Planting Seeds of Knowledge [Open]

[Alice Perette-Johnston]

“Ohhh. I see.” Alice said with an interested nod. Flowers really were just like people, with their own likes and personalities. Each had their own culture. How nice. Alice wished that she could talk to flowers at this point, if only because she was curious about how they were when she could understand them talking back. “You must learn so many things from them!”

Autumn skipped away and Alice was left smiling dreamily at her shadow. Autumn was so nice. And she was brave too. Not only did she wear necklaces, but she made them. Autumn was a necklace tamer! She gasped simply at the thought and began to smile widely. Alice felt that she could wear any necklace that Autie made for her, because it would be a good necklace, just like she said.

Alice clapped with glee at Autie’s story about her bra stones, and then cheered when she pulled up the red one with her feet. She bounded over to Autumn, quickly closing the distance between them and seizing Autumn’s affectionately in her own. “They must really like you, those stones! They just want to be near you all the time.” She reached out and gently tickled Autumn’s sides. “Amazing, Amazing!”

Having so much fun as she was, Alice had almost forgotten what exactly they were doing. Autumn made her feel special. Good special, not condescending special like adults sometimes told her she was. Autumn made her feel like she didn’t have to be a normal girl, because she was fine just how she was. Alice liked Autumn’s confidence in herself and in Alice. She beamed proudly when Autumn used the word ‘perfect’ to describe the stone she’d found. Now she just had to remember what that one looked like so she could duplicate the find.

Alice looked down at her dress confoundedly when Autumn compared her to a daisy. “A…daisy? Are those not typical flowers?”
She tilted her head, blushing a bit at the compliment. Alice never noticed if she was ignored or not, but she was certainly not the most popular flower in the bouquet. She was odd by most people’s standards and some people shied away because of that. Alice didn’t mind. There were plenty of people like Autumn who were happy to share her wondrous world.

Blinking, Alice looked back to Autumn, turning her fingers in her dress. “Why wouldn’t anyone want you? You’re a lovely girl.” Alice insisted, reaching out and plucking a strand of grass from Autumn’s hair. “And your wedding would be just as lovely. All of the flowers would come to see their friend joined in love.” She imagined, sighing happily. “You just haven’t been around long enough yet for your special person to find you. Don’t worry. You’ll meet each other someday.” Alice assured her, looking over her newfound friend with pride. Yes. Someone would definitely marry Autumn.

[Autumn Buckland]

Autumn beamed as Alice seemed to get what she was saying exactly. Not every type of person was alike, so why should the rows and rows of beautiful flora be any different? "Exactly." She said brightly, pockets now rattling with stones. "Some plants don't even speak English to me, and it's ever so confusing." Shaking her head, the young red head grabbed another, slightly sparkling stone and held it up to the light. "I guess they aren't native species." She said in air-quotes, trying to imitate what James had told her earlier when she'd asked about it.

It was sad, Autie decided as she continued gathering little stones till her dress pockets were lumpy and heavy, that Alice had happened upon a nasty necklace. She felt the same way about few things in life, though surprise glass on the floor was probably one of them. All the same, she was never going to wear shoes until winter came and her toes were all white and purple. Still, she was going to make Alice the best necklace ever, since she was her official favourite person at the institute.

"I think it's because I turn them from something that gets walked on to something people wear and like." She cooed softly as she looked at the haul of stones in her pockets. She nearly scattered them all on the floor again as Alice tickled her, and she laughed brightly, wiggling away and throwing her arms around the blonde girl's waist in a warm, friendly hug. "Maybe the stones want to protect you from any more bad necklaces?" Autumn asked as she eventually sagged back down on the shore of the lake, wriggling so her feet were lapped at by the murky water.

