A white lie

Drenched by the heavy rain, Selene quickly entered the car Kayla sent her so that the driver could drop her in the forest.

"Please drive me home," she told the driver as she clenched the violet flower in her palm.

She kept looking back toward the forest as the car circled it, feeling uneasy and shivering. She was unsure if she was trembling because of the cold or the growling noises she heard in the forest.

Selene got out of the car as soon as it reached her neighbourhood. She didn't want anyone to question her as to whose car it was, and who knows what people might make up in their mind and gossip over it and make stupid rumours.

She wasn't someone who cared about what people thought but for the sake of her grandmother, she would try her best so that she didn't need to listen to the taunts from people about her.

"I'm home," Selene muttered, tired from all the strolling in the woods.

"My goodness!" Gianna exclaimed at the sight of her granddaughter. "What have you done to yourself?!"

Selene was covered in mud, her leg was still bleeding, her clothes were drenched by the rain and her hair was a mess!

"Go take a shower right now! Hurry, or else you will catch a cold! The weather is changing! You should be more careful!

"I— yes…" Selene sighed and nodded at her grandmother's rambling and headed to the bathroom.

Selene took her time, her drenched clothes weighing her down. The venture drained all her strength. Still, the sound of the beast roaring echoed in her mind. What if she was a few seconds late and couldn't escape it? That single thought sent a chill through her spine.

As the warm water ran down her back, Selene regained her calmness. As if along with all the dirt and grime, the problems she faced earlier were being washed away along with the mud on her body.

"Ah, that was refreshing!" Selene walked out of her room and the life in her returned. She made her way to the kitchen to look for something to eat when the smell of her grandmother's cooking wafted her nose.

"Mmm… What are you cooking Grandma?" Selene walked over to where her grandmother was cooking. About to dip her finger into the bowl to taste the food when a sudden slap of the back of her grandmother's spoon greeted her hand.

"Hands off until the food is ready young lady!" Gianna was strict when it came to her kitchen and her granddaughter, she didn't want her to grow up like her father and saw this as an opportunity to make things right in her family.

"And where did you go?" Gianna wanted to give Selene some amount of freedom but certain things were off-limits and her morning venture seemed to be one of them.

"Umm…" Selene paused. She completely forgot her grandmother was against her going to the woods.

For some reason, she wouldn't even talk about it but it made her all the more curious. Most importantly after what happened today, she was intrigued.

Perhaps her grandmother knows about what's inside the forest?

"I went with Lysana to a paintball range," she responded, hoping that the more eccentric the story sounded, the more her grandmother was less likely to question her.

"Is that what you young people are into these days? I can never understand this generation," Gianna sighed.

Selene was tiptoeing while heading towards the chair to take a seat.

"And how did you get hurt?" Giana raised an eyebrow as soon as her gaze fell on Selene's injured leg.

"I- I dodged a bullet by jumping to the ground and scraped my leg." Selene said quickly, praying that the interrogation would soon end. She never really lied so the fear had overwhelmed her. What if her grandmother understood she was lying? Still, she couldn't disclose the truth about her going in the woods, alone!

'A white lie wouldn't hurt anyone, right?' She though.

Just then the kettle started to whistle, causing Gianna to abandon the conversation to go back to cooking.

"Just be careful next time," she said, leaving her granddaughter with a firm warning.

Selene nodded, sighed in relief and took a seat on one of the chairs, waiting for Gianna to put food on the table.

After a few minutes, Gianna had served her favourite food; fried rice!

The bright smile on Selene's face could no longer be hidden and she took a bite of the food.

"Mmm!" She gasped, opening her mouth to let the steam blow away.

"Be careful, young lady! What have I been telling you earlier?!" Gianna frowned, giving her a glass of water.

"Sorry," Selene apologized, while her sorry was muffled by the food in her mouth.

Gianna shook her head and patted Selene's head lovingly.

"What would you do without me?" She said, smiling softly at her beloved granddaughter.

"What do you mean without you, granny? You're not going anywhere!" Selene frowned.

Gianna smiled sadly, and nodded, knowing fully well that one day she will be gone, and Selene will be left alone with her father. However, she wanted Selene to find someone to rely on before she leaves this world, that would be the best thing she could give Selene. She couldn't give her the luxury, nor enough love to replace the amount parents could give, but she wanted her to find a suitable partner, a good friend circle, and just be happy.

****

While Selene washed the dishes she remembered the flower she was sent to get. "I hope it's not dead." She was known to be terrible with plants and didn't want all her hard work to go to waste like this! She even nearly got eaten by some beast to get it!

She ran off to her room, closing the door behind her. She reached for the bag at the foot of the bed, where she put the flower in before leaving for dinner, opening it to find the flower

To her surprise, the flower still looked as fresh as when she picked it in the morning.

How?" She wondered as she stared in amazement. She has never seen anything like this before. She picked up the flower gingerly as if it might fall apart in her hands. Its violet petals felt velvety in her hands. But strangely enough, despite being such a beautiful flower it had no fragrance.

"What a peculiar thing," she muttered to herself.

Selene peered out of her bedroom holding the flower in her hands. It needed some water and she was in no mood to run into her grandmother. Her grandmother was a walking encyclopedia on plants! She loved gardening and although they only had a small yard, she didn't give up on her passion for gardening. One look and she could ramble nonstop on everything needed to know about the flower. If she caught Selene she would definitely know she went to the woods and that was the last thing she wanted right now; getting lectured before going to bed!

Selene opened the kitchen cupboards one by one looking for a suitable vase to keep the flower in for the night.

"Come on! Where does she keep these things?! When you need something you can't find it! But when you don't, it's always right in front of your eyes!" Selene panicked as she started to quickly open the other cupboards.

Then she found a beautiful vase right at the back in the left corner of the last cupboard. It was a bright red Chinese vase. Unknown to her it was a wedding gift given to her mother, she snatched it out of its place, filled it with water and went back to her room.

She placed the vase behind the clothes in her wardrobe so that her grandmother would not find it when she woke her up in the morning. She then closed the wardrobe doors, climbed into her bed, and laid down.

A sweet fragrance started flowing out of the wardrobe filling her with a pleasant feeling as she fell asleep slowly, unable to keep her eyes open.

The morning walk in the woods had exhausted her to such an extent that she collapsed when she hit the bed.