The pond was deep in the forest. We had carved a path through the trees and grasses, our feet following blindly, knowing where every root and rock was along the path. Calyx and I swung Chrysanthemum between us, her giggles echoed through the trees, making us feel better. 

The pond shimmered in the bright summer sunlight. A cool breeze came to greet us as we settled on the small dock that stretched towards the center. 

We settled on the dock, dangling our feet over the edge. Our lines were cast, we sat and enjoyed the silence, watching the clouds, reflections floating on the water’s surface like the ducks in the distance. 

Occasionally we would hear the steps of a deer walking behind us, looking for acorns. The rustling of squirrels and opossums digging through the underbrush, their chittering and scuffles filled in the empty parts of the wind. The sounds of the forest were both softened by the fallen leaves and heightened by the way the boughs trapped the sounds. Softened echoes, playing over themselves. 

“I wish I could fix the world. And make everyone be a friend,” Chrysanthemum said, her small voice floating away on the pond’s gentle breeze. Her eyes were trained on the bobber floating a few feet away.

I put my arm around her, pulling her closer to me. 

“I do too, Chrissy.”

Calyx sighed, and I knew he was picking his next words carefully. Our baby sister was as delicate as her namesake. But she also held the meaning of the flower in her soul. Optimism.

Resilience, Perseverance, Optimism and Hope. 

We are our parents’ prayer for the future. 


We are all named after different botanical species and parts of the plants, but our names have a meaning of hope and flourishing behind them.

 Calyx is resilient, he always bounces back after the hard moments, like earlier today. He tries to carry the burdens he deems too heavy for his younger siblings. And if our parents would allow it, he would carry their burdens too. 

I have persevered in the face of those taunts and burdens. I have stood my ground, will not let them see me crumble. I preserve so my siblings can hold onto what their names mean, an example like Calyx is to me. 

Chrysanthemum has so much optimism towards the world. Always looking on the sunnier side of the meadow, she makes us think the world, and people, can be better than we first expect. 

Anethum gives us hope for a better world, where maybe he won’t have mud and taunts thrown at him. As he grows, we all await to see what other hope he’ll bring to those around him..


“Chrysanthemum, you inspire me,” Calyx says now, looking her in the eye, “And I’m going to try and be more like you. I promise I’ll work harder on my temper. I just– for Divine’s sake I do not understand people who think we shouldn’t exist when the Divine of Love is a half-elf!”

She stood, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. 

“Well, not everyone can be as smart as you.”

He hugged her back, “Or you.”


I heard laughter paired with the heavier step of feet on leaves. I turned and saw Olive and Simon Smith watching us from the treeline. I stiffened, my grip on the fishing pole tightening. 

“No, no, no, NO,” I thought, placing myself between my siblings and their line of sight. 

“Have a nice mud bath, girls?” Simon called, quickly closing the gap between us. 

“Yeah, sorry you missed it Callie, Divines know you could really use something to help that ugly mug of yours!,” Olive sneers when she calls out to us. Calyx’s eyes went wide over Chrysanthemum’s shoulder, his arms looking more like a set restraints across her small body. 

I tried to make friends with them once, on a visit to town with Mother and Father. We were bringing our dried herbs and mushrooms to Grandfather and Grandmother, and while my parents talked business with them, I wandered around the town, peeking into the various other shops, stopping when I saw the sparks flying from a piece of metal in the blacksmith’s workshop.

I was mesmerized by the rhythmic ringing of the hammer hitting the metal, the sparks dancing like raindrops. A little girl, about my age, four or five, surprised me by tapping on my shoulder. 

“Hi! My name is Olive, what’s your name? Why are you spying on my dad?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to spy! Does he make secret stuff back there?”

“Well, he doesn’t want me in the forge area yet, he says I’m too little right now. So maybe he does make secrets. You didn’t answer my question.”

“I’m Dahlia Bisporus,” I held my hand out for her to shake, like I had seen Grandfather do in the store, “I’ve never seen a forge before, I was curious.”

“I can’t wait until I get to help in there like my brother does. He fills the water barrel and sweeps, polishes tools.” She shook my hand and we both smiled at each other. 

