked changing the subject and Nino turned to look at him with a lifted confused eyebrow “That your displays only last two weeks at the most…”

“It’s sad, but that’s what makes them special. I meant what I said, each display is special and unique like a person with their own personality, their own thoughts and dreams, hopes and wishes…” Nino hummed sitting on the stool and cupping the cup in his hands. It had always been his thoughts when he looked at flowers and each time he made a display. “They don’t know they’ve only got a week, two weeks, they just shine and be the best that they can be and for no matter how short their time they do nothing but make people happy.” He gave a little smile his eyes closing as the blackness started to circle them a little more causing his mind to swim just a little. “I think people should be like that to. You’re only in people’s lives for a short time in the grand scheme of things, you should always strive to be the best of what you can be. I do, do more permanent things. I plant gardens in the city and plant trees and such but my displays no matter how short a span of time they make people happy and I couldn’t ask for anything better than that…”

“You really think that humans will ever learn to live like that?”

“I live in hope, but that’s why I don’t like that many people. Flowers are easier…”

TBC

A/N: Hmm…The story of the old man with the tissues was true…After that I’ve always made sure I listen to old people when they talk, even if I don’t know them