The town of Shanville was sunny and stunning. Bright light and light air. The entire town was cobblestone laid; an eye-pleasing brown and white patterned road. In the lively town square, there was a stretching, magnificently carved fountain that was deep enough that it went up to an adult’s waist when they waded inside. Children threw shiny bronze coins into its depths as the warm sunshine beat down on their backs, adults wandered to and fro around the bustling, but not jam-packed, town square. Shanville was also especially colorful. All year round it broke into blooms. Shopkeepers hung swinging flower pots before their outdoor and interior windows. Town guardsmen tied flowers outside of the guard station in vibrant bouquets. Men presented colorful bouquets to their wives and boys to their crushes. Golden hounds trotted the streets happily with roses, free of thorns, pinned to their collars. Calico cats stretched themselves on the warm soil of large flower beds, dotted with violet, reds, and blues. The very flag of Shanville was a series of three, small, yellow Sierra Suncups printed on a warm green background with a mighty, startling, and otherworldly blue lily breaking through the trio to be the centerpiece. And there was good reason for me to personally be fond of the flowers. My family sold them.

“Lauren!” I looked over, my lavender eyes calm but focused as I turned them away from overlooking the merry day on the street below. 

“Coming, Mom!” I looked longingly back out the window for a moment before rising briskly from the stool I had been perched upon. I hurriedly went down to meet her. 

She was fussing when I came downstairs. She was in our storefront shop, her black hair a mess around her head, little wispy pieces breaking loose from under her silk scarf of red and purple. She was finishing tying the decorative paper around a bouquet of yellow and red roses. She quickly shoved it to the side, towards the pile with the others, and then ran across our small shop to pick up some fresh yellow roses to make a new boutique. 

“Ah!” she cried, quickly pulling her finger away and then sucking on it. 

I wandered over and asked, “Do you need help?” cocking my head.

She frowned. “Stupid thorns.” she complained, not to me, and then looked at me, “No, just deliver these for the festival. The town square. Gwendolyn. You know her? She’s the one who ordered these.”

I nodded, looking back to the twenty or so boutiques. “That’s a lot of flowers.” 

My mother snorted, “You didn’t see the half of it, being in school yesterday; me and your father had to go out, back and forth, half the day carrying pots and bouquets. Your dad about threw his back out.”

I frowned, looking around warily at our shop. “Where is Daddy?” 

“Out in the nursery.” Mom answered, already returning her attention to the fresh yellow bouquet which she began rubber banding together at the stems, her expertly quick and careful hands doing well to avoid the thorns after the previous prick. 

The ends of my frown deepened, “But I told him I’d take care of that.”

Mom sighed deeply, not looking at me, “Lauren, with school you can’t keep up with everything. You were up until one am last night.”

“And?” I asked with a frustrated expression. She paused her work and gave me an exasperated look. 

She shook her head in disapproval, saying, trying to sound casual, “I don’t want you to go to school sleep-deprived, how will you learn anything then?”

“I do.” I reassured eagerly. She gave me another frown, but didn’t look at me.

  “. . . Just go deliver those to Gwendolyn and then come back and-“ She smacked the yellow boutique she just finished to her left, “Then I’ll have another order for you to take to Sam Smith up on Saint Way.” 

I nodded and then went to get the bouquets of yellow and red roses. 

Dragging along our Smithharrow, creaky, old family wagon, the wheels squeaking and exterior brown and rusty, I appreciated the beautiful decor. Shanville was even more beautiful than usual. Where there were usually just flowers and smiling faces, now there were hand-painted, and studio printed, banners, in pink, blue, neon orange, and startling red. There were streamers taped above every door, in a bright array of metallics and sparkles. Helium balloons had been staked in little groups at every street corner, tied with bright blue bows on street lamps or on the cute wooden street signs.

“Quite the mess, huh?”

I looked over with shock at the voice. Damian had snuck up on me again.

“Will you stop being so sneaky? You always scare me.”

He smirked his cracked lips at me, “When will you stop being in la-la land? I just strolled up behind you, you’re just never watching out for me.”

I laughed lightly before looking around again, my eyes admittedly caught up in all the beauty all around. “How can I be? Just look around!” Damian did. I laughed, “Shanville is beautiful! I’m not sure I’ve ever seen it this beautiful.”

“I have. I mean King-Sming, hometown celebrated bigger than this for my birthday.”

I laughed, denying, “Uh, no, me and Amy had to drag you out of your house to do ANYTHING that night!”

Damian shrugged, smiling weakly, “Alright, maybe I remember it wrong.” We walked along in silence for a moment, me admiring the beautiful surroundings. Damian looked down into the contents of the old but trustworthy Smithharrow wagon. “Are these for the feast tonight?”

I nodded, “Yes.” Smiling, I laughed, “You have no idea how proud my mom is, even though she won’t say it outloud, that Smithharrow Flowers and Buds was chosen to supply part of the flowers for the Speech! My mom and dad were swamped yesterday! When I got home from class, they had me leap into action! I was happy to help of course!”

“Aren’t you tired?” Damian asked, “Just thinking about that much work makes me exhausted.”

        I shook my head no, “‘Course not. We gotta make a living, right? As Mama says, ‘you don’t work, you don’t eat.’”

Damian frowned, but nodded. Suddenly I felt some resistance from the wagon. I frowned, stopping, and Damian asked, “What’s wrong?” I kneeled down and inspected it.

Sighing, I inspected the back wheel. “Nothing much, just looks like that stubborn back wheel got stuck again. Do you-?” I looked up hopefully.

He nodded, “I’ll go grab some grease.”

I smiled gratefully, “Thanks.” As he ran off, I thought to myself, what would I do without you, Damian.

Me and Damian had been friends since we were like ‘this’ high. His dad and my dad met at the plant health and wellness convention, Shanville hosted the national one every year, and had been inseparable ever since. My dad loved Mom, me, and Timmy the most but his second love in this world was definitely the flowers; all of them!-probably why he started Smithharrow Flowers and Buds in the first place. I think Mr. Cooper and my dad were able to get along so well because of their shared love of plants, that and the lack of awkwardness from NOT being competitors. 

Shanville was known for its flowers, the soil around here grew them larger and with brighter hues than anywhere else (so our town self-proclaims anyway) so there are a lot of other flower loving families, just like ours, that decided to throw their floral hats into the ring and take their shot at being the most successful flower supplier in all of Shanville. 

We fought hard for every order we received and each client that came back afterward. Competition was so fierce it often made things awkward between the families of the flower shop owners, it even trickled down to the kids of said families. Like Matthew Littlebomb for example, of Littlebomb Flowers and Flowering Plants- he was in my class but we barely ever talked to each other. Not that I held anything against him, it was just sort of awkward between us, knowing our families were competing for business. 

On the other hand, though, while Damian’s dad’s job was similar to our family’s, it was still different enough to not cause any tension. He worked as a gardener, with Damian as his Assistant Gardener, or Junior Green-thumb Boy as Amy liked to call him, at the Royal High Academy for the Young Ruling Class, or RHAY-RC for short; said RHAY like a ray of sunshine and RC like the two letters. Damian’s mom was lucky enough to be a homemaker, with a stay at home, small-scale catering business. 

Amy, my other best friend of many years, also worked there, at RHAY-RC; it was like everyone BUT me in the friend group did. I had to admit I was a little envious of them. I mean imagine having access to that GIANT library; I hear that they have every book published EVER within those grand walls, and that the Land and Sea Dweller World History section is as big as ALL of Shanville! All those amazing teachers and tutors at the very cutting edge of their respective fields! Ah! It all sounds too amazing to be real-but it was! Of course, I’ve never seen it for myself, but word of something THIS amazing does not stay obscured for long, that’s for sure! 

I looked off longingly to the not-too-distant Mt. Regiis with the castle-like campus of RHAY-RC sitting there atop it, watching over our bright but humble village. I would love to go there someday. 

I quietly laughed to myself, straightening up. Please, I thought to myself, staring with dry bemusement down to the rusted and currently still wagon, like the girl with a wagon wheel too rusty to even move would ever get to go THERE, and anyway, I was needed down here. 

I had to help Mom and Dad with the flower shop. We couldn’t afford to hire even a part-timer so me was all we had! Plus, I had friends and classes down here, and I was content to relax with the history books I had down here, in my bedroom, at the end of the day when the work was all over. I had a good life.

Damian returned shortly with a small, stained grease canister. I smiled with gratitude, squatting down next to him as he knelt down to apply some to the rusty wheel, “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.” he replied, “Dad always has to grease his shears before he uses them, so we have plenty lying around.”

I nodded, “Can you let me pay for it?”

He gave me a dry look, “As if I’d let you pay for a few drops of grease.”, before pushing at the wheel with his hands with some force and effort. “Annnddd, here we go!” he cried as the wheel gave way and rolled forward again. I smiled at his happy expression. 

“Got it.” he reported, looking to me with satisfaction. Damian’s amber-caramel eyes always looked so sweet and innocent went he got excited over something, which wasn’t super often. I always appreciated that look whenever it appeared.

I immediately began pulling the wagon again, Damian coming up to my side and walking with me. He looked over at me with a casual expression and asked, “Are you coming to the festival tonight?” 

I shook my head no, still smiling, “I have to finish the chemistry homework that Miss Abella assigned to us on Monday.”

He frowned, “I’m surprised you haven’t finished that yet, being Ms. Abella’s favorite and all.”

I laughed, trying to relax him, reassuring, “I’ve started, promise, I’m almost done. I just need to do a couple more questions, then read a few more chapters from the textbook. Did you go through it okay? 

Damian shrugged and answered, “I guess so, it was alright. I finished it Tuesday night. 

I nodded quickly, a bead of sweat on my cheek, “Great, I’m glad to hear that.” I quickly changed the subject, asking, “Are you going to be attending the Speech and Festival tonight? I know Amy has been really excited about it since, like, forever.”

Damian shrugged and looked indifferent, “Well, only the most powerful King in the entire world is coming to visit our little, humble village, I understand why she might be a little excited. Although why he is still coming to our middle of nowhere town confuses me. Maybe it’s just an excuse to see his spoiled son.”

I smiled slightly and replied, “Yeah maybe.” laughing a bit. 

“Still the big man coming here has been really good for your family’s business, right?”  he asked me.

I laughed a little self-consciously and replied, “Yes, it has been. That’s why I’m trying to get this order to Ms. Gwendolyn. She’s in the Town Square, setting up for the festival.” I gestured to it with one hand as I heard the wagon squeaking and creaking along behind me; full of all the yellow and red roses for the delivery. 

