Winnie's Dreams

I spotted a new florist on the road where I worked and told myself that I would spoil Mary with an expensive bouquet. Usually, especially recently, the flowers were bunches I had picked up on the way to see her, mainly from a garage. They were nice, but nothing special. So, seeing as this was an occasion — two years, to be exact — I walked to the florist after work.

I browsed the shop, wondering what she’d like. Roses? Too predictable? There were so many different colours; it was a little overwhelming to choose. I must have spent ten minutes walking in slow circles, and eventually, when I looked up from the display, I had gotten dizzy. To refocus myself, I directed my gaze towards a woman at the till, and my heart skipped a beat thinking for a moment that it was Mary.

“Woah, she looks just like her,” I muttered to myself as I internally laughed at my reaction.

The woman waiting at the till had been standing side-on, her profile similar to Mary’s, but her hair was longer and she was a little taller. Mary had always hated her long hair. She tried to style it in different ways, but she was never happy until one day she turned up to dinner with it cut short into a bob that rested just below her ears. “It kind of just styles itself now!” she laughed, swishing her bright blonde hair around. “It makes you look like a beautiful sunflower,” I smiled back, laughing. However, apparently this isn’t the compliment you give for haircuts. She scowled at me, but then told me she was teasing and that she liked looking like a sunflower. I wandered back around the florist to the sunflowers and picked out a huge, well-styled bouquet of grasses and wildflowers surrounding big golden sunflowers. Perfect.

I was walking back to my car when my mobile rang. “Damn, she’s probably wondering where I am” I thought, as I stood still on the pavement, contemplating how to juggle the large bouquet and get my phone from my back pocket in time. I managed to catch the call before it stopped ringing.

“Hello,” I said, surprised at how out of breath I sounded from such a simple multitask. Mary had signed me up for the gym once, and once is how many times I actually visited. “Yes, I am on my way now. I’ll be there in about.. ten minutes. See you soon,” I responded as I reached the car.

I glanced at my watch. I’d spent too much time choosing flowers, and now I only had a small amount of time to make myself presentable. Hung in the back of the car was a blazer. I pulled off my jumper, leaving the shirt underneath, then put the blazer on and reached into the glove box to spray my cologne over myself — Mary’s favourite, of course. The bouquet was safely laid over the back seat after I had scribbled a little love note on the card poking out from the petals. “Right,” I breathed, and set off to see Mary.

I arrived on time. The sun was just lowering in the sky. It had been a lovely sunny day, though not too hot. I parked my car and walked down the old cobbled path. It was a familiar place to me after coming here so often.

“Hello, my love,” I called out as I made my way to Mary. Childishly, I hid the flowers behind my back — she always found this funny. I pulled them out in front of me when I reached her and read the card aloud.

“You’ll always be my beautiful sunflower. I miss you.”

I placed them on the ground, and an arm reached around my waist — Mary’s mum stood beside me as we both looked at my bouquet.

“I can’t believe it’s been two years,” she said.

We stayed with Mary until the light left the sky.