The young girl patted herself down for a few seconds as she tried to see if she'd brought any stone carving tools with her, and wrinkled her nose up as she dug through her pockets to stare at her bounty of little stones. "Well." She said, taking Alice's hand and placing all the pinks and sparkly stones in it. "I think that's enough. I don't have my tools though so I can't make them up now, but we can sort them so I know what sort of pattern I can make." Rubbing her face, and leaving a slight brown smudge from the dirt she'd been routing through, Autumn smiled. Alice was definitely her favourite. She didn't think she was funny for talking to plants or walking around with no shoes or talking in quite a quaint, unusual way.

"Daisies are very nice to talk to." Autumn added dreamily, as she dropped all the blue stones into the bowl caused from the fabric of her dress stretching across her knees. "They always want to talk about places far away, and they are sad no one really talks to them. They just stompy stomp all over them or pluck them up! Or worse, mow them over." Frowning, the red head looked up with large sad eyes. "Every plant wants to be loved best. Even stinging nettles and ivy, though ivy is annoying and whispers a lot when I'm trying to sleep." As if swatting those thoughts away, Autumn swatted the air and returned to smiling. "But you are definitely a daisy."

Smiling quietly, the young girl continued to sort the stones out, looking up every now and then to watch the young couple walk along the riverside. Once they turned out of sight, Autumn simply couldn't resist growing a small white rose bush, and she touched the petals gently. "I'd want to be married in a big flowery forest, full of nice sweet smells and the talk of the trees as I walk towards a man in a dress made entirely of flower petals." She said hurriedly, her voice catching in her throat as though she could hardly believe such a thing would happen. "And you can be bridesmaid." The red head added, fondly straightening Alice's flower crown.

[Alice Perette-Johnston]

Confused, Alice twirled a lock of her thin hair round her finger. “Flowers speak English? I would have thought they speak their own different language…” She murmured, picking up a few more round stones (and a few lumpy blue-ish ones. Alice had yet to master the difference). “Flower-eese. Or something.” She added distantly, recalling times when she’d heard flowers babbling back and forth in a nonsense tongue she couldn’t decipher. Then again, she could have been dreaming.

Giggling at Autumn’s hug and nuzzling her own cheek against the red-head’s, Alice followed her brightly to the shore of the lake. Flopping down much like a doll and nearly loosing the small handful of stones she’d managed to collect. When Autie began to arrange them in her dress, Alice tossed hers in too to be sorted. Nodding emphatically Alice watched Autumn’s fingers pluck at the pink stones to sort them out. “I think if I were a rock I would love to be a necklace. Much better than sitting in the dirt all day, I think.”

Alice rolled the pinkish stones in the palm of her hand by wiggling her fingers, listening to the soft clacking and scraping sounds they made with glee. Some day these would be even more beautiful than they already were. All thanks to Autumn. Alice was glad she had decided to go walking today. She was also glad that the fireflies had made her almost step on Autumn…well she wasn’t glad she’d almost stepped on her, but she was glad that they had met. Autumn was quickly becoming one of the nicest, most lovable friends she’d ever had!

The way she talked about flowers was so charming, and the way she was so connected to the earth, they all filled Alice with an untainted joy. Autumn’s presence was soothing, and also invigorating. She was grounded, but somehow airy. Full of life! Alice giggled at the thought of being a daisy. “Thanks. I think it would be nice to be a daisy…” She murmured. “I like the big daisies in the courtyard at the school. Once I saw one grow taller than a tree…but then it turned into a tree and walked away. I think I was dreaming that day.” She babbled, chewing her thumbnail absently. “I wonder what kind of flower you would be? You already
seem so much like a flower. Like a big, red tiger-lilly.”

Alice watched in quiet wonder as the rosebush sprang from the ground, its blooms unfolding majestically under Autumn’s hand. She sighed and closed her eyes, inhaling the thick scent with glee. “That sounds so beautiful…” she murmured. Alice wasn’t sure she wanted to be married, to whom, or how. But her eyes did light up at the thought of being a bridesmaid. “Really?!” She squealed, clapping her hands as Autumn straightened her crown. Before Autumn’s hand were totally out of her personal space, Alice seized them and clutched them fondly. “Oh Autie, it would be the most beautiful wedding ever.”

