Elowen Opens the Petal Clock — Every morning in the glasshouse atrium, Elowen touched her nose to twelve hanging blossoms so the flower clock would open with the sun. Read the full story →
Every morning in the glasshouse atrium, Elowen touched her nose to twelve hanging blossoms so the flower clock would open with the sun. Click went the tulips, hush went the lilies, and warm mist smelled of oranges and wet stone. She wanted every visiting beetle, finch, and field mouse to see the hour bloom at once.
Until one day, the last blossom stayed shut. Because of that, the clock gave no chime, and the whole atrium waited in a dim green pause. Because of that, Elowen stretched higher than the vines, brushing leaves against her patterned neck, until a butterfly landed on a pale spot behind her shoulder. The spot warmed. Then another spot opened like a tiny petal, then another, spilling gold specks of light across the glass.
“I was the missing noon?” Elowen whispered. Finally, she stood very still while the butterflies carried the glow from spot to blossom to bud, and the flower clock rang brighter than bells. The joy felt too large to keep under her skin, so she shared it with every small face below. If you search her patterned side, can you find the petal that first opened with the sun?