Damian smiled and asked, perusing the inventory in the cart, “Why red and yellow? Would have thought we should go with an ocean theme.”

“You’re funny.” I said waggishly and with light chiding. “I think the King wants to come here to appreciate Shanville’s unique charms, not relive the glory of the ocean. I am sure he sees plenty of blues and greens at home.” I smiled, “We have to show him how great our town is. I’m sure he’ll love it.” I looked around lovingly before saying aloud, “Just like I do.”

Damian frowned and remarked, “I’m not so sure.”

 I frowned back, “What do you mean?”

“The King is pretty old, right?” Damian asked. “He’s only come to rule our land in the past two decades or so, right? And before that, well you know.”

I looked down sadly to the ground, “I know.” 

Damion frowned at me, asking, “What if he doesn’t like us? What if he doesn’t like Shanville’s ‘unique charms’ like you think he will. What does that mean for us? Will we be. . . in trouble?”

I frowned, saying quickly, “You can’t talk like that. The King has been very kind to us all these years. He’s protected us our entire lives, Damian!”

Damian frowned and said scowlingly, “Well his son isn’t exactly a ray of sunshine to us Land-dwellers.” 

I sighed, firm in my stance, “Whatever his son’s personal beliefs, they don’t have any impact on the King and we shouldn’t judge the King for the prince’s actions. We have no reason to assume he has any ill-will towards us, in fact we have every reason to believe just the opposite! I mean he’s literally coming to our small town, just to visit the people, HIS people; the common folk! That shows how much he cares! Don’t you remember our parents’ duty and the one we’ve inherited from them?! To bury the hatchet, to cleanse the bad blood, to rebuild harmony and union between are once two separated peoples!”

“Yeah yeah, go ahead and keep parroting the propaganda, Laurey, I won’t stop you.” he responded unhelpfully. 

I sighed, I was NOT getting through to him. I knew Damian was a bit cynical about the royals but I didn’t expect an outburst like this from him at what was supposed to be such a joyous time! 

I looked at him-gaze strong; my resolve not being deterred. I pronounced, “You’ll see tonight, Damian, when the King gives his speech and attends the festival that he is a just ruler, who has kindness and love for his people, which we are! It is our duty to be his people for the unity of everyone on the planet, for the safety of Land dwellers and Sea dwellers alike!”

Damian frowned at me again, his amber-caramel eyes looking sad, looking at me from the other side of the, yellow and red rose piled high, wagon. He was quiet for a moment before he relented, giving me a small smile, “Sure, Laurey, let’s just have a good time tonight. You’ll be attending the feast and speech at least, right?”

  I nodded, smiling, “ I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

He smiled, “Great, me too.” He laughed a soft laugh, “I mean you basically are being forced to, Amy would KILL you if you didn’t get to see her in that dress she’s been blabbering nonstop about.”

I laughed back sheepishly, smiling, “Yeah, I’m excited, it sounds so amazing! I’m sure she will look incredible in it.”

“What are you wearing?” Damian asked offhandedly.

“Oh, I-” I looked off to the side, thinking about my old purple and black dress I had worn for the opening ceremony of our shop; that had been years ago now. Ugh, that worn, ratty thing was so old now, would it even fit anymore?! Mom and Dad bought it big so I could wear it for years but. . . . A sweatdrop on my cheek, I answered, “I don’t know yet.”

Damian proclaimed, “What?” with a dry look, “You know the King is coming TONIGHT, right? Not tomorrow or the day after!”

“Yeah, yeah, I know!” I cried, pouting out my lower lip, “I’ll find something, okay?”

 Damian frowned at me again before I interrupted, “Why are you even scolding me? Have YOU decided what you’re wearing?” 

He gave me a calm look, smirking, and putting a pale hand on his chin in an L position, “Of course, the suit I wore to Domonic’s engagement party, Laurey.”

I scowled, “That thing didn’t fit you then, why do you think it will fit you now?”

He looked over at me and his cheeks dusted with pink, “You. . .you think I’ve grown?”

“Of course! We all have!” I answered quickly before looking down to the ground, grabbing my own chin, “Your brother is still crazy for getting engaged so young.”

Damian shrugged, “Domonic’s always had a screw loose.”

I laughed, chiding, “That’s mean!” 

He smirked at me back, “Like you don’t complain about Timmy.”

I sighed, “Don’t get me started on His Majesty Timothy.”

Damian chuckled lightly, “Still spoiled?”

“Unbelievably so.” I sighed, “But I still love him. I mean. . .he is cute, I get why my parents spoil him.”

Damian laughed, “He is the baby after all.”

I laughed, reaching over and poking his nose, his amber-caramel-y eyes widening, “Like you?” 

He blinked widely before blushing pink, “N-no, not like me. It’s not the same.” he grumbled.

I laughed brightly, “Why is it different? You’re the youngest!”

“I’M not spoiled.” he replied defiantly, crossing his arms over his chest, still walking with me, “And because Domonic doesn’t act like the eldest, that makes me the de facto eldest in my parents’ eyes.”

I giggled. “Rough.”

He rolled his eyes, “Whatever, I don’t mind, well except when I have to deal with those royal brats.” 

I laughed brightly again, my eyes shining, “Alright, de facto eldest Damian, let’s get these roses to Miss Gwendolyn.”

He smirked, shaking his head in disbelief, before agreeing, “Alright, let’s do it then!”

We entered into the town square, which was even MORE festive than the rest of Shanville at the moment. There was a huge stage that had been constructed over the last couple days here at the east end of the square. I looked at it with wonder. That is where the King would be giving his speech, in just a few hours later today. 

There were members of the Shanville township council scurrying everywhere, marked by their green, yellow, and blue uniforms. Our flower emblem on their jacket’s left breast pocket marked them as being of our hometown; on their jacket right breast’s pocket was a leaping blue dolphin in front of a large conch, the symbol representing their fidelity to the Ocean Empire. 

There was a large bonfire being prepared for the festival near the back of the town square, which would be the star of the Floral Ash ceremony later tonight, a Shanville tradition which was going to be performed for the King.

The local legends in Shanville say if you are sprinkled with the ashes of all thirteen types of Shanville unique flowers, you would be granted all different types of blessings and good fortune in one’s life. Yellow freesias(Free-Z-a) were burned to bless someone with sinlessness and joy, lilac roses were used to grant someone a long life, blood red alstroemeria(al-strat-mare-ee-a) were said to bless someone with devotion and mutual support, pink gladiolus(glad-eee-o-lus) flowers were burned to grant someone strength in times of adversity, green dahlias’ ashes granted one boundless creativity while orange cosmos gave one good health and vitality; pink-purple hyacinths(Hi-ah-synths) were burned to give one a playful spirit to laugh easily, the ashes of deep purple lisianthus(Liz-see-an-thus) were supposed to help develop an outgoing, bright nature in a person, brown and cream gazanias(guaze-ni-as) gifted good fortune and wealth, red, blue, and white beardtongues were burnt to fill one with enough courage to last a lifetime, purple and white Gloxinias(glock-zinias) were given to the flames to bless someone with a noble spirit, the ever beautiful and multi colored bird of paradises were burnt to gift someone with true freedom, and lastly blue orchids which were burnt to bless someone with experiences that were so rare and special as to come just once in a lifetime. 

While I did not think sprinkling anyone with floral ashes, of any flower, could bless anyone with any particular trait or blessing, only Jesus could do that- it was an extremely fun and rich tradition of home and it was a rite of passage for all children of Shanville when they turned fourteen. As such me, Damian, and Amy all had already partaken in it. In fact, me and Damian birthdays were only two weeks apart so we had a joint one. Amy was so jealous she didn’t get to join us but she’s a whole six months younger than us so it would have been unfair of her to skip ahead like that. 

The Floral Ash Ceremony is overseen by at least one member of the Shanville Township Council and it’s traditional to celebrate with a party afterwards, of which me and Dame had a shared one his house, which, while cramped, with both me and his family and both our extended families and Amy and Amy’s family, and our friends from school, I thought I was going to die from not having enough space to even breath- but it was super fun and I wouldn’t trade the experience for the world. 

My dad had originally wanted to have the party afterwards at our house but after another look at our tiny kitchen, observing our so oh elegant cupboard door falling off and our permanently three burner burned out stove, he decided against it. Good call, I mean I was actually so cramped I felt like I was dying at the COOPER’S house, if all those people tried to fit in OUR house, I think I would have actually died by lack of oxygen in my poor lungs. What a party surprise that would have been.

Other than the bonfire and newly built stage, there were large wooden feasting tables with many foldable chairs that were set up, off to the side. The whole town was expected to attend the momentous event. After the speech, the township council would set up the tables and chairs for the feast while the crowds were ushered over to watch the Floral Ash ceremony of the King. 

I felt a little bit of doubt, spurred to life by Damian’s doubtful words earlier. 

Would. . .would the King really like a Land-dweller ceremony like our Floral Ash ceremony? I mean it so intimately involved the earth and its fruits and the very act of burning the flowers was so Land-oriented as well. Fire was a bit. . .taboo?-amongst Sea-dwellers, right? Fire was dangerous to them, I mean, more so than it was to us. And they certainly didn’t have fire underwater. Maybe. . .maybe we should have picked something else. 

I shook my head, trying to rid myself of doubts. No, I thought stubbornly to myself, the Floral Ash ceremony was integral to Shanville’s history and culture and it was BEAUTIFUL! There was nothing offensive about it! Plus, the King had come here to appreciate our, his people’s, unique local customs and get to know us! He was very kind and benevolent; I was sure he would like it! He just had to! Ugh, stupid Damian, I shot him an annoyed look, placing these doubts in my head.

Other than the scurrying back and forth of the members of the township council, the square was also full of busy merchants that were going to be selling food, jewelry, clothes, memorabilia, and other wares to the festival-goers. My own family would bring our movable flower-selling stall as well later, closer to when the crowds arrived. I kinda wanted to see if there was anyone who was going to have a stall set up to sell books but then I reminded myself that it wouldn’t be good for myself. I mean, even if I saw any books I liked, it’s not like we could afford them anyway. So, no need to get my hopes up.

Finally, me and Damian approached Miss Gwendolyn of the Township Council. She wore the same green and yellow, blue accented, uniform, that in tandem with her bright red hair she wore in spiky pigtails(Miss Gwendolyn was an eccentric woman),  she looked as colorful as the decorations all around her. She was currently looking down at a clipboard in her hands and talking quickly to another member of the council.

