"I have NO PATIENCE for dinosaurs"

THE FLOWER LADY

The gates to the park, with their high ornate spiked bars, were still locked, having been closed, regularly, the night before. A frivolous act, considering how low the railings beside them stood and how easy it would be for an inclined person to climb over. The flower lady arrived half an hour before opening with her small homemade, wooden barrow, complete with shelves to display her daily selection of buttonhole flowers, trimmed and wrapped ready for gentlemen to buy on their way to work.

Little posies of fragrant blooms entwined with scraps of ribbon or cloth sat perched in miniature jam jars of water, that, despite their size, wouldn't look out of place in a dolls house. All seasonal colours had been chosen with natural care, complimenting each other with size and scent, always offering something for young or old, happy or sad, there was a flower for everyone, if they stopped to look.

The flower lady pulled out her three-legged stool from under her stall and carefully checked and gently tweaked her flowers, whispering gently about what a fine day it was and how lucky they were going to be to brighten someone's spirits, making them glow with inner radiance.

She had been selling flowers at the gate for as long as she could remember, well before the turn of the century, when she was a young girl.

Back then she just had a basket to sell from and would walk up and the railings of the park, catching the men's eyes with the swaying of her hips, her long flowing locks and sparkling eyes. She made a fair fortune with her smile and complimentary words, even ladies on their constitutional were pleased to see an innocent with a smiling and welcoming face.

Her mother used to say that she had been granted natural grace from the good lord, hence her name. He had seen fit to bless her with a good heart, but it would come as a price.

"You can't have one without the other" Bonnie would remember her mother saying.

It had been a hard childhood, not as some others had though. They hadn't lived in the slums but were always one step away from, both her parents having to work hard from dusk 'til dawn, her brothers the same and luckily for her they had a little patch of garden out the back of their house where she grew her flowers from wild seeds and shoots.

It had started by chance, a lone plant taking root in the wall, the little blue periwinkle spreading fast, but mixed with buttercup and daisy made a fine posy when tied up with a leaf or two.

No one round the area wanted, or could afford such luxury, though some would except the generosity of a small bunch at the end of a day to brighten the ramshackle lives. So, she ventured further afield, walking miles to find a suitable location and that's when she found the palace that stood in the park.

It felt like home straight away. The gentle paths that wound themselves around the more secret and discreet walks for lovers and newlyweds to stroll. The low overhanging trees that leant gentle protection, the open stretches of grass for little feet to run and skip on and the mighty oaks with arms outstretched, having stood for years, watching, like she unknowingly would, the changes that occurred.

To her surprise, the first day of selling her wares, she sold her whole basket in one go to a footman from the palace. He had been sent out to find some token items for the children's game Hide and Seek, where items were to be laid around the orangery for attenders to discover, and on meeting Bonnie, offered a princely sum of a shilling for the whole basket, which she gladly took, returning home with a smile as bright as her coinage.

The flower lady sat on her stool and checked her large dark grey coat and scarf, her hat already neatly pinned into place, it looked like it was going to be a cold day, but she didn't mind the weather, though she did cough more than she used to.