Nature calls

1 - Kira

My name is Kira. I'm twenty-five years old and I'm a little... different.

I was an orphan, thrown between foster homes, never really fitting in anywhere,

Ever since I was a kid, I've had a connection with nature. It's like it's calling me. I don't know how to explain it. It's like nature and I react to each other. My first memory is of me sitting on a lawn surrounded by tulips. I don't know how old I was. My foster mom sat me down on the lawn for a moment and when she came back the tulips were there.

They came out of nowhere. Small things like that kept happening and my foster parents started to freak out. From there I went from place to place. From home to home.

I couldn't control my 'ability' then but as I got older, I learned how to control it. And by control, I mean not letting flowers or anything grow around me in a flash.

When I was fifteen, I ran away. I worked in nurseries to save up money and ended up in a small town called Summerville and when I was twenty, I had saved up enough money to buy an old, secluded house near the woods.

Just one small problem. After living there one week, the forest surrounded the house! And a month later it was like the earth had swallowed it. It now kind of looks like an underground bunker covered with the forest floor with small openings for windows and a slightly larger opening where the door is.

I mean, I'm not complaining, but here I am trying to be as normal as possible. How the hell do I explain this? I think I had a nightmare the night my house got swallowed, but I can't remember what it was about.

Before I bought the house, I think people noticed that I'm a little... off. They never asked any questions though. Not even after the forest expanded. I see the looks I get from some of the towns people, but most of them are nice and welcoming.

Long story short, I can make every kind of plant grow. Flowers, vegetables, you name it, but not trees. At least I don't think so...

Now I work part time at a flower shop in town. The owner, Kate, is a wonderful older woman with kind blue eyes and grey hair. She has become like an aunt to me. At least I imagine that's how it would be. I know she suspects that I have some kind of power, but I've tried to convince her that I just have really really green fingers.

Right now, I'm in the back of the shop potting some lilies when she walks in. I turn my head, smiling at her, but she's standing there looking shocked.

Oh no. I look back at my hands and see that a root is sneaking its way up my arm, growing small leaves. SHIT!

I try to hide it as best as I can, but it's no use. Grabbing the root, I peel it off my arm. I turn around to face her and start to panic. This can't be happening. I'm so screwed.

"Kate I... It..." To my surprise she gets a beaming smile on her face, and she almost jumps up and down. "I knew it! You can make them grow!?"

Still panicked, I look down and think about if there's something I can do to explain this? I've never told anyone about my gift and her seeing this... Do I have to move now? Do I have to leave this place that I call home and find another place to live?

She walks up to me and hugs me tightly. I'm so surprised that I'm frozen in place. She pulls back, puts her hands on my shoulders, looking at me with that beaming smile on her face.

"That's how you always get me the tropical flowers so fast?" she asks. Still feeling panicked, I beg, "Please, please don't tell anyone. Please..." She looks at me with a soft smile on her lips as she says, "Oh hunny. Of course I won't. Your secret is safe with me." I let out a sigh of relief. She smiles at me again, looking exited.