I saw a young boy, maybe seven or eight, close in age to Calyx, though not as tall, filling a huge fireplace with coal and shuffling the burning embers around.

“Doesn’t he get scared being near that big fireplace?”

“No, you get used to doing the scary part, then it’s not scary anymore.”

She was right. The first time I climbed a tree was scary, but now I don’t get scared anymore. 

The young boy, done with his task, stepped outside to get some air. His face was covered in sweat and he was wiping his brow with a handkerchief. 

“Siiiiiiimon! Come here!”

He paused, looking for his sister, and walked over to us. He looked angry, but maybe that was because he was still scared of the big fireplace.

“What are you doing? Who is this?”, he pointed at me. 

I knew pointing was rude, and I took a step back. 

“This is my new friend, Dahlia,” Olive said, grabbing my hand.

“Olive! What are you doing?”, he swatted at our hands, hitting my wrist hard. 

I cried and Olive pushed her brother away.

“What are you doing! Don’t be such a meanie, Simon!”

“She’s one of those.”

They were arguing now, but I wasn’t paying attention. I was confused by Simon’s words. Those? What was I one of? 

“She looks so nice though.”

Simon had pulled his little sister away from me, he drew a line in the dust between us. I heard the jingle of Grandfather’s store’s bell, my parents calling out for me.

“See, I was right. Look at her weird family,” he pointed at my parents. Olive stepped backwards, wiping her hand on her skirt as a look of disgust soured her features, “Never, ever, talk to my sister or me or our family again!”

I started to step backwards, towards the shop. I didn’t understand why they were being so mean now, was it because I was spying? I wasn’t leaving fast enough for them though, Olive crossed the line and pushed me down, hard. 

“Get away from me, freak! I don’t want to be your friend! You shouldn’t even exist!”

Mother came running towards me, Simon and Olive’s shouts had drawn her attention.  

“What’s going on here?,” Mother demanded of the two children.

“We don’t have to answer to you, you’re just as wrong as she is,” Simon said, holding a finger to his sister’s mouth. 

Mother looked at them, and then back to the blacksmith’s forge. Charles was watching us, I don’t know for how long and had a look of pride on his face. Father had walked over to us by now, and picked me up. He wiped the tears and dust from my face, kissing my cheek. 

Mother’s round face had a look I’ve never seen before. Her ears and cheeks had grown red in anger, she was taking deliberate, slow breaths, and she crouched down to Simon and Olive’s eye level.

“I know your father, and I know how he is. But that does not give you the right to be cruel to other people because his life did not go the way he hoped. I’m not going to tell you to disobey your father in any situation, except in this one. This racism you have been taught, is wrong. It's a plain fact that you’ve been taught lies about my family because your father is a cruel person.”

Her voice had a strange calm to it, even though I could see the anger making her body shake. We all walked away then, myself in Father’s arms, my head on his shoulder. I watched as Charles walked up to his children, and gave them a huge hug. He picked them up and carried them away, just like Father was doing to me now. 

Funny, how two fathers can be so alike in their love for their children, but so different in their approaches to raising them to be kind to others. 


That moment from six years earlier plays in my mind as I watch the girl who wanted to be my friend walks up to me. There is no joy in her eyes, no hope of a friendly fishing day. Just harshness.

Calyx was gathering our things as I walked towards Simon and Olive. 

“Leave us alone.”

“Why? We’re just out for a walk in the forest, minding our business. We wanted to go fishing too,” Olive says. 

Simon hangs back, letting his sister deal out the cruel words. He follows her like a shadow, just like that first time. Waiting to see if she needs his help.

I’m distracted by Simon, making sure he doesn’t make a run towards Calyx and Chrysanthemum. For the split second I look away, that’s when she grabs my fishing pole, and we tug it between us. I’m caught off guard, and stumble but right myself as I dig the pole into the ground. A rock brushes by my eye, and I see Simon throwing them at me, but he’s too far away to really hit my siblings. 

Olive lets go of the pole and I fall, the tension and surprise knocking me off balance. I land hard on my tailbone and wrists, the rocks on the shore dig into my palms. I can feel a few of them stuck in my skin, drawing blood.

