Little Flowers

He bent down and picked up a small rock from the ground and passed it to Robyn. It was smooth to the touch and held the heat of the sun.

Chips sniffed at her hand, expecting it to be a treat. She showed him, and he licked the pebble as Robyn offered it to him to inspect. With his wet nose he pushed it off her palm and onto the ground. Robyn laughed. As she bent to pick it up, Francis stopped her. He gently held her arm back, and pointed to the ground with his other.

The rock was moving, wriggling this way and that. A minute more and it seemed to have steam rising off it, and it began to wheeze, then cracked, and a bright pink cactus flower sprang up and out, right there before them.

“Whoa! Did you see that!” Robyn exclaimed with the delight of it.

“Yes”, said Francis - “I did. They are called Moon Flowers.”

“That can’t be right”, said Robyn, still mesmerised by the sun and her company and the pink flower that suddenly appeared.

“Well, what I mean to say is, well, it's not that time of the moon and it's not dark and …”

- Gabriel Brunsdon, AZLANDER: NEVER ENDINGS: Second Chances