Tallgrass blows in the wind, pushing the wooden carriages down the newly installed stone road. His legs carry him down this expired distraction to the flower shop, where he passes by other townsfolk who attempt to start small talk with him, but he merely passes by with a wave. He admires all his work in the ever-growing village that he first came to know when it was only dirt paths and a couple of shacks. His dirt-smeared white linen shirt and ripped-up shorts made him no different from anyone else there, but it was a great contrast to his past life. The robes and furs he used to cloth himself in did not define him the way he wished to be seen, so he changed what he could since his sharp features and proud stare couldn’t be wiped away. Although he hated his complexion and how his face spoke for him, she loved it. She loved every expression, every turn of his face, every inch of… him. The two built this village for a short while together. She would make the plans, find the supplies, and then sit and watch with a cup of tea in hand. He would take the supplies, gather the men, build, and at the end of every week take a lily to his fiance because it was her favorite flower. He wondered how much longer that title would last. He wanted to get married right away, but no matter how much he whined and complained, she insisted that they wait until the church was built. So he complied because, under all that sweet loving carefulness, she was as stubborn as a mule. In the end, they never did get to build that church, and “fiance” remained eternal.

“Good afternoon Adrian! I was wondering if I was ever going to see you. Thought you might’ve gone to another village for your lily”. Adrian looked over at the man confused. He was here at the same time just like every week.

“What do you mean? Have you lost your sense of time already? It’s only Thursday!” Adrian chuckled. He and Ben were very close. Adrian had known Ben since he was a young child. Ben had no family, so Adrian took him to the growing village and watched over him as he grew. Ben loved flowers and opened up a sort of farmers market and flower shop for the village. There was a part of Ben’s past that Ben doesn’t remember, and Adrian made sure to keep it that way because he knew Ben would never forgive himself. 

“I believe you are mistaken…it’s Friday”. Adrian froze.

“How could this be? I was suppo- I can’t, why am I…how?” Adrian rambled on until Ben shoved a lily in his hand. With a single nod of reassurance, Adrian was off. 

The sun would start setting in about two hours. He needed to be there before the sun disappeared completely. Who knows what her spirit would think of him if he was late. She always did like being early to anything because she was excited about everything. His feet carried him faster than ever before. 

“Of course I can make it in time, of course I can make it in time” Adrian repeated this phrase over and over until his legs could not sprint any longer. He thought to himself how much of a fool he was for using all that energy when the sky hadn’t even produced an orangish-pinkish tint yet, but he did accomplish something. He made it to the first passing village.

Out of breath, he stumbled over to a nearby fountain, knelt down in the dirt, placed the unbloomed lily on the ground, and cupped his hands. He took a long look at the water before plunging his hands into the fountain, but before he could reach his fingertips to his lips, something ran into him. He fell over on his side and dropped whatever he had into little puddles upon the dirt. Looking over him was a goat. Adrian scanned his surroundings before spotting the lily. It was only about an inch from the goat’s foot, ready to be trampled with one sudden movement. Adrian readied himself as his hand swept under the goat, grabbing the lily and getting it out of there in one swift motion. The goat startled again and ran. A man came up to him with worry written on every line on his face. He doesn’t seem to have a very peaceful life Adrian had thought. 

“My boy! Are you alright?” His fear was sincere, “I’m so terribly sorry, this happens one too many times. I feel as though I have no control anymore over them!” Adrian felt a bit of sympathy (something he hadn’t felt in a long time). Back in his village, he tried not to show much emotion, and soon it became a numbness that controlled his fears and sadness. The man rambled a few more apologies before Adrian finally caught on to what he was trying to say. “Can you help me?”

“I- uh, me?” Adrian was caught off guard by this question, his mind only had one mission, but obviously, fate had other plans. “I’m sorry but I need to be somewhere very soon and I don’t have mu-”

“Oh please! It’ll be quick! All I need is…” And there Adrian was. Rounding up all the goats he could find. One ran past him to his left and then another to his right, he thought it would be impossible seeing how quick and agile they were, but together they found all the goats with minimal time wasted. The man gave Adrian a satchel filled with some pastries and water. Adrian then placed the lily on top of everything so it would be safe. And just like that, Adrian was gone. 