“Yes. . .no! Ugh, I told you already!” We heard as we approached with our squeaky wagon. “The food has to include vegetarian AND vegan options! This is the biggest celebration in our HISTORY! And you’re telling me we can’t provide the food people want!”

The council member being lectured, shrunk, looking nervous as he answered, “But our shipment of imitation egg is going to be late, so I just t-thought that, so the chefs don’t have to st-start late, we could just use r-real-!”

“The only real eggs we are using in that vegan dish is ones you lay yourself, you hear me, Johnson?!” she shrieked.

He cowed, replying, “Right, sorry, of course!”

“Now get out of here!” she snapped, “And find me some replacement imitation egg or you’re fired!”

“Right, yes, of course, Ma’am!” he cried before running off, looking terrified for his life.

Damian remarked, as we came up, “I didn’t think you had that right.”

Ms. Gwendolye’s head snapped over to us and a bright smile spawned over her face! “The Smithharrow and the Cooper kids! Finally! Did you two get here okay?! What about the flowers?!”

I opened my mouth to assure her everything was here when she darted past me, in between me and Damian to look in the wagon, “Ah, yes, they are all here!” she announced.

Smiling, I nodded, “Mmmhmm!”

“Brilliant! Brilliant! One more thing off the list!” She lifted up her clipboard and checked off a box with her pen. “And, for your information, Little Mr. Know It All,” Miss Gwendolyn added, looking at Damian from over her nose with squinty eyes, “I, as Head Chairwoman, can do whatever I want!” She quickly looked back down at her checklist, “It’s my responsibility to make sure we woo the KING OF THE OCEAN with this festival after all!” She looked off longingly to where her subordinate had run off to, “If that Johnson wasn’t such a dreamboat, I’d fire him in an instant.”

Damian said dryly, “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.” I chuckled awkwardly. 

“Anyway!” She shot a look back at me and Damian, “Bring those roses to Simona over there!” She pointed off at a member of the township council near the south of the town square, who was currently directing two different members, who were up on a balcony of a nearby building, trying to center a large studio-printed banner which read in digital font, ‘Welcome KING OF THE OCEAN to Shanville!’ with a subheading of ‘May the Unity of the Land and Sea Last Eternally!’.

“Okay!” I replied, “Will do!”

We quickly started over and Damian questioned, “You think you can handle it from here? Dominic wanted me to take him to the tailor shop last minute because he doesn’t like the way his jacket fits him anymore.”

I stared at him dryly, “Why does he need an escort?”

Damian’s exasperated expression mirrored mine, “Well. . .because he’s Domonic.”

I sighed and shook my head, “May God bless his soon-to-be wife.”

Damian laughed, “I don’t know, since Sarah agreed to the engagement even after knowing my brother, I think these kind of Domonic-isms are exactly what she deserves.”

I looked at him with concern, “But the tailor shops will be swarmed with other procrastinators who also waited until the last minute!”

Damian rolled his eyes, smiling, “It will be fine. So, you okay?”

I sighed, nodding, “Of course, go. I’ll see you later tonight at the feast.”

He nodded, saying, “I will tell Amy that you will still be going over to get ready with her, right?”

I paled, “Oh, that?”

He frowned, pausing his stride, “You forgot?”

I looked down with guilt, “I promised my mom when I got back I’d help with deliveries.”

“You always help with deliveries.” he retorted and I lied and said,

“Not ALWAYS! You’re dramatic. I’ll, uh, I’ll apologize to her later. Tell her I can’t, will you?”

He looked off the side, looking uneasy, before sighing, his whole shoulders deflating, making my guilt build even more, “. . .Okay.” he relented.

“I-I would if I could.” I said quickly, “I-I’ll apologize myself later too, don’t do it if it’s too much stress.”

“And what?” he asked, “Just leave her waiting, thinking you;’re coming?”

I frowned, looking down to the ground. Yeah, ugh, this sucks, how-how could I have forgotten this? I thought guiltily, now not only am I disappointing Amy who has been looking forward to this festival for MONTHS but I’m putting Damian in a difficult position.

“I’m. . .sorry.” I said. Thinking aloud, I remarked, “M-Maybe I can get out of it.” I felt guilty saying that too, Mom and Dad needed SO much help, to bail on them was so not cool! Even so, I continued, “I-I’ll ask my mom!”

Damian nodded, approvingly, saying, “Good, I mean, if you miss. . .you know how disappointed Aims will be. She’s been going on to me for weeks about how she’ll finally get to see you, cause ya know, you’re so. . .”

“Busy, right, I know. I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright.” He shrugged, “Just. . .if you can.”

I nodded vigorously. “Yeah, I will!” I replied, “For sure.” appeasing him.

He smiled, relief brightening up his amber-caramel eyes, “Good. I. . .I think it will be good for you to just take it easy and get ready with her too. You’re always, ya know. . .” I looked down to the ground as he finished, “working on something.”  

“Yeah. . .I. . .I’d like that too.” I said, curling a hand up to where my heart laid beneath on my chest. I. . .I hadn’t been able to see Amy outside of class in weeks. Damian was good at tracking me down while I was working, like he did today, or visiting me in the shop, but Amy worked more hours than Damian did, and she always wanted to do something, not just sit around and watch me work, I mean how boring must that be! and I. . .I wanted to do something too! I-It had been so long since I’d gone up to the treehouse with the two of them or out to the swimming lake! Or gone dress-shopping with Amy or bird-watching with Damian, or-or out to a party any of our classmates were hosting or out to a party WE were hosting for ourselves!

It felt like just a few months ago was the summer between eighth and ninth grade in which we spent every waking moment together. We had spent almost the whole summer either in the treehouse or the lake, so much so that Damian confessed to us that he fell asleep with his swimsuit on under his clothes one- or two-times which Amy and me teased him relentlessly for. We ate watermelon at Amy’s house every evening and tried to catch the fireflies between our hands afterwards. I still remember Damian slipping while trying to catch one and he ended up headfirst in a mud puddle, which, after we checked he was okay, we also relentlessly teased him for.

That summer, I was outside so much and I wore my shoes so little the bottoms of the feet turned a dark brown from the caked-on dirt and my skin was so tanned it made my pasty white skin look closer to Damian’s tanner color. Amy and me designed matching dresses and then we tried to force Damian to wear the matching suit we made him but he refused since it had more sparkles, feathers, and sequins hot-glued onto it than a textile factory had on its floor. I smiled at the memory, in hindsight, I can totally understand where he was coming from, those things were ugly but, I still kept mine in my closet to this day, in the homemade plastic garment bag Amy had made me, out of hot-glued together, gallon-sized, plastic Ziplock bags from her kitchen. I kept it there because it was a cherished memory, because it was something we made together, something we made it as friends. . . 

And then there was the highlight of it all, the trip to the beach. Amy’s dad had driven us-he was the only one of all our parents to own a car and he took us down to the beach, right to the ocean where our King lived. It was a rocky, brown strip of the earth that lapped the water but to me it was the best, and only, beach I’d ever been to. So that was precious too. We played in the rough waves and warm water, Amy and Damian having a diving competition to try to find the biggest underwater shell, Amy and me burying Damian up to his neck in sand(he complained he was still trying to get the sand out of his body weeks later), and playing marco-polo in the ocean water, like we did at the lake. Finally when the sun was setting we sat on the beach, eating cherry and mango flavored popsicles Amy’s Dad had bought from Land-Mart. As he was off getting the car ready to go back, I started crying, admitting I never wanted this summer to end, and Damian had comforted me and Amy had made us promise that we’d all come back next year. Damian promised we would, I had promised too. . . But next year, Amy was busy with her training period as a junior security guard for RHAY-RC and didn’t even bring it up. Maybe she had forgotten. Damian mentioned it but said he was too busy helping his Dad install a rock garden at the same school to spare time to go. I guess I was no better as that was my first summer working full-time in the shop with my parents, going to bed so dog-tired sometimes I didn’t even have the energy to read my history books and finally understanding what they were going through all those years, why they were always stressed about money, why my mom always complained her feet and lower back hurt, why Dad never had time to play Dungeons and Dragons with Timothy like he had promised for the millionth time to do. When I had finally realized, lying in bed- body so exhausted I felt like I could barely move it- that my childhood was abruptly and so finitely over. My heart ached with both warmth and pain at the memories. But even though that summer with my two best friends felt like yesterday in some ways, in others it felt like a million years ago. It had been two years since then after all. Then we all turned fourteen and could legally work and then, well, the rest was history, I guess. School, work. School, work. School, work. Rinse and repeat. You know, it HAD been a long time since I hung out with Amy and she HAD been looking forward to this for such a long time! And I-I HAD been working like crazy! I deserved a few hours with her, getting ready, just to relax and catch up!

More optimistically, I looked up and assured with a smile, “No, know what? Tell her I’ll definitely be there!”

Damian eyes widened in shock; he almost didn’t look like he believed me. “R-really?”

“Yeah!” I assured, “For sure!” I was getting excited in anticipation just at the thought, a whole afternoon off from work! And then a whole evening at the feast with Amy and Damian, hearing a speech from our King! This day would surely be one to remember!

“She’s not expecting me till two, right?” I asked and Damian nodded obediently, “Yup, from what I know.”

I smiled wide, “G-great, I’ll be there!” I mentally crunched the numbers in my head, that meant I could hurry home and help for like five and a half hours before heading over to her place to get ready for the festival. I-I was looking forward to this!

“Cool, then.” He shot finger guns at me before smiling, “I’m happy you’re going.” He chuckled, “I’m also happy I don’t have to break the bad news to her. Aims might take my head off.”

I laughed, feeling genuinely happy too, saying, “Thanks! And we’ll see you at the feast, right?”

He rolled his eyes, “To hear that old fish dude drone on and on?”

I punched him lightly on the shoulder, “ You can’t say that! That’s a SLUR! Don’t be disrespectful to the King!”

Damian smirked at me, “Yeah, I know, I was just joking.”

I scowled at him disapprovingly as he smiled and said, “I wouldn’t miss a chance to have the three of us all together, hanging out again- for all the world.” He looked so genuine and earnest as he said that that my disapproval melted off.

I put a hand on his shoulder and looked up at him with a genuine smile, “Neither would I.”

His cheeks filled with a familiar pink blush, as he stuttered, “I mean, y-yeah, whatever.”

I chuckled and he stepped away, saying, “Don’t forget about Amy!”

