DAILY 7.6.24: (616 words) Ashes swam around Aria's feet. The city was gone. Well, it wasn't really gone, but you couldn't very well call it a city anymore. Skyscrapers had fallen, but emergency shelter by certain factions had been built out of their remains. Many of the buildings around the city were still standing, but they left empty for the most part; too many raiders looking for supplies kept any large structures in a constant state of danger. Aria had just been out scavenging herself - she had found some spare toiletries someone had left in a warehouse. She squinted in the sunlight. The sun seemed to have become ten times brighter without the shade of buildings around her. *Or maybe constant fires had something to do with the heat.* After 20 minutes, she finally made it back to her camp. A couple blankets, a pillow, a bin of supplies she had gathered, and a couple of mostly empty crates for supplies Aria gathered made up her home. She couldn't stay at the community shelters anymore; too many people had raided each other's stashes. She couldn't trust others anymore. The next morning, Aria flipped over in her sleep; The sun was shining in her eyes. Her arm naturally went to old the photograph from off the box she kept next to her at night, like she did every morning nowadays, but she felt nothing. In fact, the box was completely gone. dazedly, she realized that something was not right with this and opened her eyes. Someone had taken everything overnight. Aria jumped up in a panic. "What?? No way. They had to have left it." She mumbled to herself, searching under her blankets and all around the scrap advertisements from the time Before for her family portrait. "Why would somebody take it?" She thought, futilely trying to reassure herself. In the back of her mind, she knew that the glass from the frame had become a rare commodity, but she refused to admit this to herself, checking and rechecking everywhere nearby. Eventually she sat down. She felt like giving up hope entirely. Sitting on the cracked concrete, she held her pounding head between her knees. That photograph - the one of the them all happy together - was the last thing she had of her family. Images of her father bleeding out and her mother's screams of pain after the first bombing kept flashing through her mind. "STOP IT. STOP," Aria screamed, her mind racing faster and faster. Her heartbeat quickened. *No. NO. I have to get in control of myself again. I can't start thinking about her.* Aria's body started to shake and she looked up for anything to distract herself. In the concrete of what used to be a sidewalk across the street from her, two flowers were blooming. She hadn't noticed them before., and wasn't quite sure how they had survived all of this time, but wasn't about to dwell on it. She slowly got up and went over to them. A tall five petaled purple flower and a white, lilted bud. The flowers colors were dazzlingly bright compared to the grey ash and dust that covered everything nowadays. Yet, somehow they were untouched. Aria remembered her sister's words - Stella had always had a fascination with flowers. "Snowdrops are the flowers of hope! So when you see a snowdrop have hope." Suddenly Aria was back in the community greenhouse, looking at flowers with her sister. "And these over here-" Stella had pointed at the purple flowers from the concrete, "These are called periwinkle! They're my favorite. They mean friendship too!" Aria smiled faintly. She had gained a little hope. Even without her sister there, she was leaving notes for her.
"Thank you for the bread, Mrs. Piccota!" "Anytime, Rosa, dear. You let your grandmother know I'll visit her next Tuesday for me!" The door closes behind me as I step out onto the street. *Ring ring ring.* A bicycle breezes past me. It's bright blue, like the summer sky. The wheels bump against the stones of the cobbled street in a way that make a funny tune. Just as they turn off the main road, the biker turns back and gives me a wave. His brown hair looks almost auburn in the golden sunlight. I start to lift my hand to wave back when I see it. In the middle of his forehead a third eye blinks at me. Before I can react, he's already gone, turned around the building. Without thinking, I drop my bag of groceries and run after him toward the stucco building but when I turn the corner he has disappeared. *Did I just imagine him?* I wonder. Shrugging, I turn back and return to main street for my bag. "Hey, Deary! I grabbed your bag for you, when I saw you run off. Are you okay?" Mrs. Piccota asks me, handing me my bag back. "Yeah, I'm fine. I thought I saw something," I start to say, but think better of it. "It was nothing, though." After thanking the baker thoroughly for keeping my stuff safe, I step back outside. The sun has started to set. I lift my bag onto my shoulder; Unmistakably, a pink flutters out of it onto the ground. It reads: "I know you are like me." *What? How did this get in my bag?* I look back towards Piccota's Bakery but Mrs. Piccota has already gone back inside. *This note can't be a coincidence.* I start rushing home. *I have to tell Grams about this! She'll know what this means*, I think to myself. By the time I get to the gate, rustle my key to unlock it, and have hopped past the flower garden and up the rickety steps, I am completely out of breath. "Oh, hello, Rosa! How did you get back from the store so quickly? Were they out of beans again?" my grandmother calls from the kitchen. She must've heard the old screen door rattle behind me as I came in. "Grams! Yes, they had your beans. I also got us a baguette to have with dinner. But I have something to ask you about," I start to say. "Wonderful. Why don't you put those by the stove for me and then go wash up upstairs before dinner," my grandmother says. "It'll be ready soon." Either she didn't hear me or she chose to ignore the last part of what I had said, but it didn't matter much to me. My stomach grumbles. I am far too hungry and tired from running to worry right now. It could wait until after dinner. After dinner, I recount what I had seen and show Grams the note. She remains quiet the whole time I talk, and once I am done she stays silent for a moment before abruptly getting up from the table and starting to clear the dishes. I get up abruptly and help her, now more worried than I was before. "Grams? What do you think?" I ask, with a slight waver in my voice. *What if she think's I'm crazy now?* I think frantically. She remains quiet, washing plates. After I few moments, she motions for me to follow her outside into the garden. She kneels down and starts snipping flowers. First a bright red As she cuts each one, she hands it to me. I notice her eyes are closed, as she feels each flower stem, choosing between them. "What are these?" I question, holding the flowers up. "Oleander, Tulip, Honeysuckle," she pauses, pointing a shaking finger at the last, darkest flower. "Nightshade." She finally looks back at me and sternly says, "Keep them with you at all times. I will get you a bag." She bustles back inside and begins to rummage around in a bin of mismatched gardening gloves, tossing gloves and scrap rags behind her as she searches. "Grams, what's going on? Why do I need these flowers?" She dances around my question again, clearly hiding something from me. "You have trials ahead of you. You must keep them safe. I wish you didn't have to leave so soon. I liked having you here with me." She finally stops rummaging, and lifts a bedazzled purse from the mess. It is covered in little sparkling gems, which form an image of a cerulean eye. The gems sparkle in a way that make it look like the iris is made of swirling, sparkling water. The eye winks at me. "GRAMS! DID YOU SEE THAT?" I shout in surprise, but she is already shushing me with a finger so I close my mouth.
