Page 112 of Dare You to Run

Later that night, I woke to another bouquet of the morbid black roses, this one sprinkled with red roses here and there. The sun had already set and they looked like ominous figures as they sat on my dresser.

The morning brought a basket of pastries along with juice and coffee and a small bundle of red roses with petals that looked like satin ribbon wound round and round. A small note sat with everything and I read the words cautiously.

Little Mouse,

A basket of all of your favorite things and heart roses to let you know you have mine. Always.

Mr. Wolf

I grabbed the coffee and left everything else sitting on the table. When I returned to my room after spending the early afternoon walking the stalls of the barn, the new roses sat nestled between the others.

Days three and four brought much of the same and just like the others, I ignored the gift and notes only to find them in my room later. It was beginning to look like a floral shop.

Between all of the notes and gifts came texts that went unanswered.

Mr. Wolf: Little Mouse. Today I watched the sunrise and wished you were by my side to see the miracle. Another day that my soul feels empty without you.

Mr. Wolf: People say absence makes the heart grow fonder. Mine grows deeper in love with you.

Mr. Wolf: Your dad broke my faucet. Now all I can do is cry. I need you, Dagen. Please forgive me.

Mr. Wolf: Today I tried to ride my bike but it didn’t feel the same. I need you or I’ll never be able to ride again.

At one point my Dad begged me to just “accept the poor guy’s apology.”He said that bees were going to start pollinating in our house if he didn’t chill with the flowers.

Finally after a week, I have decided it’s time to meet face to face with him.

My hands shake as I touch my finger to his name on the screen and bring it to my ear. The phone barely gets through one ring when he answers.

“Dagen.” My name sounds like a thank you to God for answering his prayers.

“Hi Hendrix.” I’m nervous and it has me suddenly forgetting all of the words I rehearsed. “How are you?”

“Awful. Completely awful and miserable. I miss you, baby.” His voice is thick with foreign emotion and it pulls at my heart strings.

I ignore the heavy weight on my chest and move on. “I was wondering if you would be willing to meet me?”

“Of course. Where? I can be to your parent’s house in three hours. Or if you’d rather meet somewhere else I?—”

“Three hours? Hendrix…where are you?”

I hear his shaky breath as he exhales. “Our house.”

I sigh. “That’s your house, Hendrix, and you only bought when I…when. You know.”

“Yes. I know. And it’s still ours.”

“I just thought now that there’s no reason for you to live here, you would sell it and move back to Cattywump. Or are you packing things up? Is that what you’re doing?”

“Little mouse?”

“Yes,” I answer without thinking.

“Why don’t I show you. Think you can come up here tomorrow?”

I chew on my lip, wondering how it’s going to feel walking into a home that would have been ours to start a family, but never got the chance.

“Sure. I need to go pack up some things from my house, anyhow. All of my finals were online and I have clothing and books I need to get.”