“I won’t!” I called as he began to walk away.

“And,” He looked back over his shoulder, pausing in place for a second. His eyes glittered with that wide-eyed pure childish excitement that they sometimes did, like when he had fixed the wheel to my wagon earlier today. “I’m looking forward to seeing you guys tonight!”

I smiled at him, feeling my own cheeks flush with happiness. “Mmmhmm, me too!” I chirped in response. Then flushing some more, he whipped his head back in the direction of his house and headed off to go get Domonic and head off to the tailor’s for his brother’s suit. I watched him go a moment fondly before I shook my head, scolding myself, head in the game, Lauren! I told myself, let’s speed-run this so we can still help Mom and Dad before we go to Amy’s! I wondered if Mom would let me, I-I’d ask her when I got home I decided! I hurried over to the Simona woman Gwendolyn had told me to give the order of yellow and red roses too.

When I approached the Township Council woman named Simona, she was talking to a very, VERY large man, who was wearing a blue-gray fish-skin hooded cloak, which hung all the way to his ankles. The man was not big as in fat but big as in large, he was maybe the tallest man I had ever seen, maybe 7’ 1’’ or 7’ 3’’ and he was wide too. His body was mostly hidden by the fish-skin cloak but I imagined he was wide set man under that if his shoulder width was anything to go by. Fish-skin, I wondered? Was he a sea-dweller? 

We had been told by the Township Council that there may be some tourists from the coastal Sea-dwelling cities closest to us coming into the land for the experience of being so close to the King. The Ocean was large and vast and chances are that most of these coastal cities had never gotten a personal visit form the King himself, especially because, not unlike Shanville, most coastal cities or towns were comparatively small and sparsely populated comparted to the cities in the deeper ocean, the capitol city itself, Kekuatan Laut, being buried in the deepest point in the marina trench. So, it was only logical they’d jump at the chance to finally see our shared King in person. We were told at the informational meeting at the Town Hall to be welcoming, attentive, and kind to these out-of-town visitors to foster continued peace and kinship with the sea dwellers, as was our shared duty as citizens of the Ocean Empire.  

I was curious and excited, looking at him, approaching with my squeaky wagon. I had never met a sea-dweller before. They rarely ever left the sea, just as land-dwellers like us rarely ventured more than a few dozen yards in. I had read about them in plenty of history books, mostly those books being on the subject of the history of land-dweller’s and sea-dweller’s complex relationships throughout historical ages but never met one in the flesh. I sped up towards the two of them.

“I am sorry, Sir.” the Township Council woman named Simona stated with a seemingly genuine look of sadness on her face, “I am very busy preparing for our shared King’s arrival later today. There is still a lot to be done in preparation for the festival. I apologize deeply for being unable to give my fellow citizen of the Ocean Empire a tour of Shanville.”

“Does this gentleman want a tour?” I asked, smiling, as I rolled up with my wagon full of roses.

Simona looked to me with surprise before looking to the roses with relief. “The Smithharrow girl, thank goodness you’re here.”  she said, almost to herself, before smiling and explaining, “Yes, this gentleman here is from one of our neighboring coastal towns from under the waves. Which. . .I apologize again, did you say you were from?”

The man had a deep but warm and friendly voice, he answered from under his hood, “Crystal Shell, Ma’am.”

“Crystal Shell!” I smiled brightly, my mind sparking with memory, “Known for importing crayfish, crustaceans, and sea urchins to the coastal Land-dwelling towns, right?”

He turned towards me and I could make out more of his face. He had a large, well-groomed blonde beard and a large, smiling mouth and light, fair skin. “That’s right.” He smiled at me, “Look at you, so young but well-educated.”

I smiled up at him, “Well, my teachers did a good job. So, you are seeking a tour of Shanville? I’m a native who has been here all my life, I’d love to show you around!” I knew I had a million other things to do but my desire to learn overrode everything! A real-life Sea-dweller was right here in front of me! I couldn’t miss this chance to learn about their culture and experience! Just like the King was coming here to learn about Land-dwelling culture, wasn’t it our responsibility as his subjects to also be curious and want to learn about sea-dwelling life as well? This was my chance to do that in a more concrete way than reading those history books I’ve read a thousand times over anyway!

“Could you?” Miss Simona asked, “I’d be grateful. I still have preparation to do for the festival.” She looked apologetic.

I nodded, “Of course!” I said. I looked up at the gentleman, “Is that something that would interest you?”

“Yes.” he replied, smiling more, “I’ve never been on Land before so I am afraid I feel like I am walking around on-“ He extragratedly waked in place, really overextending the movement of his legs, “legs that aren’t mine.”

I laughed brightly, “Don’t worry about it, I’ll show you around. The land is just like the sea. I’m sure you’ll feel at home here in no time.” He smiled at me and nodded.

“Let’s start over there.” I pointed and he nodded and followed me. I went up to one of the food stalls, one selling Floral Duck-duck.

“Two Duck-ducks, please.” I asked with a smile. I pulled out my small, worn-out coin purse. I frowned at the ten dusty coins inside. I. . .I had been saving up for a new history book, General Percious O’Donald, Sea-Dwelling Monster or Misunderstood Patriot-the Untold Tale. But, I sighed, I guess I was nowhere close to enough coins anyway. I quickly handed over two and the man behind the stall smiled, “Thank you, Young Miss.” He looked familiar but his name wasn’t coming to me. He’d probably been in our flower shop before, perusing or maybe buying something for his wife. Shanville was a pretty small town, with a population under 6000.

I handed the Sea-dwelling man a paper tray of floral duck-duck and he took it curiously. I snuck a peek at his hand as he took it, looking for the webbed fingers all Sea-dwellers had, he didn’t have any though. Just worn, hardened skin of a pale Caucasian hue. I knew Sea-Dwellers had rituals to make themselves land-ready but I guess I was naïve in how good they really were.

 I tried to get a good look at his face beneath the hood; he was close enough that I could make out a large but proportional nose, green eyes and thick, bushy blonde eyebrows. That and a blonde, well-groomed beard. He looked entirely human. If not for his fish-skin cloak giving him away, he could have walked around entirely unnoticed. Their disguises really were amazing! 

No wonder it was common for soldiers back during the warring ages to come down with paranoia. The idea that any one of your fellow squad members could really be one of the enemy must have been extremely frightening. The Sea-dwellers used many spies back then after all, while Land-dwellers were mostly fighting blind. We couldn’t exactly send down spies into the deepest reaches of their kingdom like they could into ours.

“What’s this?” he asked curiously.

I smiled and explained, “This is Floral Duck-Duck. It’s a kind of local delicacy here in Shanville, it’s breadcrumbs, spices, and day lily petals deep fried in delicious flower oil.”

He curiously picked up a dumpling on its toothpick and popped it in his mouth. He chewed it and grew a shocked look on his face. “Oh, wow.” he exclaimed after swallowing it down, “Its taste is so peculiar.” He popped in its neighbor into his mouth and then smiled, laughing a bit, “How bizarre! It’s like you can taste the earth!”

I smiled. Well he ate them both so I guess that must mean they were a good kind of weird. “Here, have mine.” I offered, “I’ve had them a million times before. You seem like you would enjoy them more.”

“Why thank you!” he replied before taking them from me, “You’re too kind, Young Lady! Tell me what was your name again?”

I laughed, bowing slightly, “How rude, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Lauren Smithharrow of Smithharrow Flowers and Buds.”

“Do you own it?” the man asked, chewing the other Floral Duck-Duck balls.

“Huh?” I replied.

“The flower shop.” he clarified.

“Oh, no! My parents do. I just work there.”

“How old are you, young lady?” he asked, chewing the last one.

“I’m sixteen.”

He smiled, “A wonderful age, the same as my son.”

I smiled, “Oh, yeah?”

“Oh yes.” He swallowed down the last of the Floral Duck-Duck, musing to himself, “Who knew you could eat flowers?”

“There are many edible flowers, pea flowers, day lilies, strawberry blossoms, nasturtium, just to name a few. You’ll find them in a lot of local dishes in Shanville during your stay. How long are you here for?”

He smiled brightly, saying, “As long as the King is, I suppose. I came from Crystal Shell to see him.”

I smiled widely, “I see. It is a grand occasion, isn’t it?” Yes, I thought to myself, I was right! The King hadn’t come to Crystal Shell before! My hunch was correct!

“Yes.” The man agreed, “It is. I’ve been looking forward to it for months, though I was a bit nervous about coming onto land for the first time.”

I smiled reassuringly, “You’re doing great, in fact you blend in perfectly!” I laughed, “Without your fish skin cloak, I wouldn’t have known you weren’t from Shanville or any other land-dwelling human town.”

“Really?” he asked, his green eyes widening, and I nodded, 

“Yeah, you fit in awesome. Let me show you some of our architecture around town.”

“Alright.” he agreed, smiling.

“First, let’s start at the fountain.” I said, pointing to it off a ways in the town square. He nodded and we headed out towards it.

“This is one of the oldest structures in our town.” I explained, once we had reached the fountain’s side. The grand cement structure full of running, flowing water sat before us. “The Fountain of Explorer Thomas Shan is over three-hundred years old! Shockingly, Thomas Shan had passed away hundreds of years before it was ever constructed. Still, to honor his legacy, the people who settled here decided to build a statue in his honor. Thomas Shan was a very interesting and brave man; did you know he is credited with discovering and exploring around eighty percent of the Namenen Province and identifying and naming over 200 new plants?”

The man looked at the cement statue of Thomas Shan, holding a lily, in the center of the fountain. He looked impressed; fascinated.

“No, I have never heard of such an explorer. Interesting, how people hundreds of years after his passing would build such a monument to him. Surely there were others who cultivated the area, that would eventually become Shanville, after him, that possessed a more intimate connection to this land that could be portrayed in an honorary statue.”

“Oh, um, definitely. I think the idea behind it-“ I let my eyes fall upon the stone recreation of Thomas Shan too, “is more that, without him braving into the untamed wilderness, none of those people who came later would have known what they were walking into or where was good to settle.”

The man watched me with amusement before staring back at the statue, “Three-hundred years ago, huh?”

“Yes.” I replied happily before the man mused quietly, 

“A miracle it survived the war.”

I froze up a little. Was. . .was it okay to talk about the war with a Sea-dweller? I did kind of want to- I was very curious as to his perspective on it, especially because Sea-dwellers on average had a much longer life span than Human beings, but I was also. . .afraid. What if. . .what if he was like Damian and he had some big opinion? What if he. . .what if he hated Land-dwellers? What. . .what would I do then? 

