She Wore Flowers In Her Hair

Tongue stuck out of one side of her mouth, she carefully slit a line in the daisy stem.  Eyes scrunched in concentration she slipped one more daisy in through the slit and gently patted it to the end, careful not to mush the petals.

She remembered how Grandma had taught her, on a spring day just like this one, not long before she had gone to God.

Grandmas’s eyes had also scrunched up in the same way and, anyone seeing Leila would have said how much she took after her Grandmother in all the right ways.

Leila gently picked another Daisy from the clump she had found, that rested between her legs as she sat legs open wide on the damp grass.  Her skirt splayed out in front of her it’s lace already had green tinges where the grass had stained it on previous Daisy hunts

She hummed Greensleeves to herself as she weaved the Daisies.  Her Grandfather had told her about the King who had written that song for his one true love.  Even though he had married many times, this was the one he really had been meant to be with.  Romance was big in Leila’s life.  She dreamed of white weddings and royal tiaras and …………

‘LEILA!

The peace was shattered as Sues rough tones broke it.  ‘LEILA WALKER GET UP THIS INSTANT!!!

Leila tried to ignore her.  After all, she wasn’t her mother, she was just a nurse!  If Leila wanted to make Daisy chains, who was Sue to stop her?!

Sue grabbed Leila’s arm and dragged her up and started marching her back to the big house. In defiance Leila placed the daisy chain haphazardly on her head.  She could see the faces watching her from the house and she pouted and wrenched her arm from Sues callous hand.

Shaking herself off she put her hand up, wiping grass across her nose as she tried to sweep the hair from her face.  Shoulders back, nose in the air she marched past Sue and up the garden steps to the door.

From a window her granddaughter watched her enter the old peoples home, pouting but half smiling, with flowers in her hair.