The demons from the roses

I was struck by the enticing and acidic smell of the roses in the small garden… I could feel my body becoming a free and a provocative spirit. I could hear it… it sounded like it was calling me… The frail and the little… me… as everyone called me.

I was wondering whether to pay attention to this deafening voice or to pretend that because of so much criticism I’ll eventually became deaf…

I chose to answer: I’ve said “yes!”

The obscure and extremely contoured figure of a strange man appeared. I was wondering who he was and why he came so late. I froze there waiting… and my breathing was simply drowning in emotions. He then just stared at me for a long time. A thousand thoughts crossed through my mind… which was too tired at 01 o’clock at night…

I chose to be the first one that opens this conversation… which I knew somehow… that it will mark my life irrevocably forever.

-Good evening, stranger! I’ve said.

A thick and an extremely authoritative voice responded like a bullet protruding from the barrel of a pistol.

-What are you doing here so late, miss? Were you looking for me among these roses?

I froze… I knew that guttural voice and yet I couldn’t clearly remember where from… My mind was literally frozen and my muscles simply melted because of the intense fear that this stranger caused me. I was telling myself over and over again… “what was I thinking? I could have been asleep at this hour… not running after ghosts!”

I was so angry and so outraged at my personality… it always gets me in trouble…

-Miss, I’m talking to you! Can’t you hear me?!??! How many did you find?

My mind was empty. I answered dryly: -Four!

A loud laugh went through my being like a bleeding arrow. I couldn’t understand why… and how… and who this impertinent man was…

-I was referring to the roses, sir! I answered quickly in a caustic tone, ready to burn the smile from his lips.

He then slowly approaches and with his old and sick hand touches my bare shoulder and whispers to my ear:

-Too few, miss… I was expecting more from you!

He then slowly took a few steps back and smiled again revealing his shiny teeth. I was terribly annoyed! I threw away the roses which scratched the skin of my fingers, and ran away. Behind me I could hear this extremely resounding laugh…

-I was talking about the demons, miss…

I stopped for a second and breathed a sigh of relief… he was my father’s best friend… He always had this dark humor… and he was obsessed with these strange and fascinating creatures, always telling me that he actually saw hundreds of such demons. I always laughed like a child, listening to his stories. Now I’ve fallen into a trap of Mr. York…

I smiled in the corner of my mouth and ran to him…

-Mr. York… you scared me so much! I can barely breathe now…

-I thought you’ll recognize me, silly… but now I see that I’ve been gone for too long… Come… let’s get inside. I’m very cold here.

-Sure! I answered in a hurry.

I grabbed his hand and felt a chill. He was so changed… I barely recognized him. I thought it wouldn’t be so hard to see him again. I was wrong… he was almost like a stranger to me. I tried to pull him after me.

He stopped me…

-Go ahead, little girl… I’ll be right back.

I obeyed him even though I was still puzzled. Mr. York had returned… what a joy!

Behind Anna remained a black smoke and a shiver… With her… the innocence disappeared into the night… The roses, with their creepy thorns, were looking now like some monsters, ready to pierce anyone who dared to snatch them from the garden of the sun.

A thick shadow walked there under the moon… it was a cool September night when the sky was still mourning after the summer. The stars were barely flickering, hiding secrets from the curious eyes of the people.

Mr. York was indeed changed… like those beautiful roses that turned into thorns…

He slowly bent down, as if God had appeared asking for his obedience… and in a sharp gesture he touched the ground from under the bushes. There were so many roses there… that Anna could not see the cross lying underneath them.

Inside the hundred-years-old house Anna was preparing a sweet and sour lemonade for her father’s old friend. With her hands trembling from this intense reunion’s emotion… she suddenly lost her temper and the glass pieces flew onto a thousand corners.

-It’s okay, Anna… don’t worry about it… things like this… just happen. Mr. York’s warm voice was heard from one of those corners.

-I’m so clumsy! I’m so upset right now! Do you want a coffee instead of the lemonade?

-Come on, don’t pretend anymore… Come and sit in my lap now…

If at first I was afraid of this authoritarian voice, now it allured me to a world of forbidden pleasures, which made me remember my troubled childhood with MY old friend, Mr. York. I jumped like a child, waiting for rewards, directly in the old… sick… arms of this treacherous knight. I was overwhelmed by a strong emotion that warmed my body to a state of intense heat. How I’ve missed to be caressed and loved and desired…

The Roses were still on the ground…