[Autumn Buckland]

"Well..." Autumn began, putting a hand to her chin and furrowing her brow in thought. "Maybe I think they're speaking English because that's the language I speak, but if I was French, they'd all talk in French? Or maybe I talk a whole new language and don't realise." The girl looked befuddled. "Oh this is all so confusing!" She exclaimed, shaking her head in slight dismay. "I'm sorry Alice, I don't really understand my own power sometimes." The redhead added with a soft, defeated shrug.

Soon enough, after Autie's careful sorting, the girl had a pattern idea, and she brightened slightly, blending blues with yellows and back round. Eventually, after she'd shuffled the stones long enough, the necklace looked vaguely like a seaside sunrise; sandy yellows and browns, blues, glistening shimmering stones, pale pinks, deep reds and a few rich purples. "What do you think?" Autumn offered as she looked at the mock-up of the necklace on the grass beside them. "I was trying to think of a pattern that made me think of you."

Autumn liked the sound of Alice's voice, it reminded her of the faraway mutterings of the trees around her, and it soothed her. She was no longer sulky, or cross at Hammel for not taking the time to understand her, and instead, she felt peaceful. "I wish I could see things like that." The redhead said excitedly, imagining trees that walked. She had never tried to do that, but she had managed to make them move their branches and grow taller. "I've always wanted to sit in a tree and ride on it as it walks off into the forest. And I fall asleep and don't wake up till I'm at the sea." Her voice was low and excitable. "And then I spend the day collecting shells and making sandcastles. I like the sea."

Curling her toes in the pebbles, Autumn continued to grow the rose bush, till it was a sea of white blooms. "It would only be beautiful if you were there to see it!" The girl said sweetly, cuddling up next to Alice and watching the sun glitter off the lake. "You could make the trees sparkle, or little pixies dance around the flowers, singing. It would be perfect." She said breathily, eyes warm. As she thought on the wedding of her dreams, a few of the roses turned to different colours. Indigo, reds and yellows. "I love the idea of being with nature."

[Alice Perette-Johnston]

Alice patted her shoulder consolingly, nodding wisely. “I didn’t even know I had a power until I started school here.” She explained. “In fact, I still don’t think I’m that special.” She giggled. “My world is just the way it is!” Alice chirped. Looking at the roses curiously, Alice tapped her lips with the tips of her fingers. “I don’t think it matters how you do it…just the fact that you can is amazing. And its all that’s important.”

Watching intently as the pattern of the necklace began to emerge, Alice tilted her head from side to side. The colors warped on occasion, and she couldn’t see a pattern emerging until it nearly finished. That was when she smiled. It looked like the sun reflected in water at dusk. “I think its beautiful.” She reached out and poked one of the stones so that it clacked quietly against the ones next to it. “Like the sun.”

“I used to live near the ocean.” Alice mused. “But I never rode a tree to reach it.” She reached down and pulled her fingers through the water of the lake. “The water came right up to our house and lapped at the foundation. So there was no place to collect shells, but the water was always nice and cool.” Though she’d been informed of it many times, it had never occurred to
Alice that there was no ocean in New Mexico…unless you counted an ocean of dirt.

Heart warmed by Autumn’s desire to have Alice at her wedding, she tickled Autumn’s ears through her mane of red hair, knocking her flower crown slightly askew as the plant manipulator snuggled down near her ribcage. “I’m sure the trees would sparkle and the little pixies would come just to see you getting married.” Alice murmured. “I could just make sure everyone saw them.” Giggling as the roses began to turn, growing larger and healthier at Autumn’s will, Alice just mussed Autumn’s hair. “Nature loves the idea of being with you, too!”

[Autumn Buckland]

"Mama always thought it was because I was so close to the earth anyway. That my gift was from understanding what was around me." The girl brightened at Alice's consoling, her eyes back to sparkling and animated. "I can tell you all the herbs that are good for healing and berries and bark... and then the flower petals that make good tea, and how to get plants to produce good food." She listed off eagerly, looking around her for a moment to see if any of the plants would be around her at this very minute.

