Epilogue

The wind picks up the dried leaves and carries them in spiralling arcs. They come to rest at the edge of the river, trapped by the concrete barrier. A daring few float high enough to make it clean over. Blue watches them settle on the water’s surface, creating soft ripples that fade almost as quickly as they appear.

She walks along the river, her crimson hair flowing in the wind. In front of her she notices a small garden. It is overgrown with weeds, but there is a small patch of Dandelions at its centre. She bends down, extending out a hand to brush the tops of the flowers with delicate fingers.

‘Hello there,’ she says, her voice is sweet but it has a roughness to it that comes from long stretches without use. She reaches down beside the flowers, parting the weeds until her fingers brush the earth beneath. She slowly brings her hands away, and in their place, stems spring up from the soil. They blossom into beautiful and exotic flowers. They are many different colours, but the largest of them is a deep and dramatic grey, like the sky during a storm.

‘Much better,’ she says, looking down at the garden. The flowers bend and sway in the breeze.

She smiles at them. They remind her of something that has often seemed too easy to forget. She leaves the garden behind and continues to follow the river. She thinks about the flowers and hopes that they find a way to grow and flourish, with so much other life packed in around them.

She thinks about the wind and the flowing river, eternal and fearless. She thinks about herself, how far she has come and how much further she may still have to go.

But mostly, she thinks about Solis.