YC 118 Amore Tank Your Heart entry #3
My final entry for this fiction contest. It has been a pleasure coming up with stories for it. Hope you all enjoy, and as always comments are welcomed.
There’s a precious little gem on this planet - a species of water-dwelling flower that unsheathes its hidden beauty only at select times. Their life cycle is simple. They spawn in tranquil waters like lakes and ponds, and eventually a flower develops. The catch, however, is that this flower only blooms at night to take in the serene moonlight of the twin moons that glimmer overhead. Shy of the sun’s overwhelming rays, they close up once dawn approaches. This opening and closing continues for up to weeks at a time, until finally a flower releases its pollen which float gently away like glistening feathers under the silver light. It can be a remarkable sight, especially when multiple flowers release their pollen at once. Miniscule crypts present along the edges of their petals provide an ideal home for the bioluminescent plankton which share the same tranquil waters as them. These flowers are beautiful. They are wondrous. They are elusive. They are known as the
nocturnal bloom.
~-> | <-~
I’ve always liked to consider myself a down-to-earth fellow. I’ll be the first to admit I’m not particularly remarkable in any way. Despite growing up in the outskirts of the city, I’ve never really felt the urge to move into all the hustle and bustle. Some things are inevitable, however, and eventually I found myself working as an accountant for a big tech company around my mid-20’s. It was a monotonous and unfulfilling career, but it put food on the table. And, honestly? I actually grew to enjoy it only because of one reason - a lonely balcony which had a perfect view of the skyline. I often spent countless breaks and lunches out on this balcony. The skyscrapers seemed to reach endlessly off into the horizon, and a few of them shimmered with their crystalline window panels proudly overhead. The views at night were even more spectacular. I eventually started trying to work the night shifts.
The air was so cool and crisp. The smell was tinged with the intermixing aromas of the salty sea and manmade city. Bountiful lighting provided by the endless skyline could not overpower the shine of the twin moons above. Some of the taller buildings glinted off their silver beams. An appropriate mirror for them to admire their own beauty, I often thought. I was greeted by more or less the same sight whenever I rested my arms leaning over the edge of the balcony, as I so often did. Swaths of sparkling light contracted my pupils. Neon signs, holoscreens, street lights, and vehicle lights coalesced into a fabric of light. I thought it was remarkable how all this artificial light could never outdo the shine of the twin moons. I often closed my eyes to relish the city night ambience while enjoying the sensation of that cool, salty air rushing through my nostrils.
Over time, a change was growing within me. This hustling and bustling city, which for the longest time I had felt so ambivalent towards, was starting to grow on me. And it was all because of that lonely balcony with the perfect view. It made the monotony of my life seem all the more fulfilling and enjoyable. And best of all, no one else but me really ever frequented it. For so many days and nights, it was just me, the balcony, and the view we shared. I enjoyed those moments. Those are fond memories.
~-> | <-~
I still remember the night she came along. It was startling, honestly. For so long, I had been pretty much the only one to enjoy the balcony, and then suddenly she shows up.
It was another night shift. I didn’t mind of course, as I preferred those. I was up for a quick ten minute break. Just another part of the daily routine. I froze as I exited the crystalline window doors. Gazing out into the city skyline, with her back to me, was
her. She did not notice my presence at first. Her long and wavy brunette locks gently dancing to the rhythm of the wind. She was still wearing a long-flowing velvet dress from the employee award ceremony that was hosted earlier in the evening. The bellies of puffy autumn clouds were golden with the saturation of artificial light from the city below. I stood in awe at this hourglass figure gazing out into the city on that lonely balcony. As she finally turned around to address my presence, a precious and powerful moonbeam from the twin moons above broke through the clouds and put the spotlight on her. With those plump, glossy red lips she offered an amiable smile.
“Hello”, she said half startled.
“Hi”, I replied. I returned her gracious smile with an awkward smirk of my own.
She chuckled a bit, and waved her velvet glove-covered hand for me to join her. I obliged, and started walking. A knot formed in my heart, and a fluttering sensation welled in my core. I smiled as I finally shook her delicate hand to try and break the awkward tension stemming from my end. She smiled again, her maroon-brown eyes glistening under the silver light of the twin moons. Her elongated eyelashes fluttered playfully like the wings of a small bird drinking nectar from the sweetest of flowers.
