Gen 3- Chapter 13: Apricot Bloom

“I say we make Pumpkin go first. You know she will never do it.”

*Giggle* “Totally.”

“Ok Pumpkin. You have to go first.”

“What?! Why me?”

“Because we say so. Unless your scaaaaared.”

“I’m not scared! Its just…”

“Awww look Persimmon. Pumkpin is a big chicken.”

*Bock Bock Bock*

“FINE. I’ll go.”

“Don’t forget you have to go all the way onto the porch, or it doesn’t count.”

“Ya ya… I got it.”

*mumbling to herself* “Me scared? *Pfff* I’ll show them.”

“Guys the door is open…”

“Wait. Did she just go inside?”

“Pumpkin! What are you doing?!”

“Come back!”

“Pumpkin have you lost your m-… Ok…this place is creepy.”

“Whose the chicken now?”

I’m not scared.

“Oh ya? Prove it.”

“Alright I will, but you have to come with me.”

“After you.”

“Its like some sort of nursery, but its all creepy and black.”

“Persimmon. Pumpkin. Lets go now. We have seen enough.”

“Oh relax Saffron, you are starting to sound just like Pumpkin.”

“Hey!”

“Having fun girls?”

“OH!”

“MY!”

“Berry!”

“And then I found them upstairs snooping around.”

“I am so sorry Miss?

“Dilly. Dilly Pickles.”

“Miss Pickles. I assure you the girls will be punished for this.”

“Well don’t be too hard on them. I remember being adventurous at their age too. You may want to talk to them about boundaries though.”

“You are absolutely right. My sincere apologies.”

All three girls were sent to their rooms, to think about what they had done. Pumpkin was quite unsettled by this, because now she was stuck in the room with her dreaded hamper. She pretty much sat on the bed the whole time eying it, making sure it did not move an inch.

Saffron tried to argue that she had nothing to do with it. She swore up and down she was just an innocent bystander, but I wasn’t so sure.

Persimmon on the other hand seemed to enjoy her punishment. She just propped herself up on her bed with her favorite books. Mental Note: Next time no books!

Almost a week to the day later, tragedy struck the Chiffon household. It was pretty late on a Saturday evening; we were all asleep except Orange Blossom. She was finally getting around to doing her laundry, when she heard a strange noise outside. She tossed her laundry in the dryer and ran out the sliding glass door to see what was happening.

I don’t think she expected what she found there. There was dad. It was his time to go. Orange called out to him, but it was too late. He was already gone. She stood motionless staring off into the darkness, until she heard Persimmon run up beside her.

“Pappa?”

“I’ts ok. You should go back to bed.”

“Where is Pappa?”

“He’s gone.”

Not long after Pumpkin also ran outside. “He’s dead. Isn’t he Orange?”

Orange turned and placed her hands on Pumpkins tiny shoulders. “Yes. He is.”

She didn’t cry, but she didn’t need to. You could see the sadness all over her face.

After calming the girls down, Orange had the unfortunate job of waking me to tell me everything that had happened. Since Mom was so heartbroken she was not speaking to anyone. Orange knocked as quietly as she could on the door, before opening and tiptoeing inside.

“Mom?”

*Half Asleep* “Hmmm? Orange its 2 in the morning whats wrong?”

I pulled the covers back and placed my feet on the floor. She just stood at the end of the bed saying nothing. As I walked over to her, my uneasiness grew with each step.

“Mom. Grandpa is gone.”

I felt my heart shatter into a million pieces. The tears were streaming down my face like a broken faucet. I didn’t know what to do. Once I started crying, Orange Blossom couldn’t keep her composure a moment longer. I pulled her into a hug and cried all over her shoulder.

“I am so sorry you have to see me like this.”

“I’ts OK Mom.”

All the crying woke Pummy from his light sleep and he was all too concerned. The three of us went down the stairs to find Mom.

There she was outside. Standing almost in the exact spot where Orange had been just a few minutes before. She too was staring off into the distance.

“Mom. Are you OK?”

“…”

“Grandma?”

“Honey, I think we better just leave her be. She needs some time to grieve.”

“OK.”

We tried to go back to bed, but none of us slept that night. My hero, my friend, my Dad was gone.

R.I.P Peche Chiffon

You will be missed.