I mean, this man seemed kind but. . .but what if he had fought in the war himself? What if it brought up old, traumatizing memories? I decided it would be best if I brushed past it like he hadn’t said anything.

“Yes, so did you want me to show you around some other notable places in Shanville?”

“Yes.” he replied, smiling at me, “Please.”

Relieved he was willing to let his comment slide by without comment, maybe he wasn’t even looking for a response, I replied, “Then let’s carry on.”

I went on to show the man the Town Hall building and the old Shanville city walls, which while still standing had fallen into disrepair after the war ended, the Township Council had voted that they would not be unkept in a show of trust towards our new king over twenty-six years ago. I explained to him that Shanville’s main export was Flowers, along with other produce, like potatoes, rutabagas, and green beans.

While strolling through the streets, I explained the reason none of our buildings were over two stories high; it was because it was banned to build a building taller unless you had the express permission of the Township Council, for many residents had large gardens or greenhouses that needed the sun to grow their flowers. 

I, also as we walked, pointed out and had him take note of some popular restaurants and cafes the out-of-town visiting man could eat and rest at. I also went out of my way to bring him to the two hotels in Shanville, The Garden Inn and the Lily and Lavender Motel, run by two sisters of the same name. I also explained to him what time the King was expected to arrive and give his speech and reminded him to get there early if he wanted to be anywhere close to the front of the crowd because ALL, and I mean ALL, of Shanville, and some of our neighbors, both in the Sea and to the land around us, were expected to be in attendance.

As we neared Smithharrow Flower Shop, my direction purposeful, (I had not forgotten I was actually supposed to be at home, helping) I asked, “Do you think I’ve done a good job being your guide?”

“Yes.” He laughed with his mellow, deep voice, “You have done a more than sufficient job. You’re so well-read and knowledgeable for a girl so young.”

I laughed lightly, “Thank you, Sir, but I still have a lot to learn. Next time I see you, if it’s not a bother and it doesn’t make you uncomfortable, I-I-“ I gathered up my courage, “I would really love for you to tell me more about your life in Crystal Shell. I’m afraid what we learn of Sea-dwelling life in school fails miserably in comparison to the words and experiences of someone who actually lives there, I mean, if you don’t mind, of course. If it’s too much trouble,” I bowed again, “please forget my request.”

He laughed heartily and replied, “Of course, it’s not too much trouble. Next time we meet,” His eyes seemed to twinkle with amusement as he said this, “I will tell you all you wish to know.”

I smiled with gratitude and relief; glad he wasn’t offended by my request.

“I have one last request of you before we part ways.” he said, still smiling.

I nodded, “Of course, what would you wish to know?”

He smiled, “I’d like to know, what do you think of the King? The one coming to the festival tonight.”

My eyes widened with surprise. His question caught me off guard, was this a trick question? I answered truthfully, “I am very excited, and honored too, that the King himself would come all the way here just to see us. We are peasants and Land-dwellers both and it’s not like we really have anything to offer him. He is truly a benevolent and kind King, that rules justly. I am so eager to see and hear him for the first, and maybe last time, in my life in person.”

The man smiled even wider, his eyes looking joyful. “As. . .as am I. I. . .” He hesitated a second before adding, “I am glad we had this positive experience together. It is important for both Sea-dwellers and Land-dwellers to have moments like this for true understanding and harmony between our two peoples, but one citizenship.”

Hope sprang alive in my heart! H-he felt the same way I did! Eat that, Dame! I thought excitedly.

“Yes, yes! I agree wholeheartedly! You have been so kind to me!” I gushed.

He laughed, shaking his head no, “Not as much as you have been to me.” He pointed off calmly down the street, “That is your family’s flower shop, down there, is it not?”

I looked over my shoulder and nodded, “Yes, it is.”

“Well, I shouldn’t keep you any longer. It was lovely to meet you, Lauren.” he said, looking kind and genuine.

I nodded back, feeling more excited and positive than ever. “Yes.” I said, “It was amazing to meet you as well, Sir.”

“Let us meet again when the current brings us back together.” he said as goodbye, turning and waving to me before wandering off.

“Yes, bye, Sir! Enjoy the festival!” I called out after him. Wow, I thought, I just learned a native, authentic sea-dwelling greeting! SO COOL! I watched him until I couldn’t see him anymore. 

Man, what a cool, one-of-a-kind experience! I wished I had been able to ask him more about what life was like in the ocean, to life your entire life and never even touch land, what a fascinating different life! To ask him if what we learned about sea-dwelling life, customs, and history was true! What their textbooks said about the war and the many historical events our two races shared. But, another time, like he said, hopefully I would run into him again during the festival. In my heart I knew the chances of that weren’t great, there would be over six-thousand people there, but- I was still somehow hopeful. Maybe. . .maybe like he said the. . .the currents would bring us back together. Eee! I was giddy just thinking such a cool saying!

After he got out of sight, rounding the corner of our block, reality hit me like a ton of bricks! Mom and Dad, right! They were waiting for me! The order to Sam Smith on Saint Way I had promised my mom I’d do! I turned and started jogging towards home! I had been so invested in giving the friendly sea-dweller a tour of our town and chatting with Damian, ugh! I had wasted so much time! I hope they weren’t mad! But I steeled myself, while jogging there, I was still going to ask my mom for the afternoon off! Amy was looking forward to getting ready with me and-and I-I hadn’t hung out with her in weeks! Surely, they could survive without my help for a few hours!

       I reached the front door, ready to throw it open and burst in-demanding Mom give me what I wanted when I heard her frightened voice, stopping me short.

“Where is she, Oaken?! The order to Sam Smith is LATE! He was expecting it an HOUR AGO!”

My stomach dropped, my hand pulling back from the door.

“Tamaria, listen,” my dad’s voice replied, his voice trying to be calm and reassuring but it came out stressed and exasperated, “I’ll just take the order up now.”

“What about the Bursons’ order then?! I have to prep the rest of the daisy chains for the Floral Ash Ceremony! I don’t have time to haul my butt half way across town! Especially for what THEY pay! Those stingy-ugh! They barely cover the cost of the dang flowers!”

My dad sighed heavily, “I-I’ll do them both, just stay here and keep working on the daisy-“

“And what-make the Bursons’ order late?!”

“You just said they don’t pay enough anyway!”

Dad was raising his voice now too. My hand fell to my side defeated.

“They still pay something! We don’t even know how we’re going to cover Lauren’s tuition this month! What if they refuse to pay ANYTHING because it’s LATE!”

“I don’t know, Tamaria! What do you want me to do?!”

My heart twisted; I closed my eyes. I-I didn’t want to hear my parents, the people I loved more than anything in the world, the ones who did EVERYTHING for me- fight. Not-not over something like this, over money. Rent was a cruel mistress. I-I. . . 

I loudly rang the bell, by bringing up my right hand and moving it; the voices inside quieted. I replaced my heavy, disponent frown with a pasted on, perky smile. I pushed the door open, smiling brightly, “Sorry, I’m late! What should I do first?”

My body felt tired by the time we were getting ready to leave for the King’s Speech. My parents were prepping the cart downstairs, making sure it was loaded up with bouquets of all sizes and prices to appeal to as many people as possible. They were hoping to make some sales from the tourists in town, who had come to attend the festival. I was up in my bedroom, opening up my closet, deciding what to pull on. I wouldn’t have time to do my hair or makeup(not that I really owned any makeup, we couldn’t afford it, a tube of lipgloss Amy had gifted me made up my entire makeup collection), but I could at least pull on a dress and change my shoes. 

What dress, what shoes? That I wasn’t sure about yet. 

I had completely missed getting ready with Amy. 

I sighed, just thinking about it. She was going to be so mad, and after I told Damian to tell her I was going. I let my head fall against the closet door. I was a terrible friend.

Someone appeared in my open doorway. I looked over and saw Timothy. He was dressed up in a button-up shirt and khaki shorts. “Mommy says to hurry.” he said before turning and plodding off down the stairs on his little kid legs. I rolled my eyes, but leaned back and opened the closet’s door. Okay, so there was my purple and black dress from the grand opening of the Flower shop? I frowned, looking at it, I wore that when I was like twelve, no way it would still fit now! But what other formal options did I have?!

I looked around; work clothes, school clothes, work clothes, I paused, seeing the shoddily made plastic garment bag concealing the dress me and Amy had made ourselves two years ago. I brushed a tired hand over the plastic. 

I. . .I couldn’t go back to that time but. . .maybe I could reminisce about it. I unzipped the bag, pulling out the purple, blue, and pink horrifying thing. It was knee-length and sleeve-less, it had no real shape to it(we weren’t good seamstresses then, and me, still not now), it just kind of hung on you like wearing a potato sack. Though not even the finest and most glorious of potato sacks would come with this level of fabulous detail. I quickly shut my door, stripped my casual, work dress, and pulled it on over my head. The hot pink feathers around the neck tickled my sensitive skin as I pulled it over my head. The top was coated completely in pink, blue, and purple sequins hot-glued on so thickly, you could no longer see the purple fabric underneath. The bottom skirt portion of the dress was made of diagonal, interlocking criss-crosses of blue and purple feathers and purple glittered painted fabric, another line of hot pink feathers circling the bottom of the skirt. I quickly squatted down and pulled on my brown shoes I wore to school. I only had two pair, black ones for work and brown ones for school. The brown ones were less beat up and more nice looking so I pulled those onto my tired feet.

“Lauren, are you coming?!” I heard Mom calling.

“Yes!” I cried, hurrying up to my feet and jogging from the room. I padded down the narrow, short steps quickly, that lead down to the first floor of the flower shop. I came down into our narrow, cramped kitchen before pushing through the door that lead out into the area of the shop customers came into, full of floral displays and tall wooden buckets with bouquets full of flowers for sale. Mom and Dad were standing there, both in their Smithharrow Flowers marked work clothes. Mom wore a brown and white dress with Smithharrow Flowers being printed on her right breast pocket, meanwhile Dad wore a brown and white collared short-sleeve shirt, marked with the name of our shop, same as Mom’s, with Timothy by their feet.

“What are you wearing?” Mom asked with surprise as I came into the room from the back, “I thought you were going to help us man the stall?”

“I-“ I started, frowning, but Dad interrupted and saved me.

Giving my mom a relaxed look, he said, “Surely just us two can handle it, right, honey? Lauren has been helping all afternoon. I’m sure she wants to enjoy the feast, not to mention get as close to the King as she can.”

