Stone Circle optimist

they continued walking toward the lavender patch, though it was likely that neither knew beforehand. alsek could barely see the stalks of purple between intermediate foliage when he turned away to answer ikiaq’s question.

yeah, he replied, i know flowers. he couldn’t exactly remember what germanicus had told him about the gods, but he assumed that it’d had something to do with flowers. either way, that’s how he’d come to understand it, and it was beginning to reflect in the way he lived.

however, none of that anecdote would mean anything if ikiaq didn’t have basic context. alsek thought about how to explain, then said, there’s something called ‘gods’. have you heard of that? a moment passed. gods do things, like.. like make flowers grow. look!

alsek was momentarily brought from his desolate state by the flowing patch of lavender, now only a few steps away. the smell was like nothing he’d ever encountered before; though sweet, its scent stung from nostril to chest, leaving tiny dustlets behind. this is a flower, i think, he explained, isn’t it cool?