• A young girl sat on a park bench one crisp afternoon in spring. She carelessly licked her marble chocolate ice cream on an unstable waffle cone, causing dark chocolate drops to begin to pose a dangerous threat to her crisp periwinkle and pink tee shirt, while humming a foreign tune and swaying her legs in time with her newly invented song. The crisp spring air gently played with her blond bob, causing it to become unruly, and discombobulated. She turned her large and dreamy green eyes towards the ever clear blue sky, watching the few wisps of clouds, as they were pushed swiftly along by the all encompassing wind. As she became enraptured with the blue sky, a stranger quietly took a seat next to her, never taking his dark, onyx eyes off of her blond mop that was cocked upward in a lackadaisical manner.

    He was a handsome man, just barely in his twenty's, with hair that was ink-jet and cropped near his head. He was wearing a black sport coat and gray dress pants that were pressed with a graceful crease in them. There was something peculiar about this child, he decided, but he wasn't quite sure what. He tilted his head back thoughtfully to gaze at the sky with her, watching the sparse clouds be ushered swiftly by, like they were on a mission from the heavens to spread wonder and joy into the minds and hearts of all imaginative ten year olds. 'But what was it?'. His mind was baffled by this new development. What was it about her that put him a little on edge? He should be used to things like this. She was just another one of them. Before he let himself get a massive migraine from all this thinking, he dug a cigarette out of his pocket, and struck a match once, twice, three times before he could get the stress relief to light. The young girl looked at the man who had just lit the poisonous stick with an incredulous look on her face.

    “Smoking's bad for you.” she said quite firmly. “Didn't your mommy ever tell you that it was bad for your health? Put that out, before you get nasties in your lungs.” The young man looked over with a bemused expression, smirked at the young girl, and promptly put it out under his foot, earning a sparkling grin from her sweet face.

    “That's better.” she said with a smile. The child looked down at the daisies a few yards away. They displayed a series of colors, ranging from a deep royal purple, to a pure snow white. She breathed in the pungent fresh scents of the spring into her small, but appreciative lungs.

    “Don't you love the smell of flowers? I do, especially after a rain, when the sun's out to warm the earth. I feel most alive after a storm.” she said lovingly to the young man, with bright eyes that conveyed her emotion flawlessly. He looked into the piercing jade against his onyx black, and it finally clicked with him what it was. THIS was his mission? And they said she'd be a real test... He sat there a little exasperated, when the young girl cocked her head enquiringly, and asked,

    “Where do you come from?”

    “From no where.” he said nonchalantly, smiling at the young girl. She looked at him cautiously, then tentatively asked another question.

    “Where are you going?” He was smart enough to tell the girl was quizzing him. Apparently, she's done this a lot. However, his journey was nearly over, and he wasn't going to need to go any further, at least with her.

    “Nowhere, at the moment.” That answer seemed to satisfy the young girl, for she had a wide smile on her face, her eyes brightening with a shimmering ethereal light.

    “Well, since you're not going anywhere, and I don't have anywhere either, do you mind if I ask you a question?” The young man raised an eyebrow, but nodded his head in consent. She laughed, then sat in silence a while, her eyebrows creased in deep contemplation, making the young man a little anxious. Exactly what kind of question was this going to be? If in fact, the young girl was as smart as they made her out to be, then this would be another sort of test. One wrong word, and the whole mission could go straight to the dogs. AND the fact it seemed like she was stalling, did not settle his mind any, until her high pitched voice rang through the air.

    “Oh, I got it! What's you're favorite flower?” It took every muscle in his body not to fall into conniptions, which, he was sure, would have made the girl quite cross with him. That was it? The reason he was sweating bullets, was for a question like that?? He was expecting more along the lines of “What is the gathering oath?” or something harder than what his favorite flower was.

    “Well?” He sat there a moment, deciding how best to answer the question before him, finally deciding on one, he said quite simply,

    “Agapanthus...white Agapanthus.” Yes, the Lily of the Nile was his favorite flower, with its gentle spread of its petals, all six delicately placed on a tall stock, synonymous with secret loves and attraction. He looked over at the blond mop to his left as he stood, listening as she quietly hummed and repeated the word, Agapanthus, softly in a child like voice, until she stopped abruptly,

    “Do you know what my favorite flower is?” she asked, suddenly wary of the young man. Deciding it was best not to prolong his main task, he answered truthfully.

    “Oh yes,” he said softly, as he stooped down to her level, “I know exactly what your favorite flower is...and your name, my dear Willow.” She looked at the young man with a surprised and terrified expression on her face. His smile was small at the young girl's surprise, and he gently placed a pale hand on her blond bob.

    “When did you die, my dear Willow?” The playful twinkle in her eyes suddenly dropped like a heavy boulder into an ocean. She looked up at him with sad eyes, that showed her broken soul in the most naked of ways, causing him to sink back some from her crestfallen gaze.

    “...last year.”

    “Are you ready to go?” She shook her head vigorously, pleadingly; she was not ready to leave her beloved earth. The young man sighed and sat at her feet, looking up at the clear blue sky, with it's wisps of clouds being pushed along by the spirited wind. “Aren't the clouds beautiful?”

    “There aren't any clouds. All I see is the sky, so very far away...” she said back in a somber manner.

    “Oh, but there are. They are a little transparent and high, like the sky, but, you know, they're still very close to the earth. In some way, they never are truly too far from our reach.” He glanced at the young girl who was gazing at the clouds as well, then stared questioningly at him.

    “Don't be afraid. You never truly leave this place. Remember, The Black Rose is not just synonymous with death; it is also a sign of rebirth and new life. Do not worry.” The young girl cast her eyes towards the daisies one last time, with a peaceful look on her face. The young man, already standing, had placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

    “Now, are you ready?” She took one final deep breath in, and nodded her head in affirmation. He smiled, and leaned over to her ear, and whispered softly. The young girl's body suddenly became thousands of translucent lights, floating towards the clear ever blue sky that she was admiring earlier. All that was left of the young girl sitting on the bench that clear spring day, was an empty, unstable waffle cone, and a Black Rose. The young man gently picked up the delicate flower, and smiled to himself.

    “Mission complete. Be at peace, my dear Willow.”