I smiled hopefully. Mom sighed and reasoned, “I guess so, but-“ She raised a finger, “if sales pick up, we’re going to need your help.”

“Right.” I nodded, not overly thrilled about the possibility, “I’ll keep an eye out.”

“Great!” my dad announced, clapping his hands together, “Let’s head out before we’re late!”

The four of us shuffled out the door, my dad grabbing the cart, loaded to the brim with flowers and started steering it towards the festival, us all around him.

The streets were less lively than earlier, only a few other families and visitors streaming past us; all headed in the same direction of the festival. I started to worry about how late we really were. I did NOT want to miss the king’s speech, it was a ONCE IN A LIFETIME opportunity. Not to mention, I wanted to spend time with Amy and Damian and also find that Sea-dwelling man again so he could tell me about his culture. I sighed, how on earth would I fit in all of THAT in before I had to leave? 

After the Floral Ash ceremony, I had to head home. I had lied to Damian earlier, I hadn’t even STARTED the chemistry homework Ms. Abella had assigned earlier this week. It would take me till two or three am easily when I got home, even with skipping out on the dancing and late-night section of the celebration. I felt dread at the thought. I loved learning but chemistry wasn’t my strongest subject and I was already beat.

Speaking of beat, my mom asked, “Lauren, when we get back to the shop tonight, could you water the seedlings in the nursery?”

I looked to her with a pasted on smile, trying to feign energy, “Sure, no problem.” Oookkkay, I guess the chemistry would have to wait a little longer. Four or five am it was, I guessed, my smile slipping into a frown as I looked away from my mother.

“La-la?” I looked down at Timothy with an even stronger frown. He was six years old now, couldn’t he stop using that horrible nickname he had for me? My parents thought it was just adorable, but it wasn’t!

I sighed, replying, “What, Timmy?”

“Why is your dress so ugly?!” he squeaked up at me, holding onto Mother’s hand as we walked. Mother glanced over at us but didn’t bother to defend me.

I groaned, “It’s not.” I replied, though it objectively REALLY was. Oh well, I thought, casting an envious glance at his, bought used but still comparably nicer and more stylish, blue button down and khakis. It’s not my fault Mom and Dad spend our already very limited disposable income on you, Your Majesty Timothy, and not me! And why you anyway?! You’re six! You’ll grow out of those clothes in a couple months! Why not splurge on a nice new dress for ME?! I was sixteen! I was pretty sure I was done growing! Maybe I could wear it for the rest of my life! But no, His Majesty Timothy always got the nicest things while Servant Maid Lauren was made to work! That must be what our parents thought. 

I sighed, looking down to the ground, feeling guilty. I knew that wasn’t true. My parents loved me and tried their best for me and Timmy both. 

Plus, how pathetic was it that I was jealous of a six year old? Of course, Timmy didn’t do any work! He could barely spell his own name right on his school work, he kept spelling it T-I-M-I-I-T-H-E-E. Why? I don’t know! Since he was clearly a little bit learningly challenged, I had been encouraging him to just try and write Tim or Timmy but he was insistent he would get it right soon! Ugh, didn’t he know if you tried something over and over again and it just kept failing, it was time to just move on?! Time to do something you could actually do. I looked down to my ugly, hand-made dress with a frown, you know? Be. . .realistic?

Guilt chained down my ankles as I walked. I should have never told Damian to tell Amy I would be there. That just wasn’t possible. All I did was disappoint her more. I shouldn’t have wasted my parents’ time by giving that kind Sea-dwelling man a tour of our town. If I had come back earlier, the order to Sam Smith wouldn’t have been late and maybe we could have left to the festival earlier. If we missed this once in a lifetime chance to hear the King speak, it would be all my fault. I suddenly didn’t even feel like hanging out with Amy and Damian. I just wanted to go back home and get started on my Chemistry homework. I needed to keep my grades up because, because why? So I didn’t have work at my family’s flower shop of horrors for the rest of my life? Didn’t they need help though? Wasn’t that selfish?

Still, if I could maybe get a good-paying job at like- I looked up at the gargantuan Mt. Regiis that reigned above Shanville, our home; which nestled in the valley below it. My eyes stared off to its peak, even from humble, down here, you could see the spires and towers of RHAY-RC. . . . If I could study hard enough, perhaps, I could get a job as an assistant teacher or librarian there one day, I could spend every day immersed deeply in learning and history; getting to debate ideas and politics with my students. Teach them all about history and learn about their own cultures and histories, their own unique perspectives on life and the perspectives of their own homelands and people. On my breaks, I could spend time in that famed, HUMONGOUS library full of every copy of every book on earth, from every kingdom. I could read SO MANY historical texts, maybe ones no other library or book store on Earth had access too, first point of view sources right from the mouths of the people who lived through that time period’s events. Be surrounded by other staff and academics who loved history and learning as much as I did. I could spend more time with Damian and Amy too! Since they both worked there! On our breaks, when I wasn’t reading, we could meet up and chat and play games! Amy could fill me in on all the happenings she was privy too as an assistant security guard and Damian could groan on to me about the spoiled rich kids he had to put up with and I could tell them about what a good book I found in the library and how it was opening up my perspective to a whole other point of view I had never even heard of before! And-and, on breaks from our work, when we could all meet up, we could-we could plan another trip to the beach! Talk about who was going to drive us, what we’d bring, what we were going to do there, maybe pick some new games, and decide who was going to have to buy the cherry and mango popsicles with our paycheck money!

And the money, I heard if you worked there long enough or had a high position, you made good money as staff at RHAY-RC! I’d make SERIOUS cash there! And then I could give back to my parents without destroying my feet by marching all over town to deliver rose bouquets to irritable customers or have my hands cut by thorns so many times I might as well start collecting the blood drops in a bucket and donating them to a hospital! I’d be able to give my parents money to help them out, at least enough to keep them out of the desperate financial state they were in now. 

My parents always worried about how they were going to pay the bills this month or how they were going to pay back the second mortgage they took out against the shop. . . . That would be a dream come true. A way I could both live my dreams AND give back to my family, to make it so my parents didn’t have to suffer over money anymore. That. . .that would be perfection. My chest felt heavy as I looked away from the distant RHAY-RC and towards the dirt path in front of me. . . . Realistic. Right. . . . Let’s just focus on getting through tonight.

When we approached town square, we could see it was overflowing with crowds. It seemed like the Township Council had been right in their predictions that everyone and their grandmother would be attending the King’s speech tonight. In fact, seeing how the crowds were spilling a little bit out into the openings to the town’s square, perhaps they had been a little conservative in their estimates. I paled, oh gosh, how was I going to get anywhere close to seeing the King now?! My mom, on the hand, had the opposite response.

With an almost wicked grin on her face, she cried, “Look, Oaken, so many people!” She picked up Timmy excitedly, “We are going to get some sales tonight!”

Timmy whined, “Mommy, I told you I’m a big boy! I don’t need to be picked up!” She laughed in response. I was anxious to go in and get a spot where I could at least see the king. 

I turned to my mom and dad and asked, “Can I go ahead? I want to try and get as close as I can.”

My mom put Timmy down, looking at me, as Dad replied kindly, “Of course, but remember- be careful of the crowds, if you feel like you’re being squeezed and it’s getting too tight, try to get out of there or scream for help. If you can’t do that, they’ll be members of the Council around looking out for anyone in duress.”

“I will.” I nodded quickly and my mom added, “And be careful of any Sea-dwellers that may be in the crowd.”

“Mom!” I cried, frowning.

She looked innocent as she said, “I’m just telling you to be cautious! Not all Sea-dwellers like Land-dwellers, that’s just a fact.”

“I’m sure that’s not true.” I retorted and she rolled her eyes, 

“Don’t be naïve. I’m not saying all of them. Just be careful, alright?”

I shook my head, thinking, with indignance, of the Sea-dwelling man I had met earlier. He had been so kind to me! How could my mom say something like that?! Didn’t she know the importance of mending the pain and mistrust between our two races? Not sowing it! Ugh! I started to march off and my mom called after me, “Be safe!” 

“We’ll be off to the right side, near the back!” my dad called after me. I ignored him too and dove into the crowd. Despite my dad’s warning about the crowd being dangerous, nobody was pushing and shoving and it wasn’t so tightly packed I couldn’t get through. I started weaving and sneaking around people, still in a foul mood my mom would even make a comment like that.

Still, the place was packed, and voices all around me flooded my ears. I was near the back of the town square, even as I tried to wiggle myself forward. I looked for Damian, Amy, and the sea-dwelling man I had met earlier today, but I knew that was a lost cause even as I did it; there had to be WAY more than six thousand people here. I made my way, cursedly slowly, around the huge bonfire, which was already roaring; which was here to facilitate the Floral Ash ceremony. It was important that the fire be started already for directly after the King’s speech, the Floral Ash ceremony would begin. There was debate over whether or not, it should be lit in advance or wait until the King was done with his speech to light the bonfire, at the Township Council’s meeting, but it was eventually decided that it would be started and maintained even before the crowds entered into the townsquare. There were some concerns that lighting the fire directly before the King may be seen as a threat or insult. 

Sea-dwellers had a natural weakness to fire, because of this biological phenomenon, there was debate at the meeting, whether the Floral Ash ceremony would be best scrapped all together. But that was quickly shot down after Gwendolye voiced her strong opinion that it MUST take place as it WAS a part of our history and culture in Shanville. Every single fourteen year old child of Shan, for over 200 years had gone through it and it was beloved by our people. Plus, she had brought up the symbolic nature of the fire creating the blessings for the people who were the recipients of the ash, and thought that this could be poetic for the current peaceful relationship between land and sea dwellers. While us land-dwellers once hurt the sea-dwellers with fire, now we used it to dispense blessings upon our shared Ocean King.

Her arguments had been convincing, I was certainly convinced. The Floral Ash ceremony WAS beautiful, and more importantly, it WAS the heart of Shanville; our flowers were, and I thought it was important for the King to experience what kind of daily festivities and beliefs we had just living our everyday lives here on the Land. To sanitize and censor our way of living out of fear of offending him, would just prove that our race relations had not come as far as was often preached, it would lend credence to the idea that our land-dwelling town, ruled by the Ocean King had to tip-toe and whisper around him; as if we were afraid. But why would we be? We were his beloved people, even though we walked around on two legs; that was the whole point of our Shanville and the other Coastal Town circuits belonging to the Ocean Empire! We were living, breathing proof that co-existence and co-thriving was not only possible but ALIVE and FLOURISHING. To censor ourselves in fear of punishment was the OPPOSITE of what we stood for. Most of the township agreed with me, but Gwendolyn silenced the naysayers by agreeing to send over a list of activities to the King’s office for approval, and three weeks later we got the go-ahead that it was a go. With the King himself, or at least his people, saying that there was no problem with the Floral Ash ceremony for the King proceeding, everyone was in agreement. The Ocean King himself would be blessed by the ash of the fruits of the earth.

