Fluorescent Flowerful Sea

The day was nearing its end, and an unknown sun was setting. Though known to two, and soon one more.

Veronica followed into the room after Vidia. Approaching her bed, she looked to Vidia seemingly timid. The girl was unsettled.

Thoughts running through Vidia's head were full of what's and why's; what was happening to Gula, and why? Vidia wanted to know. But it wouldn't be until Gian-Luca got back from his trials that she would be able to question him.

Veronica observed her roommate, clearly running through a panicked trail of thought. This brought about her own thoughts, ones she'd unnecessarily but specifically relate to anything she observed—flowers. Although it was one-sided, she cared for Vidia, no matter the verbal abuse she received from her. She began to cycle through a catalog of flowers in her mind, and one in particular came up.

"Vidia."

She looked to Veronica who called her name.

"If only the facility had a garden of flowers, I'd pick out a Jasmine for you. Its smell would calm your nerves-"

"I DON'T WANT YOUR FLOWERS VERONICA!" She yelled in response.

Veronica said nothing.

Vidia's eyes bulged with disgust. Her eyes read pure disturbance at the sole presence of her own roommate. "What is it with you and flowers. Every single time... EVERY SINGLE TIME something happens you relate it to flowers and it's so FUCKING ANNOYING!!!"

The room fell silent.

"What do flowers even look like?" Vidia just realized. She acknowledged the fact that she had no memory of any petaled plant Veronica ever described. She brought interest onto the mysterious thought.

"When have we ever seen flowers? There's no garden in this facility, not even the Garden has flowers. What even are flowers? Why do you know, why do you care?" She bombarded Veronica with questions.

The concept of flowers had always been afloat within her mind; buoyant, like a ship on top a sea. But Vidia had a point, one that Veronica could not seem to ignore; what were flowers? The realization brought weight onto her thoughts, weight onto the ship causing it to sink into a sea—now a sunken ship. But in this sea were no fish, no sharks, no dolphins, no whales, no seahorses, no jellyfish, no floating sea creature of any kind. And at the deep sand bottom of this empty-watered sea were no crabs, no lobster, no hermits, no crustacean of any kind; no kelp, no seaweed, no coral, no sea foliage of any kind.

The sea was dead empty. This sea, was Veronica's mind—void of any memory to recognize the ship that had sunken, which was full of flowers. What were flowers? She didn't actually know, she just knew which ones existed, and that they did existed. The thought exhausted her flow of energy keeping her standing up, leading her to sit down. But the energy slowly drained, leading her to lay down. She noticed Vidia's tense presence disappear, and with that came an excited but jittery one that flew out the door, ready to greet Gian-Luca who had just arrived to the containment hall.

Veronica saw this as an invitation to let loose completely, as her imaginary sense of smell was becoming overpowered by the surrounding fragrance of several flowers, which were now beginning to spill from the ship, scattering the never-ending sand floor, from which they bore seeds and now grew from the bottom of the empty-watered sea—a colorful and fluorescent garden of flowers that waved with each wave the water bore on top the surface, their glows now producing light to create visibility for the unknowing eyes.

Memories would now unfold, as Veronica fell deep into the flowering sea that was her mind.