She’s making a full blown sprint towards Calyx, and I can’t get my footing fast enough to tackle her. Calyx, trying to get Chrysanthemum out of her path, braces himself for the impact; there's no way he can run past her on the narrow dock.

Everything from that moment on, goes slowly. I feel like I’m running through cobwebs, slowly making my way forward. 

Olive slams into Calyx.

He’s braced for the hit but not well enough. 

He’s off balance.

Chrysanthemum is behind him, trying to duck out of their way. 

Olive, still intent on pushing my brother down, trips him.

He falls.

He knocks into our little sister.

And then splash.

She’s gone over the side of the dock, into the pond. It’s a five foot drop.

Chrysanthemum hasn’t learned to swim yet, and the bottom of the pond has sharp rocks. 


The cobwebs slowing my movement have gone, and I’m running faster than I ever thought possible. Olive is kicking Calyx’s knee, not letting him up. Before I can reach the water, a blurring shape has gone past. 

Simon.

He’s racing towards my brother, pinned to the ground, unable to shake Olive off. I run faster, the breath like a hot shard in my lungs. 

He’s diving into the water, and I stop. The ripples of where they both went over the dock have stopped. I come up behind Olive, pull her off and kick her hard in the stomach. She starts to crawl away, but her movements are halting from the kick. I help Calyx up as we hear the crash of something breaking the water’s surface. 

Simon has come back up, Chrysanthemum in his arms. They both try to get breaths in, but they’re gasping too hard for any air to get past the water. Calyx and I step over Olive, still struggling to catch her own breath. I hope she never catches it again. 

Simon has Chrissy sitting up, and he’s slamming his hand on her back, getting her to cough the water she swallowed up. It spills from her mouth like vomit. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know she was going to do that. We were walking home and got lost. When we saw you guys, we thought it would be funny to steal your fishing poles. I–I’m so sorry,” Simon chokes out, his voice raspy from almost drowning and tears. I can’t tell if the tears are from regret or coughing up the water. 

Chrysanthemum has started to cry, big healthy sounding wails leave her small body. At least she can breathe in enough to make that big a wail. 

I push Simon away, and hold her as tightly as possible without restricting her newly cleared airway. Tears stream down my own face.

Calyx stands over the three of us, staring down at Simon. They’re both twelve but Calyx has a good five inches over Simon and it shows right now. You can feel the power dynamic between the hunters and game shift. Olive coughs and groans in the background.

“Thank you, for saving her. You should take your sister home now. Follow the path marked by the bellworts. That’s the fastest way to town from here.”

“I don’t know what thos-,” Simon starts, but stops after seeing the glare on my brother's face, “uh- we will. Thank you for the tip.”

He scrambles up, running towards his sister, still laying fetal on the dock. He pulls her up harshly by the arm. 

Calyx sits beside us on the wet sand and wraps up in his arms. So many embraces today, all because of the cruelty of others. We sit for hours, crying and holding each other. In between our sobs we watch as clouds and dragonflies flit past us, completely unaware of our existence. 


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Eventually we get up, shivering from the anxiety and cool air. It’s early evening, and we should have been home much sooner, but the idea of leaving our safe huddle was too much. 

We stalk through the woods, a deathly silence radiating from all of us. We will have to explain to our parents the traumatic pond incident, but I don’t know where to begin. Calyx has carried Chrysanthemum most of the way home, and we look at each other just before we step on our porch and we both think of where to start. She sleeps now, worn out from every horrible experience the day has brought. 

We hear our parents’ whispers, creeping out of the open windows. They sound worried, probably because of how late we are. 

“Are you sure? It’s not something else, like chicken pox or a cold?” Mother says.

“It’s much worse, no one knows what it is yet, or how to fight it. We’ll have to start stocking every remedy imaginable for the foreseeable future,” Father responds. His voice is serious, and I have no idea what they’re talking about. 

“We should bring my parents here, away from so many people. And prepare the barn as an extra sick bay.”

“You’re right, we can start all that tomorrow. Dahlia and I can go herb gathering, while the others can help you prepare the bay”

Calyx looked at me, just as confused as I was, he leaned forward and caused a board to creak. 

Our parents shushed each other, and called out to us. 


What happened at the pond today would not be as harsh as what was coming for all of us.