“Charis! Chloe!” I shout, hopping down the cement steps of the back porch. “I know you guys are out here!” Cautiously, I march toward the edge of the forest that encircles our house, eyes darting across a sea of evergreen and brown. I stop, squinting, trying to get a clearer view of the carved out muddy path, fenced in by the trees the size of skyscrapers.
Two heads covered in a mass of thick black curls emerge from the trees, excitement sparkling in their chocolate brown eyes as they sprint toward me. “Persephone!” They squeal in unison.
I open my arms and the twins’ crash into me, hard, so hard that I stumble backwards and almost tumble to the ground. “Whoa! Easy!” Regaining my balance I begin to back away and Chloe pulls away first, followed by Charis.
Charis steps to her left, her olive skin shimmering like droplets of molten gold in the sunlight. A stranger would never be able to tell which twin was which. Through the years Charis and Chloe had always thought it was comical to play the switcheroo game with people they didn’t know. But they’ve never been able to fool me.
Chloe has a nervous tick. Whenever she feels uneasy or worried, she rolls her thumbs and Charis has a small speckle of a beauty-mark just below her right eye. Chloe has one too, but Charis’s is just a little bit bigger.
“The last time we saw you was—,” Charis reminisces.
“Two hundred years ago,” I say finishing her sentence.
“It’s so good to s
ee you,” Chloe pipes up. “We’ve missed you.”
“I missed you guys too.”
The last time I saw the twins we were living in London. Well, I was living in London. They lived in some cottage, set deep in the English Countryside. Wood Nymphs could never live in the city. They belonged outdoors, amongst rolling green hills, trees, and wildflowers galore. I’d also longed for that life. I’d longed to suck in fresh, clean air in place of smog and smoke. I’d longed to pick wildflowers all day without a care in the world, instead of being cooped in a London flat. I’d longed to lie in the long grass on one of those rolling green hills, feeling a brush as a gentle breeze swept through the field and the grass tickled my skin.
I hated the fact that mom kept me hidden away from the beauty of the earth. The same earth that she’d taught me to love and appreciate. I stare off, trance-like caught up in my past memories. Chairs and Chloe’s feet rustle against the grass, but I’m not paying attention. Then I lift my head slowly, and the most beautiful flower catches my eye. “What is that?”
Sunlight peaks through the trees and at the edge of my yard, and the flower glimmers a glowing white with pink splotches slathered along the inside of it. I know every flower that grows on every continent. I can name every plant and I know their purposes. But this flower…
I’ve never seen and flower like it, and I don’t know what it is.
Lurching forward, mesmerized, Charis and Chloe’s footsteps pound behind me, but I don’t pay attention.
“What are you looking at?” Chloe inquires.
I lift a finger, placing it against my lips, silencing Chloe with the gesture and stop at the edge of the left corner of my yard. The flower grows beneath a massive redwood tree. The white and pink speckled petals are magnetic, they draw me closer. They are the metal and I am the magnet.
Charis throws herself in front of me and her forcefulness startles me. I jump backwards, panting. “What are you doing?”
Charis glances between me and the flower. “What are you doing?” she asks, shooting me a glare, eyes filled with accusation.
“What am I doing? I’m going to pick that flower, that’s what I’m doing.”
“Why would you want to pick that thing?” Charis glances over her shoulder and wrinkles her nose, then looks at me. “It’s just a stupid flower.”
I can’t even fathom the fact that she’s not blown away by the beauty of it. The single, solitary flower, resting only feet in front of me is the most breathtakingly beautiful flower I’ve ever seen. Balling my hands into fists I place them on my hips. “If it’s just a stupid flower I don’t know why you’re standing in front of me trying to keep me from picking it,” I retort.
Either one of two things is going on; either Charis knows more about this flower than she’s letting on, or she’s just trying to be difficult. I know the way the twins feel about nature and its balance. They preferred that mortals and Gods alike just left things be. Back in Greece, I recalled how upset they used to get when workers would chop down trees to build ships. I’d spent hours consoling them after one of those occasions.
“It’s not just any flower,” Chloe adds.
I glare at Chloe. “What do you mean it’s not just any flower? What is it called?”
“Shhhh!” Charis snaps.
I lurch forward, closer, narrowing my eyes suspiciously. “What is going on?” They are definitely keeping something from me and I intend to find out what that something is. “Never mind,” I snap. “I don’t need to know what it’s called.” All I know is that it would look lovely in a vase on my nightstand.
Charis points over her shoulder. “Don’t you think it’s odd that they’re no other flowers growing around it?”
Craning my head over her shoulder, I shrug. “No. Not all flowers grow in patches or together.”
“Okay,” says Charis. “Don’t you find it odd that you don’t know what kind of flower it is?”