The girl didn’t notice Jack as he came out of the house. She was too preoccupied with the flowers on his lawn, her face right next to one particularly beautiful pink bloom. She inhaled the scent deeply, smiling to herself.
“Hi there.” Jack stood about ten feet away, arms crossed, smiling down at her.
She looked up, eyes wide with surprise and innocence. “Oh! Hi!” she said, glancing back and forth guiltily between Jack and the flowers. “I’m sorry! Is this your house? I just… you have the most beautiful flowers!”
Jack nodded, still smiling, taking a step forward. “This is my house, yeah. And thank you, I’m glad you like them. I think I’ve seen you before – did you stop a few days ago, too?”
The girl nodded slowly, still kneeling on the ground, gazing up at Jack with doe-like eyes. “Yeah… I did… and before that, too. And before that… I think this is, like… the, um…” she considered for a moment. “The fourth time?”
Jack chuckled indulgently, stepping a bit closer. “Oh, yes, that’s right. I noticed you a week or so ago. You weren’t dressed nearly as nicely then! Big frumpy sweatshirt, worn jeans…”
She nodded. “Yeah, I was going to work, and… well, I saw your flowers, and I just wanted to… well…”
Jack grinned. “Stop and smell the roses?”
She nodded again. “Yeah!” she said, totally free of irony.
Jack had to laugh. He stepped even closer, looming over her now. “But they smelled so good, you had to come back, right?”
She kept nodding. Her head was bobbing slowly and continuously now, lips softly parted, simply agreeing along as Jack spoke.
“And you knew you had to dress up a bit, right? They’re so pretty, they made you want to be pretty too, didn’t they?”
Nod, nod, nod.
“Good. Why don’t you come on inside for a bit, Blossom? We should talk some more.”
Blossom stood, taking Jack’s hand delicately as she rose. As she smoothed out her dress, she said “Wait, Blossom? No, my name’s-“
Jack waved dismissively. “Don’t worry about that, Blossom. I’ve got lots of much more important things to tell you.” Blossom nodded and just smiled as Jack led her inside.
I remember LOVING how simply yet definitively her name just becomes….Blossom. Bam. Very cute too