After another hour of running, the sun had begun to set. Three hours left. He was moving at a decent pace and would make it in time as long as there were no other detours, but even he knew that wouldn’t be the case. Adrian approached a bridge. He always hated it here at this time of year because the water was at its highest point. It was a pretty unstable bridge, not one that had been updated. It was made of rotten wood, and string that could be compared to worn shoelaces. Usually, he would walk down further on a different path to a newly built stone bridge, but he knew this one was faster because he had utilized it when he first went to visit her. The wood then had no splinters coming out of it and the ropes had to be cut with a freshly sharpened knife to break them. Adrian set his bag down on the ground, then opened the satchel and took out the lily. He did this to ensure that if he was going to lose the lily, it would be lost along with himself. Carefully he lifted up the lily and took a quick look at it to make sure it was still in perfect shape. What he didn’t notice was that it was no longer in bud form. The lily’s center was visible and the petals had curled away from the center. It wasn’t a fully bloomed flower, but it was slowly reaching its terminus.

Adrian slowly approached the bridge, as he got closer, it seemed to have grown in length and the fall to the rushing water seemed to be farther than he remembered, but then again it could just be his fear of heights. One deep breath and he cautiously stepped one foot onto the bridge. A creaking noise resonated through the entire structure, but it seemed to hold once he put his entire body weight on it. A shaky hand gripped the thin rope hung on the side of the bridge. One step, two steps, three steps, four steps, five steps, si-. His foot couldn’t find anywhere to land, so he did what he wished he wouldn’t have to do and looked down. He noticed a couple boards were missing, so he stepped over the gap and carried on. Feeling a bit better, his confidence grew as he reached the midpoint of the bridge. He continued at a steady pace, but then the bridge shook as a gust of wind passed by, quick but strong. As Adrian gripped the rope he looked down, and froze in his place. The wind had stopped blowing, but Adrian still gripped the ropes. He started moving again, slowly, but eventually he made it to the other side safely. A sigh of relief escaped his lips and his hands relaxed. Another quick rush of wind passed by him, this time he took it in and breathed. 

Slipping further from his fingers, the lily flew up and out of his hands. The wind carried it away with intention. The empty feeling was enough for him to panic as he turned around watching the flower float into the air and closer to the bridge. Running over to the bridge he watched as the lily flew further over the edge. Adrian reached the bridge and clutched the rope. He threw his body as far out as he could to try and reach the floating lily, but he could not reach it. Instead he started falling forward even more, the rope not holding his weight and falling with him. He kept falling until he… stopped? An abrupt tug coming from his hand that almost caused him to let go, let him know that there was still hope. Dangling from one hand off the side of the bridge he watched as the rope swung him gently back and forth, he then gripped the rope with his other hand. Apart from the rushing river under him, he could hear a type of creaking, or … snapping. Quickly he steadied himself. Once he did he noticed a comforting silence and heaved a breath of relief, but then noticed a fraying of the rope. Adrian wasn’t very far from the edge of the bridge so, very slowly and carefully, he shuffled his hand closer to land. As he moved, the creaking ensued, but he paid no attention to it. Finally he reached the end. A moment of calm silenced the snapping and creaking until he swung his body to the side and reached his foot up to meet land. Pulling himself up, he was nearly there. Half his body was up then suddenly the bridge gave way. Quickly he let go before he got pulled down with it. Adrian was hanging half off the cliff, his eyes watching the rushing water engulf half of the bridge. He knew which way he wouldn’t be taking home. 

Adrian continued on his journey. After another hour of walking there was no sign of the lily. In fact there was no sign of anything. Trees, grass, and a setting sun was all he saw. Adrian was losing hope thinking he went the wrong way or took a wrong turn. Sure he hadn’t taken this path in who knows how long, but he was sure he would’ve seen something by now. Feet dragging behind him, he carried on. Soon he met an open field. The orange aura around him brought a calming sense to him that caused him to sit down. The grass engulfed the lower part of his body as he sat there in silence. Watching all that was around him he noticed a bird flying above him. His eyes tracked it as it glided closer to the ground, closer to him. It was not a bird, it was a flower. As it was creeping towards the earth, his hand stopped it. Adrian held it and examined it. He was right, it was the lily, but the leaves had rotted and the flower now drooped. Suddenly, as if Adrians fingers had some kind of healing potion in them, the flower began to stiffen, and the petals regained their pure white color and silky texture. He was amazed, so amazed that he failed to notice the figure standing right in front of him.

