Spirit Wings

“Sometimes we need a little magic to get the destiny we deserve.”

I wrote this story in answer to the following prompts:
FOWC with Fandango  — Keen
Pensitivity’s Three Things Challenge — Butterfly – Breeze – Fragile
Authorworld — Picture – Dark Planet
Your Daily Word — Chicanery

Spirit Wings

The fires of fury can turn all thoughts blood red with feelings of hate and vengeance. Lauren felt that way as she stepped into her cottage and slammed the door hard enough to cause a vase to crash to the floor.

Lauren’s manager had finally used her chicanery to get her fired. The two had never gotten on and now Lauren had paid the price with her job.

Throwing off her coat and bag, she stalked into her bedroom and threw herself on the bed.

The room was never silent thanks to the ticking of the old flower-patterned clock. It resided on the wall above the shelf and an unusual but pretty blue and white tiled wall.  Every hour on the face was decorated with a different flower pattern. The clock had been Lauren’s grandmother Elsie’s until she died last year.

Elsie’s ashes were contained in the pink memory pot ordained with the butterfly beneath the clock. The bottles, Jug and lantern surrounding it were all hers too.

As her anger dissipated into bitter remorse, Lauren adopted the lotus position and began to meditate.

She focused on the hands of the beautiful clock and began to calm her breathing. With each breath, she allowed the weight to melt from her shoulders. The anger to dissolve her mind. Inviting calmness to relax her body.

It happened as a tingle of tranquillity and peacefulness descended upon her. Lauren watched the fragile wings of the butterfly flutter on a non-existent breeze.

The smallest grin of surprise lifted the corners of her lips as she forced herself to focus on her breathing. Watching, waiting to see what would happen next.

Again, the butterfly flapped its beautiful wings. The clock chimed in five in the afternoon.

Lauren released a breath and inhaled another deep and slow.

The tea light candle in the old lantern ignited with a cheery flame. Its flicker matching the movements of the butterfly on the surface of the pink memory pot.

Lauren closed her eyes for a moment. The scent of lilac and petunia drifted into being on the electrically charged air. “Nanny?” Lauren whispered.

Serene silence answered.

Lauren opened her eyes. A ball of excited energy fizzed in her chest sending gooseflesh rippling over her cool skin.

The clock was frozen, still reading exactly five in the afternoon. There was no coincidence in that.

Lauren knew it had been that time of day when Elsie’s heart gave way dispatching her soul to heaven.  “Nanny, are you here?” she whispered.

The butterfly took on a silvery sparkle as it flapped its delicate wings and left the surface of the memory pot.

Lauren followed its movements. She realised the pink insect’s silky wings were moving in time with her breathing.

The fragile and yet magical creature fluttered around her head.

A seraphic finger of energy flowed from above her right ear, smoothing her cocoa-brown tresses.

The feeling caused a bulb of emotion to rise within Lauren’s throat. Tears splashed upon her cheeks. Elsie used to stroke her hair just like that when she was upset or ill. “Oh, Nanny. I’ve had the worst day.”

Ethereal energy continued to infuse the bedroom with power so serene even the dust motes floating in the window light took on a golden sparkle as the butterfly fluttered through them.

Then Lauren heard her grandmother speak. Not in the room but within her calm mind.

‘Dearest, Lauren. My precious, petal. I want you to know, I’m so very proud of you.’

“I miss you so much, Nanny,” Lauren said through her melancholy.

‘There’s no need. So, long as the butterfly is here. I’m here with and caring for you as I always did.’

“Thank you, Nanny.” Lauren focused on her breathing and regaining control of her emotions. “I got fired today, I feel so useless.”

‘No, you were freed today. That job gave you nothing but pain and suffering at the hands of that awful manager. Ooh, it’s a pity I can’t slap her on your behalf!’

Lauren chuckled. She knew had her grandmother been alive, she probably would have gone to the florist and belted that awful woman. The mirth didn’t last long, “At least I got paid there. Now, I have nothing to live on.”

‘Nonsense, I’ve seen the bouquets you make and put on the kitchen table. You’ve learned a lot working in the shop these last couple of years.’

“Yeah, I suppose I should put some effort into getting a job in another florist. That means I’ll —”

‘No, my precious, petal. You need not be a servant any longer. It’s time for you to manage your own destiny.’

Lauren focused on the butterfly and frowned. “How? I haven’t any money even if I could do something on my own.”

‘Did you ever wonder why my lantern was so heavy?’

Lauren gazed toward the cream painted lantern. The candle still flickered serenely within the glass. “I did think it weighed more than it should.”

‘Go on …’

“Okay,” Lauren unfolded herself and rose from the bed. Every step of the way to the shelf, the butterfly followed her. Taking the lantern into her hands, she again marvelled at the weight.

The candle extinguished itself. ‘You know what to do.’

Lauren nodded. She remembered this lantern more than ever now. As if for the first time, she recalled her grandmother twisting the top off to show her. Gripping it carefully, she began to twist. Turning until the top separated from the base.

‘Well done, petal.’

“Thank you,” Lauren smiled she revealed a pink velvet pouch. Taking it out, she repaired the lantern and returned it to the shelf.

The lantern reignited at once with a cheery flickering flame.

Lauren released the drawstrings on the pouch. What she saw inside left her gasping. Two, one-kilogram bars of pure gold and a little container of gemstones. “So, this is where your jewellery went.”

‘Of all the family; you were the only one who never asked for anything when you knew I was dying. You were the only one who cared for me until the very end. You should have more than enough there to make your destiny special. Take it and run my, petal. I’ll be watching over you.’

“Thank you, Nanny.” Lauren hugged the pouch to her chest as she followed the butterfly.

The shimmering pink insect sparkled as it became one with the memory jar once more. Its delicate wings flapped twice more and then it became still.

In the same moment, the clock began ticking again. The time jumped to ten past five as Elsie’s energy left the room.

With her destiny in the palm of her hands, Lauren was imbued with a new hunger and desire.

During the following few weeks, she worked at a keen pace. She turned the gold and gemstones into more than a hundred thousand pounds worth of cash. It bought her a sweet little shopfront down the road. Exactly one month after she was fired, Lauren opened ‘Elsie’s Heavenly Flower’s.’

No longer the slave, Lauren worked happily every day in her florist. Always knowing her grandmother Elsie was there by her side beneath her flowered clock on the wall.

The End

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