When I opened my eyes, Timothy was staring back at me. This entire time, Timothy had been alive and well. My body could not comprehend that just moments before, I believed myself to be Timothy’s murder.

Life at the patch was always stable. Each morning, Timothy and I would watch the children enjoy themselves at the park. On very hot days, Timothy’s long stature would keep me shade and his blue petals reflected a blue light. Light could actually penetrate his petals and create a beautiful shadow, whereas my purple petals were as dark as night. Summer vacation meant danger for the patch since the children played near us and a dirt crusted hand could reach up to our stems at any time.

While I enjoyed Timothy’s company, there was something else that I wanted even more than his companionship. I deeply longed to become one of them; a child! I wanted my laugh to echo in the entire neighborhood and I wanted to run wild as fast as the wind. Mother Crystal had told me that only good flowers get their dreams fulfilled. Ever since I heard about this possibly, I did nothing but be a good flower. I wrapped my petals over my body and went to sleep on time, I cleaned up the dirt around me using my leaves every day, and I also helped scare the snails away. Each day, I was more committed than ever to being a good flower, but Timothy saw right through it. He tried to tell me that it was just a lie that parents told their children so that they would be good flowers, but I didn’t believe him at all. After months and months of waiting, the day had finally come.

“Wake up Al! Wake up!” commanded a muffled voice one night. Deep in sleep, I couldn’t understand what was going on, but I felt a tight grip on my stem that scared me and jolted me awake.

“Wha” I replied in a half conscious state. I opened my petals to see a blinding light looking back at me. I was amazed to see that the Flower Fairy had finally come to see me.

“Ahh!!!” I yelled with excitement not believing the sight in front of my eyes. If I could move free from the dirt, I knew that I would have jumped high into the sky with excitement.

“Quiet!” The fairy replied in an annoyed voice. “You will wake the others.”

My smile was plastered onto my face with excitement.

“You have been a good boy. What do you wish?” replied the fairy in a rehearsed tone. I could not believe what I was hearing.

“I want to be a real boy!” I said without a seconds delay. I knew exactly what I wanted.

Within seconds, I could feel the shackles around my stem coming free. I was floating. My roots were cut free. I grew and I grew tall. Everything around me seemed smaller and smaller with each passing blink of an eye. I felt a tingle run through my leaves as tiny fingers emerged from the smooth surface that I called my arms. A crack ran down my stem and I grew two legs. I could not control my happiness. I was finally a child.

When I turned to thank the Flower Fairy for making my wish come true, I could not spot her. “Thank you” I yelled at the top of my lungs. Once the cry let out of my voice, birds began to chirp in the night sky.

“That’s weird” I thought to myself in a worried manner. Before, Timothy was the only one to get annoyed with my yells and he would always tell me to quiet down. Thinking about Timothy like that made me realize that I had yet to tell him about my new look. I couldn’t wait to play hide and seek with him like we used to in the old days. He always had the bigger advantage because he was so much taller than me and he could always see my bent stem.

Even in the dark, I knew exactly where Timothy was. I saw his shadow near the big tree that was next to our patch. I jumped with excitement just thinking about how Timothy would react.

As I made my way over to the patch, I couldn’t help but to imagine Timothy’s excitement. I saw Timothy looking so peaceful with his blue petals wrapped around him. I whispered “Timothy. Pst Timothy” just like I used to when I couldn’t sleep at night. I had to make sure not to squish the flowers around Timothy. I continued to whisper his name, but he gave no response. Since Timothy was still sleeping, I leaned in closer to his body.

“Timothy! Look at me!” I said in a louder voice. Still no response. Since Timothy didn’t give a reply, I figured that he did not hear me. Timothy had always been a heavy sleeper.

I couldn’t get any closer to Timothy without hurting the nearby flowers but I still wanted to wake Timothy up. I decided to bring him closer to me so that I could wake him up. I extended my hand to his stem and then titled the flower towards me. Once again, I tried to wake him up but still no response. Again, I thought that it was the distance between me and Timothy which was the reason behind his ignorance towards me. I wanted Timothy to come with me on my new adventures. I took my fingers and yanked on his slender green stem so that I could show him my full form.

My hands did not need a command from my brain and took charge of themselves. My grip on the stem tightened and then without a moment of hesitation, I yanked the flower free from the dirt. Instead of rejoicing in my new form, a lump quickly grew in my throat. In my hands, Timothy’s body was beginning to wilt with each passing second.

“What have I done?” I screamed in my mind. I searched the patch frantically looking for some type of explanation. Nothing in the patch looked like the wilting flower that was in my hand. All of the other flowers in the patch seemed to be very healthy and beautiful, and this sight caused me more worry and remorse than before.

I screamed with fear and regret. I was still not willing to accept that I had killed my best friend Timothy. I set out to tell Timothy my good news, but instead I made Timothy incapable of ever hearing any type of news. The energy fled from my hands and I dropped Timothy’s dead remains onto the dirt. There was nothing more that I wanted than to just be with Timothy again.

“Al” yelled Timothy in a soft voice. The familiar voice captivated my attention and I quickly opened my eyes. I was surprised to find myself in the same place that I woke up to each morning for years. Those same sounds and the same comfort from the dirt that I had enjoyed for years. I was back.

“Oh Timothy” I said in both grief and immense happiness. Timothy was alive.

“What happened, Al? Are you okay?” Timothy looked at me in that confused manner of his.


“Oh, Timothy! It was all a dream! I had a dream that I was a person and”—I chocked.

“Silly Al. It was just a dream.” He laughed at me.

“Timothy! You don’t understand, I was A PERSON!” I yelled. “I never want to be a person again” I continued.

“I told you how the Flower Fairy was all a lie” He laughed in my face. I told you it was all a lie. “Why don’t you want to be a person anymore? You have always wanted to be a person ever since we were little” he inquired with care.

“Timothy! If I was a person, I wouldn’t be able to talk to you!” I replied.

“But that’s okay, isn’t it? You would make other friends” Timothy said.

“Timothy, if friends were flowers, I would pick you” I said with complete seriousness.

“Well Al, good thing we are flowers then, because I would pick you too!” He said extending his right leaf to comfort me.