As I made my way through the crowd, feeling the heat of the bonfire, I suddenly heard a loud series of conch shells beginning to be blown. The natural wail they produced clearly being amplified by some technical equipment for they were WAY louder than the could otherwise be. The crowd suddenly silenced, all staring with attention towards the stage at the east end of the town square.

I looked around with panic, oh no! I couldn’t see a thing! I really, REALLY wanted to be able to see the King! Just then, having reached the front of the bonfire, closest to the stage, panicking, thinking I had really screwed the pooch this time, that I was going to miss out on maybe the BIGGEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE(at least the most historically significant moment) when I saw a lithe, lean figure, draped in a fish-skin cloak, move up from the dirt of the ground that all of us land-dwellers were shifting around on, and up-upward. I looked at how that was possible and saw that the sea-dweller had jumped up onto a cement bench that was in front of the bonfire. I blinked up at the fish-skin covered shape and then, bop! I jumped up beside them. I looked around at the crowd’s heads, all around me, with disbelief; I could TOTALLY see! I looked out up ahead to the stage where the King would be shortly.

The stage had been completely transformed in just a few hours. When me and Dame had seen it earlier, it had been mostly plain and boring brown. Now it had more color than our flower shop! Red and yellow flowers, from OUR store most likely, I wanted to swoon at the thought of the King being so close to Smithharrow flowers, lined the corners of the stage and decorated the front of the large wooden podium. Huge light blue and white banners, twelve feet tall each, displaying the Leaping Dolphin and Conch of the Ocean Empire were hung on each corner of the stage, along with smaller green flags, with Shanville’s signature flowers on it, hung along some decorative banners along the back.

Gwendolyn, wearing the same green and yellow Shanville Town Council uniform we had seen her in earlier and her same spiky pigtails, took to the podium.

“If I may have your attention, Shanville and visitors from aboard, both of the land AND the sea!”

As she said that, I gave a hopeful look to the sea-dwelling man, given away by his fishskin cloak, next to me; standing on the cement bench. I was hoping it was the sea-dwelling man that I had meet earlier and given a tour too, but while I was pretty sure it was a man, I quickly realized it wasn’t the same one. 

Gwendolyn continued on from her place at the front, proclaiming, “All here today are here today for an absolutely HISTORIC moment! For today, our humble town of Shanville welcomes-!”

The man who stood beside me, while in a remarkedly familiar fish skin cloak was much MUCH shorter than the man I gave a tour to earlier today had been, he was barely taller than me, in fact; we were close to the same height. He wasn’t burly either, his shoulders being barely wider than my own.

“the King of THE OCEAN!”

The crowd roared as Gwendolyn said that.

I tried to make out his face but he wore the hood so low, it was almost entirely dark there. I could make out fair skin, but that was it. The light of the day was almost gone anyway, so it was hard to see anything. The King’s stage was lit up by electronic lights, so we wouldn’t have to worry about seeing him but the people next to us, yeah, not so much.

I quickly turned my attention back to the stage in the front as Gwendolyn continued her introductory speech, “26 years ago, the War of 1 hundred and 27 ended in peace. For the first time in over a century, both land-dwellers and sea-dwellers put down their weapons of war and instead used their now empty arms to embrace each other in friendship.” I applauded loudly, as did most of the crowd, the sea-dweller beside me did not. 

       As Gwendolyn spoke, I grew a little disappointed as I realized I couldn’t see her that well. Even with the electronic lights, and my glasses on, I couldn’t make out her facial expressions; which meant I wouldn’t be able to see the King’s either. Oh well, I thought, be positive. There are people even behind you. 

I cast a grateful look at the hooded and cloaked sea-dweller. I was glad he had pointed out this place to me, not that he had done so intentionally. Still, I was grateful. Without him, I wouldn’t have been able to see AT ALL. 

Gwendolyn continued, “Us in the Coastal Circuit of Nanamen, made the choice to, avoid future suffering and war, be accepted into the Ocean Empire. In hopes of mending the wounds between Sea-dwellers and Land-dwellers and become breadthen, not enemies. To focus on what we had in common, rather than on what drove us apart. And today, Tidon the Mighty, KING OF THE OCEAN, OUR wise and just King, has come to strengthen and give credence and support to that friendship and choice we had twenty-six long years ago. May I proudly and with immense joy and celebration, welcome, for the first time EVER, King Tidon to the TOWN OF SHANVILLE!”

The crowd ROARED and the sea-dweller beside me, standing on the bench, leaned forward so far I feared he’d fall off our shared perch. I looked forward eagerly too, my eyes glued to the stage. More conch shells blew, their players now marching onto the stage. They were sea-dwellers, I was guessing by their blue and white uniforms. They marched in careful formation and stood behind the podium, blowing their conches one last final time as a huge, lumbering figure came onto the stage. My mouth dropped open. The King of the Ocean! In the FLESH! He was HUGE and he wore THE CROWN OF THE DEEP! It glinted its misty blue light with the help of the bright lights from the corners of the stage, its misty blue aragonite and pearls shining like the SEA itself. Maybe even shining brighter than the sea had shined that summer me, Dame, and Aims had all gone to see it together. I had seen so many pictures and drawings of the CROWN OF THE DEEP, which had been THE crown of the Sovereign of the Ocean Empire for over a THOUSAND years, but I had never DARED to hope I’d see it in person, and man, even at this distance, it did NOT disappoint. The sea-dweller beside me leaned forward even FURTHER, and I was thinking, man, I know! It’s amazing!

Unfortunately, the King’s face didn’t quite sparkle like the CROWN OF THE DEEP did, so I couldn’t make out many details of him, other than the fact that he was blonde, huge, and had a large, very blonde beard. He wore a dark blue and white suit; he had white calcite woven in ornamental accents throughout his ensemble to catch in the light. He also wore a HUGE, HUGE cloak that was obviously made of glinting, tropical fish-scales, some so huge, they looked  bigger than my palm.

He looked massive and beaming, as he proclaimed, in a deep but jolly voice, “HELLO SHANVILLE!”

The crowd officially lost it. Applause, cheering, whooping and shouting. “YYYEAAAHHH!” I found myself getting caught up in it all, “WOOOOOO!”

The sea-dweller beside me sent me a wondering look but I didn’t care, the KING OF THE OCEAN!-was HERE! Tidon the Mighty! I had read about him in SO MANY history books! This man had been alive for 582 YEARS! And ruled for 250 of them! This man was a LIVING PIECE OF HISTORY! I would rather be nowhere else in the WORLD right now!

The crowd quieted as the King began to speak again, “It is SO WONDERFUL to back ON LAND!” The crowd lost its mind again. Me included. The King’s voice sounded kind of familiar, like I had heard it somewhere before. Like I had always known it. It just sounded. . .right. I realized I had tears in my eyes. I wasn’t sure why. Just the beauty of the moment I guessed. I wondered how this was for the older people here, if it was this beautiful to me. How this felt for my parents. I had been at peace all my life, thanks, in huge part to the KING right before me! Me, Damian, Amy, Anthon, Timmy, we’d NEVER have to know the horrors of war that our parents and grandparents and great grandparents lived through! This moment RIGHT NOW was PROOF peace WAS possible!

The King chuckled and the crowd quieted respectfully as he spoke again, “Thank you, with all my heart, seriously, for giving me such a WARM WELCOME, Shanville. I have only been here for a short time but in all that time you, the people of Shanville, and neighbors, have treated me with KINDNESS, CARE, and PATIENCE. An old fogey like me does tend to forget things sometimes, so God knows I need the patience.”

The crowd laughed. I laughed too, crying more. Tears of joy, I realized. He sounded just like a father taking care of his children. It had a kindness and strength to it that was absolutely magnetizing. Magmatic.

“Today, as your lovely head Councilwoman, Gwendolyn, has already said, we do a lot more than celebrate me coming to visit Shanville and all you lovely citizens, but rather, we celebrate 26 years of peace.” The crowd was quiet at the King’s more thoughtful tone, “It makes me so grateful, so happy,” the King continued, “that the youth of the Ocean Empire, in Shanville, and deep beneath the sea, will never know the flames of war.” The crowd, including myself was solemn. 

It was strange, I had read about the war so many times, but no matter how many times you read about it, stuff like that just can’t feel real. People dying in droves. Killing each other. Entire platoons of thousands of men just getting killed and not existing on this Earth anymore. But hearing the gravity of our King’s tone- it made it much more real. The King after all, had been at war most of his life. 

Before the war of 1 hundred and 27, there had been 46 years of peace, but before that there was the war of three/fourths, which had been 75 and half long years of war, which had been a war started before King Tidon had even ascended to the throne. This was truly a man who knew what the ‘flames of war’ were and a man who had been determined, and who had eventually, quenched them.

The King continued in a solemn tone, “It is important, necessary, that I come here today, to assure you all, that while I do in fact spend most of time submerged beneath the sea, that you are not forgotten. Your agreement to join the Ocean Empire 26 years ago, was the greatest and most meaningful step towards peace, I believe, ever taken by land-dwellers and sea-dwellers alike. We have had peace before and it has failed, but this time it will not. Because before, we did not intermingle as we do now. We were not ONE. Land-dwellers and sea-dwellers NEVER, before our age, were united under one banner, one flag. And so we did not, could not, understand one another, and that always, always, no matter how badly we fought, has lead to fear and mistrust and anger. The othering of others. . .” He let his words sink in before continuing, “but now, we are ONE. Land-dwellers of Shanville, sea-dwellers of the Ocean, all citizens of the Ocean Empire, all brothers and sisters, arm in arm, one with one another!” As his speech took on a more hopeful tone, the crowd responded and once more, including myself, was cheering again.

As the bonfire warmed my back through the dress me and Amy made that summer, I cheered loudly, “WOOOOO!” clapping wildly.

“THAT is why I am here!” the King continued, “To feel the earth between my fingertips,” He lifted and showed off one of his huge hands, “as you do, and to show you all that ‘the land is just like the sea’.”

