Blooming

"Do you know the meaning of the anemone flower?"

"No."

Marie woke up with a jolt. She ran her fingers through her fringe with a sigh before collapsing back onto her pillow.

"That same dream again, huh?" She mused softly, "anemone flower? How would I know something like that? And it's always the same too..."

She stared at the early morning sunlight peeking through the window for several minutes. Wide awake she groaned and got out of bed.

She couldn't shake the feeling there was something she needed to do.

"Do you know the meaning of the anemone flower?"

"No."

Marie browsed the library with one thought, flowers. She had decided to look up anemone flowers to see if there was something important in the meaning. She shifted through the shelves bit-by-bit in an attempt to find a book that actually had meanings in them, most just explained how to plant them. Marie wasn't at all interested in that, she had already lost far too much sleep pondering over her weird dreams.

It took a while but she eventually settled into a soft chair with a book on flower symbolism. She flicked though the pages to the index and started looking for the right page. Not long into the search she started feeling eyes on her back, she turned meeting a pair of deep silver irises. It felt like she was falling and unable to stop. She just sat there staring into those eyes that swam and rippled like a lake. She didn't know how long they locked gazes for, but it felt far too long before her mind recollected itself and she wrenched herself away and turned back around.

When she looked behind her again there was nobody there.

"Do you know the meaning of the anemone flower?"

"Not yet."

'Am I missing something?' Marie thought as she waited patiently in line at the shops, 'I know the meaning already!'

Sighing softly she let her gaze roam the room. The person behind her tapped her on the shoulder, turning she met eyes of mercury and starlight. She plummeted into nothingness. Something pressed uncomfortably against her mind and images flitted by too quickly for her to really see. Before she knew it a hand clamped onto her shoulder. She landed.

She met the brown eyes of the man behind her in line as she realised she was next. She apologised breathlessly and went to the counter.

The only image she remembered was a hand covered in blood and she knew she needed the rest.

"Do you know the meaning of the anemone flower?"

"Almost."

Marie ran. All she knew was she had to find he owner of the silver eyes, yet she could think of nothing else about them to help her search. She just ran meeting the eyes of every person she could. It was well into the evening when she collapsed onto a bench with a groan. Someone sat next to her. Marie glanced up not really expecting results.

The wind whipped her hair as more images and scenes presented themselves more slowly than last time.

Blood everywhere. A hand reaching out with nothing to hold. Cracked smiles. Faceless people crying. A cliff top. Someone fell.

Gasping Marie jerked her head to the side seeing the ground rushing up to meet her she closed her eyes.

Opening them again she found herself upright as if she had never fallen in the first place. She stood in a meadow filled with rapidly blooming daisies that shrivelled and died as she watched.

"Where am I?"

"I guess you could call it my mind but it's more an old memory," a smile, "you don't understand do you? I guess it's to be expected, unfortunately I can't explain it either."

"If you can't explain it why am I here?"

"I wanted to talk to you. Doing it while you are awake is much better than you forgetting every conversation we have as you wake up. Getting you here was the hard part though."

The speaker leaned down and plucked a fully bloomed daisy, it shrivelled and died in their hands. Marie finally studied them properly. Short black hair with several long straggling parts, dirty brown skin, and bright silver eyes. It seemed too familiar.

"Who are you? What are you?"

"I am nothing except myself."

"What does that even mean, can't you give me a straight answer?"

"What if I asked you a question instead?"

"Uh..."

"Do you know the meaning of the anemone flower?"

"I-"

The next day found Marie back in the meadow.

"Welcome back."

Marie swung around the yellow skirts of her dress flaring and billowing about her legs.

"Will you answer my questions today?" She asked suspiciously.

"Ane is my name."

"Good start but why am I here?"

"Follow me," Ane answered, Marie glared at their back but followed anyway. They came across a body not far away, there was blood on the ground seeping into the soil in splotches and sprays that layered into a gruesome work of art.

"That's- You fell!"

"Jumped actually. It was a very long time ago though. I've been here ever since."

"Is it lonely?"

"Almost constantly, but sometimes, like with you, I can reach out to the waking world."

Marie couldn't explain the next words out of her mouth, "what if I stayed here with you?"

Ane looked at her almost pityingly, "you can't. Besides even if it was possible you don't want that, you have a life and I'm not taking that away."

Marie thought for a moment, "but you brought me here, why me?"

Ane hummed lightly then smiled, "maybe I knew you in a past life."

"Did you?"

"Does it matter? You're you and I'm me. We don't know each other."

"If- if I can't stay, then can I still visit you? I don't want you to be alone."

Ane laughed, "why would you want to do that? After all you've been complaining about me for the past few weeks."

"Yeah but you did it because you were alone and you wanted someone to talk to, right?"

Ane didn't answer, merely bowed their head over their feet. Marie heard them mumble something but couldn't hear it.

"So can I visit? Can I maybe, be your friend?"

"How about this. If you answer my question I'll answer yours."

"Ok."

"Do you know the meaning of the anemone flower?"

"Yes."