Forever Summer

Exactly fourteen weeks ago,

the Twenty First of March,

when the church told us it was midnight,

the five of us woke up.

Not from terror, 

not because we were scared,

but we heard a sound.

A sound we'd never, ever heard before.

The children's eyes began to twinkle, 

they are much better in these things, you know.

They ran off to the nearest window,

but couldn't see a thing.

The moon was behind a big cloud,

no light to be found in the surrounding area.

'We'll wait for the morning', the oldest said. 

Fine by the little one, 

who was already staring at his cozy bed.

The next morning,

when the children woke up,

they went straight away to the garden.

The grass still a bit chilly and wet,

they looked everywhere.

'What are you doing?' Mum asked.

'You'll see', the busy bees answered. 

But she was already off to do her housework.

And there it was.

They found it!

Proof of what they already knew in their hearts.

'She must be a girl and not too young', the clever one said.

And he was right, who else would eat strawberries with cutlery?

Every morning, for fourteen weeks long,  

the boys went outside to look in the garden.

For evidence, tracks and little messages,

from their Rose fairy. 

And every day they found something.

Sometimes she left tiny little footprints,

sometimes even a little sign to say hello.

But not this morning.

Her tracks were nowhere to be found.

No breadcrumbs.

No footprints.

No nothing.

They knew what happened,

The Rose fairy went to find herself a fresh garden.

The flowers in the boys' garden were nearing the end of their lives.

The beautiful colors weren't that bright anymore.

The soil was getting exhausted,

the berries eaten.

'She must be on her way to fly the other end of the world,

so she can be in a spring garden again', the clever one continued. 

The boys felt so sad. 

Not for themselves (this time),

but for The Rose Fairy,

who would never call a garden her home.

The clever one knew exactly what to do,

to give The Rose fairy a home all year around.

And so they start picking the last of their flowers.

To make sure their Rose fairy would come back some day,

to call their home, her home too.

They gave her forever summer.