Page 115 - KCN 2020

I kept quiet and continued working. The old man’s wife put down her coffee and spoke to him in a low voice. He instantly
ceased speaking.

It was then that another customer made her way in. She was wearing a black cap, a grey tank top, a pair of short jeans
and a backpack that hung from her shoulder. She ran towards the old couple and placed them in her arms. The old man began
laughing.
and Light
“How’s college?” he asked. “Do you want a slice of cake? Come, I’ll get you one.”

She smiled and shyly nodded. “Thanks, grandpa,” she said.
They went over to the counter and purchased a few slices of cake. As the old man waited for his receipt, he looked
around the coffee shop.

“I don’t see any other workers. Are you the only one working?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said. Eunice Ang Min Shi
It was a breezy morning. Juno was new to the town of
After that day, Juno kept buying roses for the old lady
“Better get some part-timers to help out,” he said. Bournemouth, where she had just moved in a few days ago. She daily. The roses that she gifted the old lady always withered even-
Her forehead wrinkled but she was still wearing a smile. She nodded at the old man and thanked him for his patronage. The walked to school while trying to recall the route that her father tually, but the old lady insisted not to pluck them out from the soil.
old couple and the young woman stood at the entrance. The old man opened an umbrella big enough for only one of them, covered had shown her. During her journey, a florist came up to Juno and “The roses have already been planted. They’re a part of the garden
his granddaughter, and the family faded into the rush hour outside. Rose gave her a rose, saying: ‘‘Hey, this is for you! You’re as gorgeous as now. It would be a waste to throw them away.” Perhaps the old lady
a rose.’’ Juno accepted the flower and thanked the florist for her was an oddball who liked dead plants, but who was Juno to judge?
“I’ll never understand why he would target a café of all places,” I remarked. kind gesture. As happy as a lark, she continued walking when an Everyone deserves a friend, oddball or not.
old cottage caught her attention. An old lady was sitting outside
“A café is a place of communication. There’s no better place for a terrorist to attack,” the waitress answered. the house, muttering to herself. When she spotted Juno, she turned Juno’s classmates constantly fed her gossip about how
her gaze towards Juno’s rose. the old lady was a hermit and slowly going crazy, but Juno paid
their rumors and no heed. Why couldn’t they accept anyone who
The sky was still threatening to pour. I saved my work file and scrolled through the pages to check my progress. I did not Juno was friendly as she approached the old lady to greet her. The was different? Instead, she devoted her time to helping the old lady
manage to get much done, but at least the coffee was delicious. old lady spoke abruptly: “I want that rose”. Juno passed the rose with her garden. Every morning, the old lady unlocked the front
to her through the gate’s steel bars without much thought. The old gate and handed Juno her gardening tools. Juno took care of the
“Going so soon?” the waitress asked as I started packing. lady carefully inserted the rose into a patch of soil in her garden. garden day by day. After four months of work, the garden was filled
She watered the rose plant with a watering can and walked to the with roses. The old lady seemed happier than usual as she took in
I nodded. gate once again. the sight of her rose-filled garden. Satisfied, Juno bid the old lady
goodbye and returned home.
“I’m a little tired,” I said, approaching the counter. “I want a rose tomorrow,” she demanded. Without much
thought, Juno agreed with the old lady’s request before she departed The next time Juno visited the old lady, she bought a
There was a framed portrait behind the waitress. It showed a young woman wearing an apron, similar to the waitress’, stand- for school. At school, Juno made new friends in her class. When bouquet of roses. As she arrived, she realised that the old lady was
ing by the coffee machine where my espresso had been made. She could not be older than twenty. As I handed my money over to she mentioned the mysterious old lady that she met earlier, a few nowhere to be found. In place of the old lady, however, was a note,
her I asked, “Is that you?” classmates had some gossip to share. “Father said she has mental folded and placed onto the garden table. Juno unfolded the note
issues! She always sits in her garden for hours upon hours,” Juno’s and started to read. The old lady’s handwriting seemed like a pre-
She looked at the portrait, smiled longingly at the photograph, shook her head, and then turned back to me. friend, Claire, told her. Juno did not want to jump into any conclu- schooler’s, but it was clear that she put effort into writing it. The
sions yet and turned a deaf ear to what her friends shared. letter was short and simple. It said, “Thank you darling, for every-
thing. The roses flourished with you around to take care of them.”
“She was my daughter,” she said.
The next morning, Juno walked to the old house. The Juno smiled to herself, glad that her simple act of kindness and
old lady was sitting in the garden as usual, but Juno could tell that acceptance had managed to make the old lady happy.
I looked away from the portrait, took my receipt and walked out to the drizzling rain. As I got to the flyover that kept me she was anticipating her arrival. Juno gave the rose to the old lady
safe from the rain, I took out my phone, fiddled about with it, and pressed a button. When my mother back at Burkina Faso answered, after purchasing it from the florist and introduced herself politely. Months later, people were still curious about the disap-
I let my tears run loose and told her how happy I was to be alive. Uninterested, the old lady did not reciprocate and instead busied pearance of that old lady. Sometimes, they could see Juno tending
herself with her gardening. Juno was curious as she watched the her garden of roses.
old lady from the gate and noticed that the colour of the first rose
had darkened. Without Juno noticing, the old lady approached the
gate and asked Juno to bring her a rose tomorrow. Juno agreed.

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