A few moments of silent wonder passed by as we both gazed out into the cityscape.
“So what brings you out here?”, I ask.
“Oh...I decided to come out here to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city”, she says. She looks over to me and smiles, “or, at least, as best I can anyway.”
She went on to explain to me how she was born and raised deep in the city. The city life is all she has really ever known. What I have grown to find fascinating, she has grown to find dull. She craved a more natural environment. Something less chaotic, but equally chaotic. She yearned to explore more of natural landscapes beyond the skyscraper skyline.
She shared with me a story of an excursion she took a few months earlier to the countryside. She told me how, at night, she stumbled upon a peaceful lake hidden among the rolling plains. The night was kept alight by the bioluminescence of the elusive night bloom. She told me how starstruck she was. It was the first time she saw them in person. She, like me, had only ever really seen them in storybooks and educational texts in school. She told me the real thing was so much more beautiful than what we saw on holo-projectors. And I believed her.
I was so enraptured by her timeless beauty. Before I knew it, half an hour had passed and I had to frantically depart to get back to work. We exchanged quick goodbyes, and in my haste I did not grab her name. A terrible woe accumulated deep inside. I had trouble finishing my work for the rest of that night. I didn’t know if I would be able to see her again. I was comforted in my sleep that night with dreams of her and the night bloom enigmatically drawing us together under the moonlit skies of the countryside.
~-> | <-~
I’d soon find out that my fears would be assuaged by continued meetups on that lonely balcony at nights. She kept coming back, and I welcomed her company. It became my new routine to see her and chat about life. We’d talk about all sorts of things: hopes, fears, dreams, goals, all of it. Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. Seasons passed and, all the while, the cityscape remained more or less the same. We were so different, but in so many ways similar.
“Drystan”, she cooed to me as she rested her head on my bare chest. She twirled her pointer finger in slow circles around my left nipple. I enjoyed the pushing sensation of her nail gliding along my naked skin. “Why don’t we take a visit to the lake I told you about? We could request a quick vacation at the same time. We can dance among the night bloom, just you and I.”
Warm thoughts swirled around my airy mind as she made her request. I caressed her back with my right arm, and pulled her closer. “You know...we should”, I insisted. “I’ve always wanted to see the night bloom in person.” The warmth of her body intensified my comforting thoughts. She wrapped her leg further around mine and looked up at me with lustful eyes.
“Sounds like a plan then”, she smiled. She kissed me and went back to laying and resting on my chest.
I sighed in comfort and glanced out the window towards the twin moons which beamed down their silvery colors below.
A few weeks later, we again found ourselves under the moonlight of the twin moons. This time, however, we were resting on a wool quilt stretched out over the grass of a small portion of elevated ground. In front of us was the tranquil and isolated lake she talked so much about. On that particular night, the calm waters were blanketed by dozens of night bloom. A warm summer breeze brushed against our skins. Trees thick with mature emerald leaves rustled. The twin moons, emboldened by the summer sun on the opposite side of the planet, glimmered even brighter than usual. The twirling lights of the night bloom and the twin moons saturated our retinas with their ethereal beauty.
I found the night bloom pretty, but, my gaze was transfixed on her. I groped and kissed her as she lay there wondering in appreciation of the natural scene before her. Seemingly hesitant, she finally smiled and reciprocated my lust. Glistening, feather-like pollen drifted over us as I made passionate love to her under the moonlit starry night.
It was an enjoyable vacation, but soon reality of life in the city called us back. We didn’t live together, but almost a year since that first encounter our tradition of meeting up at night on the lonely balcony continued. Towards the end of summer, I started feeling a change in our dynamic. I wasn’t really sure what sparked it or why it was happening. And slowly as the days grew shorter and the nights grew longer, the rift grew wider.
Eventually, she stopped coming altogether. She didn’t answer my calls or messages. I continued the routine, hoping that one night she would be there. It was not to be, however. About a week or so later, I came across a data chip on the balcony spot we always shared. I synced up the chip with my NeoCom and a string of text popped up.
