emerging

Jordan selected trays of red flowers from the shop’s garden display - Avery had discovered the need for two more in the midst of planting. children’s voices floated from the school playground across the street; Jordan smiled at the joy warmer spring days brought.
    
inside the shop, Jordan waited in line to pay, attempted to resist the cute chocolate eggs with toys inside, then, resistance failing, selected two, knowing Avery’s good-natured teasing would only last temporarily. plus, Jordan was bringing the flowers.
    
“more bad news,” said the person in the front of the line, motioning to a newspaper. “soon it’ll be just like that here.”
    
​Jordan glanced at the headline and remained quiet. news certainly made the two countries seem quite alike, but eighteen years lived experience in one, and over a decade in the other, made Jordan aware of many subtle yet important distinctions.

out the shop window, the playground was visible. Jordan sighed. kids played there - kids who had options. sure, the city wasn’t as large as others in the province, but it presented more realities than overpriced university or overfunded military.
    
Jordan’s thoughts floated to the headline, the future, and then the past. back to grade eight when a seventh-grade classmate had died. suicide with a gun. not much older than those kids in the playground.
    
emerging from thought-land, Jordan paid. the two trinket-filled chocolate eggs small symbols of difference; such fun wasn’t allowed everywhere.
    
outside the shop, Jordan’s gaze fell on a shelf of pink carnations. another classmate, two years after the first. sixteen. a misfired gun. classmates had carried pink carnations in memory at the graduation they should have shared. Jordan’s grip tightened on the bag.

the sound of children’s voices from the playground across from the shop faded as Jordan walked away.

a few blocks, a turn onto a shaded street, and Jordan and Avery’s house came into view. neighbours bustled in the driveways; one neighbour washed a classic car; another’s minivan door slid open, revealing members of a youth lacrosse team; a chocolate lab barked in greeting from a third yard, the dog's human - knelt nearby replacing sod - waved as Jordan passed.
    
the cool air of the house was refreshing as Jordan placed the bag on the kitchen counter. leaving the chocolate eggs inside, Jordan brought the flowers to the backyard. Avery looked up with a smile; “thank you.”
    
“you didn’t need to do this,” said Jordan, settling on a bench as Avery tucked the red flowers into the ground.
    
“mmm, then why do you look so happy? and anyways, it’s just the one spot. next year we can do something different if you want.”
    
Avery had arranged flowers along the front and back porches, and amongst vegetables in the backyard garden patches. in a circular plot just beside the bench, Avery had placed white and red flowers.
    
Avery and Jordan went into the kitchen, Avery grateful for a glass of water. Jordan brought out the chocolate eggs.
    
“looks like I got a dinosaur,” said Avery, with a smile, holding up the tiny plastic pouch the egg had contained, filled with green plastic blocks.
    
“mine’s a pink elephant,” said Jordan.
    
the two chocolate eggs, small and delicious, disappeared within moments, then Avery returned to the backyard and Jordan stayed inside and tidied the kitchen table. then the counters. from the window, Avery was visible, making the backyard just so, getting ready for the party. with a smile, Jordan continued tidying inside.
    
the last spot to be organized was the desk - a single paper lay on its surface. Jordan smiled and tucked it away with other important documents; another passport would join the group, but for now, the party.
    
​just a small gathering - some neighbours, friends, and family. just one circular plot beside the bench. just a single sheet of paper.