Lexi’s Flowers

On the first day of school, Oscar saw Lexi, and his world stopped. Her hair, he thought, was so long, wavy, and brown and gold, and her skin looked so delicate, almost like silk, and her shoulders were round, as if someone has drawn them out. He knew instantly that in his seven years of life, he had never seen someone or something with such beauty. He wanted to hug her so much, that he became sad. A lot for a seven-year-old on his first day of school.

By lunch he had collected all of the courage seven years of life can give, and walked up to her and ask her if he could kiss her check. It was an honest and brave question, but as he was asking her he realized how much he feared her answer. Lexi wasn’t surprised, or at least she didn’t seem surprised to Oscar. She just smiled and said not now, but only when you bring me the prettiest bouquet of flowers you can find.

Oscar, even though he wasn’t sure what he would have done if she said yes, took this as a defeat. He understood Lexi knew there was no way he could get her a bouquet of flowers. He was too young and didn’t have the money to buy one, and there were no places to steal them from. And any attempt to get the money or help from adults, would have represented a series of questions he did not want to answer. He’d already learned some things are better kept away from adults.

 But, while experiencing the sadness to know he could not get a bouquet of flowers for Lexi, Oscar started paying more attentions to flowers, something he had never done. He saw them everywhere, and each time he thought of Lexi. He found them in stores, in other people’s house, in movies; anyplace he went there were flowers. And he learned to appreciate them, of course. Suddenly, he realized they were also in paintings, in clothes, and even in his own garage! Yes, there were a pair of wooden carved bouquets of flowers in his own garage. Flowers that don’t age, he thought, the pretties he had ever seen.

On Monday, he knew what he had to do, and he was carrying the wooden carved bouquet of flowers in his backpack. He went straight to Lexi and gave it to her, and she smiled and said they were the most beautiful flowers she had ever seen. He asked her if he may kiss her check, and she said yes, and all of the flowers in the world smiled for them.