Dearest Drystan,
I am leaving. This city life is a burden I can no longer carry. I crave a different lifestyle. I’ve been trying to tell you this for so long, but you seem to just brush these feelings aside. I know how much you have grown to love the city, but I do not share that love. I appreciate the simpler, more natural things in life. You appreciate the manmade constructs which infest the planet. Your lust for me seems greater than your lust for life. And this is an irreconcilable difference. I’ve enjoyed these months with you, and I cherish the moments we shared together. I wish you the best in life, but I am moving on. Take care of yourself, and if you ever wish to meet again, you will know where to find me.Tears welled in eyes. My heartbeat raced with anguish. My hands started trembling uncontrollably. A maelstrom of confusion and sadness seized my mind. I was lost. I was empty. I didn’t know what to do. In my unremarkable and monotonous nature, I just put the NeoCom away, and sank my gaze into the more or less same cityscape I’ve grown accustomed to for so many years. It was the only thing I knew how to do. It was the only thing I could think of to soothe my shattered heart.
~-> | <-~
For years, I maintained my monotonous lifestyle. She never really faded from my memory, but when I slept at nights sometimes moments with her would resurface. I sometimes wondered what she was doing with her life now, or where she had gone. My nightmares would be the dreadful moment she stopped coming to meet me on that lonely balcony at night. They would be those words she left me which stung my heart. I spent a long time thinking about those words. After years, they were starting to make sense to me. She was right. The skyline I felt so impressed with really was nothing special compared to the vast mountains which stretched beyond the city. Those mountains I could see back as a child growing up in the city outskirts. While never really an admirer of nature, I did feel an extreme disconnect to it as I grew accustomed to city life. That vacation we took to the countryside felt so unusual and odd. But it felt real. It felt natural.
I pondered on if I would ever see her again.
One night, in a comforting dream, she popped up again. She guided me by my hand through a thicket of tall grass. Only the pale colors of the twin moons directed us. When we emerged from the thicket, in front of us was an isolated lake glimmering with the presence of countless night bloom. We walked up to the shore, and pushed our bodies close together. We began a slow waltz under the moonlit skies. As we did, the night bloom ejected their glistening pollen in unison. All around us the pollen twinkled and floated in the silver moonbeams.
I decide to quit work the next day. I gather my most essential belongings, and travel out to the countryside. Among the vast plains, endless waves of green grass dance in unison to the tempo of the mid-summer wind. I’m not sure if I’m going the right direction. All I have to guide me is the silver light of the twin moons. I emerge from a thicket of grass, and in front of me is the lake I visited so long ago. Through the rustling of the grass, I can hear humming. I walk towards the lake, which is alight with masses of night bloom glowing gently in the night. The humming grows louder - such a sweet summer lullaby. I arrive at the source, and there she is. Her long and wavy brunette locks gleam in the light of the twin moons. She rocks back and forth on her bottom as she hums the lullaby. Her white dress flutters with the docile summer breeze. Here at this lonely lake it is just her, the night bloom, and the view they share.
She rises and turns around to address my presence. With those plump, glossy red lips she offers an amiable smile.
~-> | <-~
Epilogue
There’s a precious little gem on this planet - a species of water-dwelling flower that unsheathes its hidden beauty only at select times. Their life cycle is simple. They spawn in tranquil waters like lakes and ponds, and eventually a flower develops. The catch, however, is that this flower only blooms at night to take in the serene moonlight of the twin moons that glimmer overhead. Shy of the sun’s overwhelming rays, they close up once dawn approaches. This opening and closing continues for up to weeks at a time, until finally a flower releases its pollen which float gently away like glistening feathers under the silver light. It can be a remarkable sight, especially when multiple flowers release their pollen at once. Miniscule crypts present along the edges of their petals provide an ideal home for the bioluminescent plankton which share the same tranquil waters as them. These flowers are beautiful. They are wondrous. They are elusive. They are known as the nocturnal bloom. Together, with my wife, we share the beauty of these elusive flowers. Together, away from the trivialities of modern life, we escape into a realm of utter bliss and wonder.
Author
Topic: Nocturnal Bloom (Read 1451 times)