The Girl With the Flowers in Her Hair

First she plucked a yellow dandelion from the green, overgrown field. She admired it for just a moment, sniffed it, and then tucked it behind her ear. Next, she bent down again and plucked another dandelion, this one wispy and white, with seeds that traveled through the air softly yet with purpose when she pursed her lips and blew a gentle stream of warm breath towards it. One of the seeds landed on the tip of her nose, red and round like a cherry.

She walked only a few more steps before she bent down again. Her eye was caught by a family of white daisies. She smoothed her dress underneath her and sat herself comfortably down in the field among the daisies. She didn’t pluck her flower hastily. Instead, she reached out to each daisy with her ring finger, her most gentle finger, and stroked the delicate petals one by one, going around the daisy in a perfect carousel-like circle. Once she settled on the daisy she liked most, she plucked it and tucked it behind her other ear.

Still sitting, she twisted around, searching with her bright, curiously blue eyes for more flowers. And behind her, a black-eyed Susan waited within reach. This time, she didn’t make the extra effort to carefully ponder, and she took the flower from the safety of the earth's dirt and twisted it into her hair, where its bright yellow colour faded flawlessly into her blonde hair.

She used her hands to feel around her, searching in a tactile manner for more flowers, but instead caught a ladybug. She picked it up and brought it up close to her face, frowning in concentration as she inspected it. It crawled between her fingers and circled her palm. The ladybug was then added to her hair, a moving element of the collection of nature’s beauty that she donned like a queen’s crown.

Lavender was next. It too was within reach, though she had to stretch slightly in a way that looked briefly uncomfortable to reach it. It was plucked and then brought up under her nose and sniffed. She closed her eyes while she did so, reveling in its sweet and summery scent. It too was laid in her hair. Without getting up, she moved herself nearer to the lavender and plucked several more. These, she wove together. She made the shape of a bow with the purple evergreen and laid it upon her front bangs over her forehead, tucking it subtly behind her ears for security.

I had become so captivated by watching her that I was now also sitting down in the field. She looked over at me and waved politely. The ladybug left her hair and flew upwards which caught her attention mid wave, and with her arm still raised, she turned her chin upwards to watch it as it left. While still watching it, she slowly lowered her arm until her hand was resting in her lap, her other hand in the grass.

She turned back to me and waved again. I waved too. The hand in her lap then grasped onto the handle of her picnic basket and she rose from the ground like a growing flower herself. Before continuing on in her journey, she adjusted all the flowers in her hair. She separated her hair into two halves which she laid in front of her shoulders. Then, she walked on.

I debated following after her. I had only seen her for a mere moment and keenly watched her innocent joy in the wonders of summer. Yet, I chose not to, and would instead keep her image in my mind like a framed photograph. Then, I too got up and walked away.

I smiled to myself as I pictured her smiling as well. I turned back once more to look at her one final time, but the girl with the flowers in her hair was now out of view, and all that remained of her was the image of her in my memory. What a blissful one minute of untapped peace and gratefulness for existing she shared with me. Though fleeting, it felt so real and true that it unsettled me and I wondered if my brain was playing tricks on me, and she was never even there in the first place.