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Wild Roses

Nancy's Notes 🖊️♬

Written for MLMM Monday Wordle;
the prompt words are shown below.

change ~ known ~ fault ~ seen ~ money ~ silence
flowers ~ excited ~ irritated ~ hand ~ table ~ kept

Image by Me & ChatGPT

Aaron counted the coins in his hand for the third time. Eight dollars and change …. not nearly enough for the roses in the flower shop window. He’d known this for a week, ever since he’d seen the price tag and felt his stomach drop.

It wasn’t his fault the summer job at the deli ended abruptly when the owner closed the store for a family emergency. He’d been irritated all day, snapping at his little sister over nothing. The silence at dinner was heavier than usual because their mother had noticed something was wrong but hadn’t pushed.

He walked past the flower shop again, pressing his forehead against the glass. Twelve dollars for a dozen long stem roses; he had eight. The florist, an older woman with kind eyes, watched him linger there for the third day in a row.

“You’ve been staring at those roses a lot,” she said, stepping outside.

Aaron flushed. “My mom’s birthday is Saturday. I just …. I don’t have enough money.”

She studied him for a moment, then disappeared inside. She returned with a small bouquet of wild roses, not quite a dozen long stem but full and bright.

“Four dollars,” she said. “I kept a few from an order that got canceled.”

He handed over every coin he had, excited despite himself, clutching the flowers like they might vanish.

On Saturday, he set them on the kitchen table before his mother woke up. When she came downstairs and saw them, her hand flew to her chest.

“Aaron,” she whispered, “how did you….”

“I saved up,” he said, smiling. The look on his mother’s face was worth a small lie.

NAR©2026
#MLMM
#Wordle

This is “Bramble Rose” by Don Henley, Miranda Lambert & Mick Jagger

MLMM Monday Wordle #486

Everything on The Elephant’s Trunk was created by me, unless otherwise indicated. Thanks for your consideration. NAR©2017-present.

19 thoughts on “Wild Roses”

  9. The florist noticing him linger for three days and quietly making it work is the heart of this, Nancy. She never says why she’s doing it, just “I kept a few from an order that got canceled” letting him keep his dignity while getting what he came for. And that last line, “the look on his mother’s face was worth a small lie,” is such a tender way to close it. All those hard prompt words woven in so naturally too. Lovely story.

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