The Last Flower

Table of Contents

• The Lost Garden
• The Rats’ Nest
• The Cage
• The Test
• Pins and Needles
• Miss Weed
• The Power Behind the Throne
• The Traitor
• The Collector
• Hope
• Roots
• The Return
• The Warriors
• The Flower
• Then and Now: China

The Lost Garden

The boy looks at Spring Pearl and tells her that they should be going now. She asks him for just one more moment. He probably can’t understand why anyone would want to stay any longer. She sees her derelict home through his eyes. She has let things become shabby while Mother was sick. The walls are in need of repair, there is dust, and the few sticks of furniture are pieces no one would have wanted to buy. But in Spring Pearl’s mind’s eye, she can see Mother sitting while she sews and Father in another chair staring into space before he begins painting. And Spring Pearl is there with them, balancing on a stool, trying not to fall off while she does her lessons.

In the corner sits a straw mat. Spring Pearl looks away; that was where her mother had her last breath. The landlord was upset when he found out she died inside. He’d have to reduce the rent for the next tenants who might think Mother’s ghost was haunting the cottage. But even if that were true, her gentle soul would never harm anyone.

Spring Pearl runs her hands over her jacket. It had been one of the last things Mother made. Master Sung, Father’s good friend, had gifted the silk. She smoothes it over her sides, feeling its lightness. Mother had sewn camellias, which were her favorite flowers, on the hems and cuffs.

“Please, miss, I have other chores,” the boy begs. He is several years older than Spring Pearl, with a pleasant round face and small eyes. She reaches for her basket. The boy says he’ll take that—it’s his job after all. The boy says all he needs is his bamboo pole from outside, and he can carry everything. Perhaps Spring Pearl has never had any servants.

Spring Pearl shakes her head. Guilty, she thinks that if Mother had more help than just her maybe she would still be alive. The boy comes back into the room with a pole two meters long, and he reaches for rope to tie all of Spring Pearl’s items to the pole. Spring Pearl wants to be helpful, so she bends over to pick up the coil of old cord. The boy says that Spring Pearl is better spoken than any of the ladies of their household, and her manners are better, too, but there’s more to being a lady than speech and polite ways. A lady should never do her own lifting. Master Sung’s household will be a lot different than Spring Pearl’s old home here.

The boy explains that if Spring Pearl acts like a servant, then the Sungs will treat her like one. Proudly, Spring Pearl says she intends to earn her keep. The boy laughs, but says the Sungs will see that she does. It’s not his place to say, but Spring Pearl is moving in with the sharks. Looks aren’t everything. The sweetest little old auntie could be a tiger in disguise.

He concludes by saying that Spring Pearl must be well-educated. Although the boy says although he cannot read or write, he’s a regular professor when it comes to surviving the Sungs. He finishes tying the baskets to the end of the pole. When Spring Pearl asks him his name, he says he answers to the name “Doggy.”

When Doggy stands up, the pole bows in the middle but doesn’t break. Spring Pearl introduces herself as Chou Spring Pearl. Although Chou is her surname, Doggy casually calls her “Miss Pearl.”

They step outside into the little garden outside the house. Mother had been so proud of it before she passed away. The three of them had spent many afternoons painting and studying and sewing. Spring Pearl looks over to the spot where Father had died a year ago. A little white jasmine is still blooming on the bamboo fence. When Mother tended to it, all of it was white. Now, tall vines choke the new growth like tangles of cord, and leaves litter the ground. There aren’t even any birds to sing her goodbye. Due to the recent rebellions and wars, the peasants had trapped and eaten all of them.

Spring Pearl begins to feel an ache inside as if she’s mourning her parents all over again. She can’t save all of the flowers here, but she’s determined to save something. Anxiously, Spring Pearl looks through the weeds for the camellias. Her parents always loved them, and Father had even written a poem on one of his paintings of camellias, calling them a pearl given by nature. That is why they named her “Spring Pearl.” Hunting, Spring Pearl finally finds a survivor buried under the weeds and overgrowth. She digs up the surviving bulb and puts it in an old pot.

Sighing, Doggy finds a space in the basket and puts the flower inside. He begins to shuffle forward, and Spring Pearl squares her shoulders and begins after him. She shouldn’t look back. Her old home is already gone. But the closer she gets to the gate, the more her stomach tightens with fear. What would become of her now that her parents are dead? Even as Mother lay dying, she wept with worry for Spring Pearl. Spring Pearl reassured her over and over that she would be all right. Now it’s time to keep her word.