Petting the rose bush absently, Autumn leapt to her feet, nearly upsetting the not-quite necklace on the floor as she ran over to a hedge and picked a few leaves. "I'm glad you like it!" She called brightly, returning over with the leaves and plopping one into her mouth. "Mama said this was good for teeth and if you had a sore mouth." She said, offering the other leaf over with a warm, encouraging smile. "Then you can brew nettles and make nettle tea, or eat them. Wild garlic is nice too, and sometimes chives wave at me from the herbaceous borders in the Prison Ground." Yes, Autumn was referring to Hammel again.

"Wow." Autumn said wistfully as Alice talked, squeezing her eyes shut as she imagined living near the water, toes wiggling as though she was dipping them in the water. "We've been to the sea once or twice on our travels, but we never stay very long." She mumbled, drawing her feet up underneath her, and leaning forward to stare at her reflection in the lake. She rubbed at the dirt smudge from earlier, then looked back over at Alice delightedly. "You must have loved it there very much. I'd like to live next to a river. Or the sea. Or a lake like this one. They're just so peaceful." Her words were slightly hurried, as though if she said them too slowly, her blonde friend would lose interest.

Suddenly, Autumn's eyes went wide and excited, and she grabbed Alice by the shoulders, before quickly gathering the necklace stones back into her pocket. "Say! I have had the best idea!" She jumbled out, jumping to her feet and tugging Alice up with her. "We should make a secret garden! Just like in the book. A garden where we can grow things and dream and talk all day, and no one except for us would ever know about it." A smile grew across her face till even her eyes were crushed under the force of it. "And we can grow every flower and plant and herb and fruit we could ever want." Beginning to spin round and round Autumn clutched at her beads and stared up at the sky. "And and..." She added excitedly, her whole being buzzing with ideas.

[Alice Perette-Johnston]

Alice watched as Autumn suddenly bolted away after listing off the various things that plants could do. Alice had always known plants were useful but she never realized that one person could know so much about all their various uses. Always fascinated by flowers, Alice had once tried to learn all of their meanings, their uses, and their jobs in the natural world, but it had been too hard. Perhaps if she lived as close to the earth as Autumn did, she would have been able to pick it up too.

Gingerly Alice took the leaves and popped then into her mouth, chewing them thoughtfully. She felt a tingling in her teeth and gums as her teeth pulled the leaf apart, releasing the juices that ran through the veins of the plant. It didn’t really have a taste (other than earthy) but the feeling made her giggle. She could see where it would become useless for sore mouths. “Wow! You know so much.” Alice complimented.

“Oh, I miss it lots and lots.” Alice mused, absently continuing to chew on the leaf…whatever it was. (She trusted Autie not to poison her). “But I like the school. I like Pilot Ridge. Its sometimes nice to get away, but there is plenty of open place around the school and the town that I can feel opened up or closed in!” She explained, digging her fingers into the grass and letting her fingernails scratch at the dirt. “If I ever go back I’ll take you with me and we’ll go swimming! And then we can lay out and let the sun dry us off.” Alice said, hunkering down into her sitting position as she imagined the intense sun blazing the water
off of her skin. It was such a comfortable feeling.

Alice started when Autumn suddenly seized her by the shoulders, looking widely at her friend. Her already large eyes seemed to only grow larger as Autumn presented her idea.

“And it needs to be at the school!” Alice gasped as a finish to the other girl’s sentence, seizing Autumn’s hand from her shoulder in excitement. “Think! We’d be able to hide away right on the grounds, right under their noses whenever we wanted!” She babbled, her words running together as her speech picked up pace the more she went on. “No one would be able to find us there, but we wouldn’t be far away at all! It would be perfect.” She began to tug on the red-head, even as Autie was also tugging on her. “Oh, Autie! Let’s go now!” She prompted, moving in the general direction of her shoes so that they could get to work right away. “It really is the very best idea.”