136. Visiting friends, 3

(Rose)

R - It took us longer than expected.

B - So this is where you met that woman whose language you do not know?

R - Precisely. Communication without common language is difficult. And don't you go see what's inside her head without being invited to do so again.

B - I wouldn't do that anymore. For you, I needed to. For her, it's your call. I'm happy to stay where I am. I'll help you if I can.

R - Don't worry, I know you'll behave, I was only teasing you.

B - Oh! Bad flower, bad.

I laughed stupidly, hearing her scolding of me, mocking the way I usually do to her and mimicking my tone.

We enter the cultivated square. The place didn't change much.

The child comes out because she recognised me and comes to great me rapidly. She does look surprised seeing the rose bushes growing over my chest and left arm, tangled along my clothes and skin.

It's still me. I say hello while Blume stays quiet for now.

We follow the kid soon after inside hers and her king of adoptive mother's house.

~

I hear a clock ticking inside the house. This soft unnatural noise puts me at ease. I relax better in this kind of environment.

My friend arrives. She hugs me despite the flowers in the way. She's happy to see me again.

Their first question is about me staying with them. For how long, or forever? That is a good question.

I will not stay for long, but this place feels like a home, and it was the first place I wanted to return to before deciding where to go next.

Using the dictionary, longly, slowly, we build clumsy sentences and talk. About us, about them, about all the ones who died, those who won't return.

I clumsily explain them what happened to me. How Blume is with me and within me now.

B - Hello.

They look agape, surprised and almost scared. I bet they never had a tiny white rose greeting them before. Since it happens every morning to me now, I'm not amazed anymore. But they are, and their gawking look makes me giggle. I reassure them, I'm still me, and human. Well, I'm mostly human. (and mostly me... But on some definitions, I might never have been either human nor me as I recall.)

They ask a few questions, which she answers aloud, and I translate them to my friends. There rapidly is a fourth personality revealed at the table and the mood becomes livelier once the surprise is gone.

~

Our room is so nice.

B - These two humans are so different from each other and you. It's so interesting.

R - And they are very nice people.

B - What makes one have a skin with such colours?

R - Like flowers from the same species can have different colours, so do humans. And through reproduction we can make all the hues in-between, in theory. There are an infinity of skin shades therefore. On that island we're rather pale, but humans tend to travel.

B - Skin colour is hereditary so, of course.

R - Precisely. Most of the body features are. Culture too in a different way.

~

B - Why did you wanted to see them again?

R - Because I missed them, and they are the only people left I know on Earth.

Literally...

R - Plus I like them.

B - Like me?

R - Our relationships are different. I love you too, you know that.

B - I like hearing you say it. And I love you very much.

I smile. She emits that light metallic sounds which is now the equivalent of a smile for her. Since she has no face.

We meet them again downstairs. They are beaming seeing me and quite amused seeing her.

On the table in a large pot is a very lively rosebush with white and slightly glowing leaves and flowers.

B - Is it the same species?

R - It is. The flower you used came from that plant. You made the leaves return to a more common green colour, but here's where your body came from. Though when I offered it to them, it was very little, it grew well and fast.

Zeslinry understood a little what we were discussing. One year she says.

It's been almost a year...

B - Between your wound and awakening, winter passed. You slept for months. That plant is quite resilient, it's lively too. I like it.

R - It's a pretty flower isn't it? Plus it makes this little bell sound somehow, it's funny.

B - It's a kind of pulse actually. Some kind of thread heavy with mineral elements pulses sap periodically, which makes little hollow organs resonate. In order to talk I made them grow with different sizes and the pulse reach them at will rather than periodically.

She emits a variety of sounds in accordance to her explanation. She makes a kind of instrumental music in front of the white glowing bush. The later only responding with a single note, ringing at its slow and usual pace.

It almost looks like they communicate, which is so amusing to see and hear that it makes me laugh. Zeslinry was bewildered at first, but follows me in the ridiculous spur of the moment. Blume is making music, and her (Z) plant seems to be responding.

~

We eat at dinner one of the best dinner I had for longer than I can recall.

Beside the rosebush, the child, Myls, grew too. Her dark skin is beginning to look familiar to me now. She asks me again how long I will stay. They want me to stay, sincerely.

I do too. But I want to see more of the world first.

They have maps. I show them. I want to see what London looks like now. I'd like to visit the royal palace if it's as empty as the countryside. I want to go to Hanwell too. And SHulme. And maybe Glasgow. Edimburgh. Stirling...I want to travel around the country to see what it became since my time, very long ago, and discover the new wonders.

If I could, I would like to see the whole world. But without ships to leave the island, I'll settle first for a tour of England. My dream to visit the continent can wait a few more years.

I assure them that I will come back to them between each expedition around the land. They are my family now. And I value greatly the haven they built.

They fear extinction. Me going away feels like a step further toward the end of the human species, and that makes them uneasy. They want us to stick together.

We can't quite share that feeling. I think it's good and wonderful that they manage to settle and live here. They keep a stable base, a set and safe city. On my side, I probably will later want to live my life similarly, someday. For now however, I want to travel and explore.

My time to return to a sedentary life hasn't come yet.

And meanwhile, I love that they do and keep a haven safe and lively.

They end up understanding my point of view. They could use news from the rest of the world. They have everything they need around to live and build a long life, but knowing more about the world wouldn't hurt.

It's been four years since the end of times and civilisation. One day as they tell me, humanity suddenly went almost extinct and the world deeply changed.

They tell me how they met after that, and were no longer all alone in the world. It's vivid memories they share with us.

The latest of the tales I listen carefully to, is how they survived together and managed to settle there in this curious land.

~