The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

The Orange Tulips
by Asena Lourenco

They said that you only found your soulmate when you turned sixteen, but I had proved them wrong. I saw her colour and she saw mine. And this was our favourite place, the place that the only colour we could see was the orange tulips, and I still remember that day. I was out with my family, having a picnic in the fields, they were talking about the luscious green leaves scattered across the ground but i couldn’t see them, I saw the leaves, but to me, they were grey. And in the same way, my aunt would talk about the beautiful red roses in her garden, but I couldn’t see them. Many times they had asked me what my colour was, but until that day, I couldn’t give them an answer. I found myself staring at those orange tulips, those gorgeous orange tulips that were the same shade as the setting sun. But I was not the only one staring at them, across the field, there was a young girl with her family. She had stunning blonde curls with deep hazel eyes. I caught her glancing up at me from the beautiful flowers and I could see the recognition on her face mirror mine. As we both smiled at each other, time stood still, we knew that we weren’t supposed to find each other now, there must have been a mistake. She nodded to the woods before walking towards the nearest tree, and of course, I followed her. Once we were deep into the trees, she stopped in her tracks and turned to face me. 

“I can’t believe I found you,” she whispered with a soft voice. “I don’t think that we were meant to meet like this.”

“I know, but it cannot be undone,” I replied. “We cannot erase each other from our lives, there is no going back.”

She let out a heavy sigh as she pulled an orange tulip that she had plucked from the field. “It’s my fault, I wished for this, and I shouldn’t have.” she mumbled with a now shaky voice. 

And just like that, she handed me the tulip and as soon as her warm skin brushed against mine, she vanished into thin air as if she was never there at all. The last thing she said to me still haunts me to this day- ‘Be careful what you wish for’. And even though I know that it was her doing, I can’t stop myself thinking: it was all because of the orange tulips.

Fiction © Copyright Asena Lourenco
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

More about Asena Lourenco:

Asena Lourenco is 12 years old. She loves reading, playing Scottish traditional fiddle music on her violin, dancing, and martial arts as well as writing her own stories.

She would like to be a teacher and writer when she grows up. She also loves cats and babies!