Slowly, Adrian’s attention shifted away from the flower and took notice of the shadow that loomed around him. As he looked up he was not frightened, in fact he was relieved. Adrian had made it to his final checkpoint, one he had not seen for some years. He then looked at the sky, about half an hour before the sun set completely. So he sprinted, he spirited as fast as he could. Luckily, he had some practice running long distances because he used to run alongside her horse. Since they both couldn’t ride it, he would insist she should sit and he would just jog. He never sold that horse after she passed. Whenever he felt lonely or trapped he’d just take it by the lead and run. He would run through the nearby village, through the tallgrass, and through the trees. Afterwards, he would ride it home and enjoy the breeze combing through his hair, flowing around his face, and blowing on his arms. Adrian’s lungs heaved, and the distant memories of him and his fiance flooded his mind just as they do everytime he gets close to where he needs to be. He had accepted what happened a long time ago, but he could never get her out of his head. Shuffling through memories brought him to her final moment; there was a kid, a kid named Ben. Adrian observed from afar, Ben was picking flowers a little too close to the edge of a cliffside overlooking the ocean. Ben stepped towards a light pink tinted tulip, she watched as he stumbled too close for her comfort. She started to approach him and called for him to not move any further, but he did not listen. He was too young to understand her concern for his life. She quickened her pace, he took it as a game of who would get to the flower first. The boy ran towards the flower and plucked it right out of the ground, and started waving it around chanting

“I got it! I got it!”

“Sto-, oh well, looks like you beat me! Now come over here, I would like to see the flower better!” she spoke softly, trying to sway the little boy to come closer to her and further from death.

“Catch me if you can!” the little boy shouted and he took off, running horizontal to the cliff. She dashed after him and once she got up to him they both stopped. The boy’s foot was an inch away from the cliff, he realized and froze. 

“Take a step towards me”, the boy shook his head. “It’ll be okay! Trust me”, she offered an outstretched hand. The boy reached for it when suddenly a rush of wind knocked him off balance. As he began to fall towards the raging blue currents, she grabbed him and pushed him away. In the process she hurtled her body towards the deep blue abyss instead. Falling, falling, falling. Dark, brown hair covering her face on either side, blue eyes looking up towards the heavens. She said a final prayer as her body was engulfed into the dark merciless waters.

Adrian didn’t slow his pace, instead he increased it. An ever growing anger formed inside him once again. Question of why couldn’t he have been there, or why didn’t she leave the child alone, flooded his mind. His breaths were jagged and his heart stone cold, but it started to soften as tears started to flow. The tears blurred his vision and hid his path from him. Adrian couldn’t see what obstacles lay in front of him. Suddenly, his foot was met with a smaller boulder, and he flew forwards. Unable to shift his body weight or catch himself, his head hit the ground first. Darkness. Stillness. Calmness. Another thing he had not felt in a long time, but it didn’t last for long. He pried his eyes open, longing to close them and get some sleep. As he regained his senses, Adrian realized how much time he had lost. The sun was almost down and the stars were starting to peak out from their hiding spots. The lily that was in Adrian’s hands had never left, but had bloomed to its full potential. Adrian knew he was close. A few more minutes was all he needed and-. He stopped. Looking back down at the ground he realized there was no more ground for him to continue on. He made it. In fact he survived it because, without that rock, surely he would have run off the edge. 

Adrian glanced at the lily and walked back over to the edge again. He raised his palm up to the sky, the lily still clutched tightly under his fingers. Breathe in, hold…breathe out, and let go. A light wind picked up the lily and sent it floating through the wind, over the cliff. The sun said a final farewell and dipped into the ocean's abyss. The stars flooded the sky, the moon shone over the land to create a safe path home. All was still. The lily passed out of view and Adrian began his walk back. Taking in all the places he had passed but forgot to admire all those years. He never got a break because it was all a routine, but maybe becoming a little uncomfortable would open his eyes and heart to see the world how she did. Still, Adrian would always bring her, her flower. Routine or not, it didn’t matter because it was her favorite flower.