Women's History Month: Deborah Edler Brown's "The Hours in Bloom"

The Hours in Bloom

 “Come quick, come quick,” Charlotte cried and clasped his hand. “The hours are in bloom. The midnights are still in bed, but noon and teatime are as big as daisies, and dawns are all pink and purple. Hurry, or we’ll miss them!”

“What are you going on about, child? , the old man asked as he grabbed his cane and followed her mad streak through the house.

“The time garden! Cook says that’s a time garden behind the kitchen, and it’s all in bloom!“

He stopped to ponder the open face before him, so like her mother’s, with cornflower eyes and a bud of a smile.  Since her arrival, she had filled the old house with pixie dances and songs. He found pressed flowers in his dictionaries and small rocks taking "naps" under his sofa cushions. But this was new. He tugged on her hand to slow her down. “Charlotte, do you mean a thyme garden? Parsley, sage, and thyme?”

“No, no,” she said and stomped her foot. “Grandpapa, you are not listening. The hours are in bloom. Time is fleeting, you said. I want to see the purple dawns and the blue noons and the pink teatimes and the red sevens and the dusky eights, and I want to see them with you.”

He surrendered. So like her mother. So little time there. He let her pull him by the hand. The hours were in bloom, she’d said. No hours have bloomed in so long. He let her drag him through the kitchen to the back door. What did that garden hold? One thing he knew: it now held Charlotte. And that was invitation enough. 


(c) 2019 Deborah Edler Brown

Deborah Edler Brown is an award-winning poet, writer, journalist and author. Her work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including Nimrod, So Luminous the Wildflowers, poeticdiversity, Levure Literraire, Altered Lanes, Blue Arc West, and Sisters Singing: Blessings, Prayers, Art, Songs, Poetry & Sacred Stories by Women. Her poem “Cubism” won Kalliope’s 2005 Sue Saniel Elkind Poetry Prize, and her story “Such Stuff as Dreams,” appeared in From the Four-Chambered Heart: In Tribute to Anais Nin and was nominated for a 2013 Pushcart Prize. Deborah was born in Brazil, raised in Pittsburgh, and earned her degree in Creative Writing from Brown University. She loves to dance, play guitar, and take long trips into good novels. Deborah resides in Los Angeles, where she participates in a variety of vibrant communities. She is also busy building communities among her characters and readers.

Link:  www.DeborahEdlerBrown.com