A tinkle of a bell went off in my memory, as if I had heard that turn of phrase somewhere before. But then-all hell broke loose.

The King’s booming, celebratory words suddenly vanished, my eyes growing as wide as dinner plates while my pupils shrunk to pinpricks as the sea-dwelling man behind me fell. The sea dwelling man beside me was leaning forward significantly- trying his best to make out our shared King- to savor this moment of a lifetime when, a man from Shanville in front of us, threw his arm back; shifting his whole body, probably jostled by some other person; packed in like a saradine. 

The land-dwelling man knocked back into the sea-dwelling cloaked man, who was leaning forward precariously, trying to get a better look. The former knocked the latter back violently, and losing his footing, the sea dwelling man began to tumble back from the cement bench, right into the-! 

My eyes shot faster than my head! The flames! The roaring, crackling, monstrous flames of the BONFIRE! The bonfire for OUR FLORAL ASH ceremony for the King, that WE decided NEEDED to be lit BEFORE the ceremony! For a HUMAN, falling into a bonfire, could be deadly, but maybe we could be pulled out quickly and survive with some bad burns but for a Sea-dweller-HE WOULD DIE! We were STUPID! Short-sighted! To hell with what the King was saying! Maybe CO-EXISTENCE WAS IMPOSSIBLE! We cleared the Floral Ash ceremony with the KING, sure! But we forgot to ACCOUNT for all the sea-dwelling guests that were to be in attendance in the crowds! Even ‘I’ didn’t think of their health and safety! This would be like the sea-dwellers inviting a land-dwelling diplomat to an underwater ceremony and thinking having GREAT WHITE SHARKS there would be OKAY!

This celebration of co-existence and peace between our races would soon turn into a FUNERAL for an innocent sea-dwellers and the rumblings and cursing of us land-dwellers for our callousness towards our ‘brethren’ of the ocean and then defensiveness- then accusation- and then-who knows where that could lead!

What was milliseconds ago, a great historic festival in which the King of the Ocean was celebrating peace and cooperation between peoples could earn its place in the history books for a very different reason! As an enticing incident for a WAR! I had read the history books! They didn’t lack for details! No leader of any country ever just sat up in bed one morning and thought “Let’s go to war!”, it was always little things; misunderstandings, perceived slights, rogue actors, personal grudges, trade disagreements, that would snow-ball and snow-ball until the only outcome that they could see was- WAR!

No, NO, I couldn’t let that happen! This innocent sea-dweller didn’t deserve to die because WE were thoughtless- because we thought our land-dweller traditions so important we couldn’t see the obvious dangers they posed to our supposed ‘brothers and sisters’. We were as separated and blind as ever! That was all too clear now! But that didn’t mean I was about to let this fragile peace be shattered! Not while their was breath in my body! It was my DUTY! As a girl from Shanville! As a citizen of the Coastal Circuit! As a land-dweller of the Ocean Empire!

I leapt with all my might and shoved the cloaked sea-dweller as hard as I could to the left. My hands making contact with him millimeters before he could hit the flames. We flew off the cement bench together and crashed into a Shanville couple, with their arms round each other, who screamed as we crashed on top of them; making a huge pile-up.

“Hey!” they screamed, “What the hell are you two doing?!”

“Owww,” I rubbed my nose, whining, as it had collided hard with the sea-dwelling man’s shoulder blade. We were all entangled together, me on top of everyone, so after I got my bearings, I quickly scrambled off.

“Hey, what’s going on over there?”

“Would they be quiet, I’m trying to listen.”

We had attracted quite a group of onlookers.

The sea-dweller and the other two people got up, me as well, and nobody looked to be hurt. “Are you okay?” I asked the three of them, but suddenly the sea-dweller took off and fled into the crowd, pushing and shoving people as he went, said people voicing their complaint accordingly.

“What the HECK were you doing?!” the woman in the couple spat at me, looking annoyed. 

I lowered my head and apologized, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to knock into you guys, I just-“

“She saved that man’s life.” We looked up as someone interrupted us.

There was a woman in a blue and white uniform a short distance away from us. She had dark black hair pulled tight at the base of her skull in a small, neat knot. She had Asiatic facial features; tight, dark eyes that glared at the Shanville couple accusatorily.

The couple, and I, stared at her in confusion. My eyes widened even further as I put together she must be a sea-dweller, and maybe even WITH THE KING?! My brain went into overload mode. Her uniform matched the ones of the conch-players that stood behind the King as he made his way on to the stage; he continuing to make his speech now. There was NO WAY a royal servant just saw that?! . . .Was THERE?!

The sea-dwelling woman, in the KING’S uniform, said with a tight-lipped scowl, “That sea-dweller was almost knocked back into that fire, by the crowd.” Her dark, intense eyes swiveled over the man who would have knocked the sea-dweller into the blaze, “So blissful, that Land Pumpkin has no idea he almost committed murder.”

Oh no! I thought with horror! What if this lady IS a servant of the King and she reports to him that a Land-dweller almost KILLED a sea-dweller! By mistake of course! But what if she left even THAT detail out! That could be disastrous! Potentially plunge us into another hundred years of war!

       “Please!” I pleaded, “It was an honest mistake!” I took a beseeching step towards her, my eyes wide with fear, “He didn’t know anyone was behind him!”

       “You don’t know that.” she returned sharply, “He could have checked. Been concerned. Surely, he felt himself bump into someone.”

I bit my bottom lip, trying to come up with some excuse for him, for ALL of us actually. For the bonfire being lit now in the first place! 

“It’s loud and disorientating!” I argued, “Being here at the speech! I’m sure he didn’t know what happened!”

“You did.” she returned, giving me an appraising gaze; her eyes raking over my body from head to toe. She made my skin grow goosebumps. I didn’t like the way she was inspecting me. Gave me. . .off vibes.

“You were aware of your fellow brethren of the Ocean Empire and leapt to his aid without a second thought. Why did you do that?” Her words were fast, cold, with impact; verbal punches.

“I-I just didn’t want him to get hurt!” I replied, and though that was true, very true, what did that guy do wrong- NOTHING! It wasn’t the WHOLE truth, I also tried to save him, HAD saved him, that was weird thought, because I didn’t want there to be ANOTHER war between land and sea dwellers, but that felt like a weird thing to say out loud. Like maybe that would somehow implicate me. Like if I said that, she would twist my words and intentions and go back to the King and tell him that a Shanville girl is thinking about WAR between Land and Sea Dwellers, leaving off once again, the most important part!
“What if you had fallen into the fire while trying to help him?” she fired back.

“What?” She was talking so fast and there was so much happening, I could barely keep up.

“Would you have died for some Fishstick you didn’t even know?”

I gasped, she-she couldn’t say that! COULD SHE?! ‘WE’ weren’t allowed to! Any comparison of Sea-dwellers to fish was deeply racist and taboo!

“Wh-what are you TALKING ABOUT?!” I cried, “What’s wrong with helping somebody?!” I felt some tears jumping into my eyes at the mere confusion and distress of this situation. I didn’t know what I did wrong to deserve this!

“You could have died for someone you didn’t even know. Why throw your life away for a stranger?” she asked sharply, eyes narrowing in on me critically.

“I-I wasn’t THROWING ANYTHING AWAY!” I was yelling now, causing some other people around us to look over, “I was just helping somebody out! Why are you interrogating me?! Did I do anything wrong?!” I pressed a hand to my chest, demanding loudly, “DID I?!”

She sighed and said, “If you’re not even going to answer me, I’m not even going to consider you.”

I blinked with distress and confusion, what in the entire Ocean Empire was she ON ABOUT?!

“Consider me for-?! Ugh, never mind!” I took a step closer to her and took a deep breath. The couple me and the sea-dweller had fallen on, had not so subtly crept away from us while we argued. I tried to compose myself and focus on the most pressing issue. “D-do you work for the King?”

She narrowed her eyes down at me, even though she was as short, if not SHORTER than me, it still somehow felt like she was LOOKING DOWN ON ME!

“. . .I’m just a concerned Ocean Empire citizen, that’s all.” she replied tightly and I challenged, “You’re wearing the same uniform as the conch players onstage behind our King.”

She scowled at me strongly, not saying anything.

I frowned deeply and begged her, “I’m not sure if you work for the King or not, but if you do, PLEASE, don’t mention this to him. I want his visit to Shanville to be a happy memory, where peace between land and sea dwellers is forwarded and strengthened- that’s how I want this day to be remembered.” I looked down to the dirt floor between us, distress filling the cavity in my chest; along with disbelief. I couldn’t belief this was really happening to me. 

Had I really almost seen someone die? Had I really saved anyone’s life? N-no, this lady must be being dramatic. I don’t know FOR SURE that falling in that bonfire would have killed that sea-dwelling man and I also don’t know that, without my intervention, he really would have fallen in. Sure, it LOOKED like he was about to fall into that roaring, raging torrent of fiery death and be burnt to a fiery crisp, but maybe he. . .WASN’T! Maybe he looked closer to it than he really was! Maybe a gust of wind would have changed his coarse or he would have caught himself and been able to rebalance himself on the bench. Maybe all ‘I’ did was push him onto the ground and into some hapless bystanders! Maybe all I did was make things WORSE! I mean, didn’t I just JUMP ONTO/PUSH a SEA-DWELLER?! At a visit from our King that was supposed to be about celebrating PEACE between Sea-dwellers and Land-dwellers! Was I really THAT much of an idiot?! What if this lady reported me for assault?! I wasn’t trying to push him! Just save him! But like, no way, ‘I’ could save anyone?! I probably was just being dramatic and STUPID, SOOOO STUPID!

The woman huffed beside me, crossing her arms over her chest. I gave her one more pleading look as she began to slip her way through the crowd and wander away. I wanted to plead with her more but I didn’t even know what I would say.

With her gone, the couple gone, the Sea-dweller SUPER gone; shell-shocked, I limped over to the cement bench and sat down on it, slowly, like an old woman, before just holding my head in my hand; replaying the moments over and over again in my head.

Had I messed up?

Was that the right thing to do?

Did that sea-dwelling woman work for the king?

Why was she interrogating me?

What did I do wrong?

Was this incident going to cause tensions between Sea and Land-dwellers? The one thing I was TRYING TO AVOID?

My head ached and my stomach twisted and churned and I felt like I was going to throw up. I sat there for the rest of King Tidon’s speech, wasting the rest of this historic moment, sick with anxiety in my own head.