Flowers from a Recluse

Rick looked out of the window

into a world he was afraid of as the sun silhouetted the dark corners of his bedroom.

As he watched the tree leaves blow in the wind from across the street, he could only think of flowers.

There was no decoration in his life, his yard was a cemetery and no seeds were being planted in the grounds.

In the apartment, the air was still except for the cold breeze coming through the vents.

The place was as lifeless as his slowly beating heart.

His hollow eyes kept staring at the trees.

He didn't cry until a pink rose petal gently floated past the window.

He ran to the bathroom when the tears started to fall.

He gazed into the mirror above the sink for the first time in months.

Large dark circles dominated his face, but his cheeks started to glow a little as they swelled with waterworks.

The shaggy beard conjured up the visage of a caveman.

The ghost of a man was dire need of sunlight, but the creature of the night laid back down.

Like every other day, the mattress was cold with or without the air conditioning.

Rick rubbed the right side of the mattress and yearned for a feminine body to warm it up.

He flipped over on his back to stare at the ceiling and he thought about the floating pink rose for a moment.

Rick smiled and closed his eyes before sinking into his own heart and conjuring the image of the flower dying.

He jerked himself up, hopped out of the bed and looked into mirror, gazing at the deepening lines on his face.

He wasn't ready for the soothing and euphoric warmness of pink. But maybe yellow could generate enough heat to give life to the ashes of his soul.

He wanted to give and receive light again and felt the most comfortable with a female prospect.

“It's hard to find love in the darkness that you dwell in,” he whispered to himself.

Rick finally shaved, showered and ventured out to shop for yellow flowers.

Rick walked into the flower shop and did not take much time looking around.

He knew what he wanted. Yellow Roses for friendship.

He did not know Kayla Zimmer well enough for pink roses, but he wanted to.

He shied his eyes away from the pinks and the reds as he walked out of the shop and into his car.

Rick pulled his car up to a local retail store that sold novelty products.

He took a pen, a piece of paper, and a small envelope out of his glove box and wrote a note.

He stuffed the envelope.

Kayla's apartment sat atop of the shop.

Rick put the envelope in the flower basket before stepping out of the car with it. He looked up.

Her window was open and her white cat was perched on the sill.

She didn't bother to come get the feline until Rick started taking the stairs to the apartments.

Rick started to shake a little as he went up the stairs and stiffened as he walked down the hall.

He could either greet her in person or just wait for her to see the basket later.

Choosing the latter option felt better and he ran off.

An hour later Kayla picked up the flowers, clad in a black low-cut top and dress pants.

She looked around in puzzling amazement before smelling the roses.

Kayla smiled as she inhaled the aroma of the flowers and opened the envelope.

The note read:

I THOUGHT MAYBE YOU WOULD LIKE SOME FLOWERS. HOPEFULLY YOU SMILE AS YOU READ THIS.

YOUR FRIEND,

RICHARD

Kayla looked down with surprise in her eyes before smiling again as she put the flowers in her bedroom.

As she got in her white Jeep, Rick had just got home.

He quickly threw off his clothes and got back into bed where he felt he belonged.

He might have taken a risk he wasn't sure about, but he wasn't entirely unhappy.

“Why would she want to get close to me?” He whispered to himself before closing his eyes.

As he sunk back into the abyss, he knew he was going to see her.