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Before going home Ruby decided to stop by her mother’s shop. It was a small and old house made out of dark wood with a big sign above the door “Puff’s Herbal Remedies.” One could see that the building desired some work done, however, the yard was filled with beautiful plants and flowers of all kinds. Bees buzzed and danced on diverse petals and juicy leaves. The amount of pollen in the air would make even a non-allergic sneeze. She glanced and saw that under the roof a tiny bird made its nest in a crease. Ruby entered the door and bells rang at the same time as the birds sang. Once she passed the old oak entrance beam she immediately felt like she was in a botanist’s dream. Plants of various shapes, colors, and origins were hanging, standing, or laying covering almost the entire interior. On one side it said “herbal creams & oils” and on the other “saplings and seeds.” The room’s smell was a mixture of aetheric oils and wood. In the corner, rearranging some freshly planted orchids, stood a lady in a dark green dress, when she heard the bells she turned around, and with surprise in her eyes she said, “Hey honey, so nice of you to come home for the weekend. Come here.” They gave each other a big hug. Ruby looked at the orchids and with excitement, she said, “A venus slipper orchid, Paphiopedilum delenatii. My favorite.”

“Also called the Fairrie’s Paphiopedilum, smells a bit like roses doesn’t it?” her mother asked.

Ruby replied, “It does, and the pristine white flowers with the bright pink are just so… yummy! Would almost want to eat it.”

“I mean… we have it in our name too, but I wouldn’t eat it if I was you,” the mother remarked.

“Yes yes, but a person can dream!”

“True that,” her mom replied.

“I missed you Mom.”

“Missed you too honey,” they hugged again.

“How was school?” Mom asked.

“Yeah it’s going,” then Ruby added, “They were talking about a botanical slash mycological excursion to the Amazon rainforest.”

“The dream of yours… ours. Must be quite expensive for sure.”

“Just the flight, the rest is quite low-cost, for there are no luxurious facilities in the Amazon you know.”

“You should go,” the mother replied.

“Even if I had the money for it, they won’t take all of us. Just a few chosen ones.”

“Apply for it, we will get the financial things sorted one way or another.”

“How?” Ruby asked.

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“There are always possibilities. We can get a loan—“

“Another one? Common mom, I know you want to do me good, but we will never get out of this situation if we keep taking loans we can’t pay. I mean, look at the store,” Ruby pointed at the walls and roof clearly in need of attention.

“There are much more important things in life than money… Ruby, dreams come but they go fast. You don’t want to be hanging around without a clue what you want or who you are,” she then continued “You have it all sorted out, you have a direction, a dream, and the opportunity. We would have to be foolish to let you rot away without ever letting you bloom in the first place.”

“Spoken like a true botanist,” Ruby said with both her hands propped on her hips.

The doorbell rang when an old lady came in.

“Oh! Ms. Greenwood, lovely to see you. Come in, come in. How can I help you?” she welcomed the lady then turned to Ruby “Rubs, I’ll be home in the afternoon, can you get some food going?”

“Gotcha.”

“Hey Ruby, look at you. How beautiful you’ve grown. Just a mere toddler a while ago. What are you up to these days?”

“She’s studying botany at Manchester University,” her mom replied proudly.

“Hello Ms. Greenwood, thank you,” she smiled shyly, “Yes, Manchester it is.”

“Just like your mom, you’ll make a fantastic botanist I am sure,” Ms. Greenwood replied.

“That’s so sweet of you, you’re aging gracefully as well,” Ruby said.

“Thank you, dear, haven’t heard that in a long time.”

Ruby skipped a few steps over to their house and threw herself into her chores. When she unpacked her things she stumbled upon an old picture of their family. Once her eyes fell upon her father her expression grew sour. He lived not far away from New Gallie, with a new wife and a stepdaughter, however, he never visited nor did he support them. In fact, it seemed to Ruby he resented her and her mom and did his best to sabotage them. He left when Ruby was merely four years old. Despite his physical absence, the psychological footprint hung over them ever since. Furthermore, the fact that he ever so happily supported his new stepdaughter made this whole shitshow even less tolerable and made Ruby boil from inside, despite her not wanting to admit it. “Fuck that jerk,” She said aloud then resumed vacuuming while lip-synching Eminem playing in her headphones. The smell of pancakes filled the house when her mother came home. After they devoured the pancakes Ruby’s mom began the dumping, “My heart rate is too high,… I will die early,… The bills are stacking up…” After some time Ruby went, “Mom, can you stop worrying, maybe have tea and meditate for a bit. You don’t know what’s gonna happen. The only reason I see for you to die early is this insane hypochondria of yours.” Ruby clearly annoyed by having to listen to this for the hundredth time. “When you’re my age you will understand,” her mother replied. “There she goes again,” Ruby replied with her palm covering her pained face. “You’ll see when you’re fifty, then you will remember my words and say - she told me so,” her mom stated as Ruby was already on her way to her room. She laid on her big bed —a gift given to her by her mom on a guilty day— undid the button on her jeans to release her filled gut and grabbed her phone. She skimmed through her messages, deleted a few from pervs who constantly messaged her from multiple accounts, then noticed that no other messages were left, except for one. He was a 35-year-old who appeared to be intellectual and reliable, however, anyone else in his age group would dismantle him as insecure and ingenuine. His way of putting words together and his calm and caring demeanor made Ruby feel understood. After she gave him what he wanted most, which she couldn’t have described as a pleasant or lasting experience, he immediately ceased communication with her. Now here he was again and Ruby felt she knew why, but felt tempted nonetheless. With a big sigh of disgust and exhaustion, she threw her phone aside and stared at the ceiling for a while. She daydreamed about the Amazon and the vast diversity of plants and animals. Her innards vibrated harmoniously in response to the sceneries on display in her mind. She got up and immersed herself in her assignments.