Work Text:
Once upon a time, there was a girl in an old town. She didn’t have much, but she had just enough. As she passed through the streets, she found a shoeless child selling flowers. The girl reached in her pockets and gave the child a couple of coins. “Thank you miss” the child replied. The girl took a flower, a radiant white rose, that seemed to sparkle as night started to fall. “It’s magical, you know?” the child told her. The girl smiled in disbelief and nodded as to not hurt the child’s feelings. “Why do you say that?” the girl asked. The child looked at her and said “when the moon is at the tippy top, you should smell the flower and make a wish.” The girl smiled and thanked the child. She continued her way home and once there, she took care of the rose. She found a small vase and filled it up with water and a bit of sugar before adding the rose. She then placed it by her window sill and opened the window. It was a cloudless night and the stars twinkled while the moon rose until it got to the tippy top. The girl smiled, remembering what the child had told her. “What do I have to lose?” She plucked the rose from the vase and made a wish. “I wish to see her again.” With that, she returned the flower, and to sleep, she went.
The next day, she woke up with the sun hitting her face. Blinded by the light, she stumbled out of bed, to close the window and the curtains. Rubbing her eyes while heading back to sleep, she noticed that something in her bed was moving. She rubbed her eyes again and realized that her wish had come true. The one she loved had returned. Tears welled up in her eyes, her heart racing. “Good morning,” her love said. “Why are you out of bed?” The girl smiled, not daring to speak; she returned to bed. The rest of the day she spent with her love. Laughing, trading stories, playing, walking through the park. The girl refused to think about the wish, she just wanted to stay in the moment, for this to never end. Each time her love spoke, the girl smiled and for once she was happy again.
Night came, and after a delicious meal, her love looked at her and said “be with me.” In the bedroom by the light of the moon, their bodies intertwined expressing their intimate desires. The girl, once more, gave her all her love.
Once again dawn came, this time too quickly, and the girl stumbled out of bed to close the window and the curtains. She returned to the bed, but something was wrong. As her eyes adjusted she searched for her love and realized she was not there. In her nightgown, she ran down the stairs, searching frantically for her, but was unable to find any trace of her existence. The girl retreated to her room and collapsed in tears. Grabbing the rose, she begged it to bring her love back once more. With each pleading wish, more petals fell from the rose, and her desperation grew. The rose was now but a stem, the petals pooling at her feet along with her tears.
As the days passed, the girl continued to hear echoes of her love’s laughter, her whispers, her smell lingering on her bedsheets. Her yearning grew and grew along with an ache in her heart. Forcing herself to continue living, she decided to take a stroll through the city. The girl was surprised to encounter the child that had sold her the rose again. Her hands trembling and her mind racing, she reached into her pockets and pulled out a few coins. She approached the child and requested a rose. Handing her a white rose, the child whispered “only in your dreams she will be.”