Petunia Pink

It was the summer of ’21. Twenty-twenty one that is. The Pandemic was over, or at least that’s what health officials kept saying. Advertisements on the television and plastered all across every social media feed promised a return to everyday life. Life before the Pandemic. What exactly was that life? I had just turned fourteen, and I was in the prime of my life. Summer without masks, hand sanitizer and being able to sit close to friends is what we all wanted. I had no idea that the Pandemic was merely the beginning of a chain of events unlike any other. Little did I know that my parents buying the barn down on Byers Lane was no coincidence. The barn that was once the location of many of the town’s markets, dances and town hall meetings had sat vacant for many years. No one knew why the town suddenly stopped all activity out of it, but there it sat vacant, until my parents bought it. The barn also happened to be across the street from Petunia’s house.

My friend Petunia was considered an oddity in our small town of Starlight Grove. You see, nothing ever happened in Starlight, but when Petunia moved in, a whole bunch of some things began to surface. My granny said the town had secrets and that Petunia was just the person to tell them. Granny liked Petunia–a lot. They seemed to be able to communicate without talking. I never understood it, but then again, I never fully understood my grandmother, but I loved her stories and her quirks. Perhaps that’s why Petunia and I became fast friends.

Petunia Pink, as her name alluded to, loved the color pink. Wearing any shade of pink suited Petunia just fine, and I had the sneaking suspicion that Petunia would have made her skin color pink if able. She used to say that people’s shades were the most fascinating thing about them, and she couldn’t understand why people got so fussed over skin color.

“I mean, how boring the world would be if everyone were the same color? The creator made crayons in different tones, and we get excited about opening a new box. Why don’t people get as excited when they see someone whose shade is darker, lighter and everything in-between?” That was Petunia. She always had a rational, irrational way of looking at the world. Some people called Petunia opinionated, sarcastic even, but I called her wise beyond her years. I remember the time Petunia and I went down to Mr. Alfonso’s ice cream parlor. We had heard that Mr. Alfonso recently bought a soft-serve ice cream machine from that travelling salesman that everyone thought never had anything good to sell. Of course, after installing the soft serve machine, the townsfolk quickly changed their tune, and Mr. Alfonso was able to sell ice cream at unbelievable prices.

“It’s highway robbery.” My father said when I mentioned that we should stop there for dessert one night after slow-pitch.

“How does he justify selling a single cone of that goop for five dollars? It’s extortion.”

Of course, my dad complained about the prices of most things. He was frugal. That’s what mom said. She also warned that I should never repeat that word in front of my father.

“Nothing makes that man madder than a bat out of hell than being called frugal.” She would say under her breath as she clipped coupons over her morning coffee.

Anyway, the night after slow-pitch, as dad complained about Mr. Alfonso’s ice cream prices, Petunia and I stood contemplating what flavor to get. There were four options; strawberry, chocolate, vanilla and swirl, a combination of a chocolate and strawberry mixture. When it came time for Petunia to order, well, she wanted the pink one, of course. Now we all know that pink ice cream, is, in fact, strawberry, but oh no, Petunia wouldn’t think of calling it by anything else other than pink. Mr. Alfonso didn’t correct her, my daddy didn’t correct her, and I knew better, but Tommy two shoes–named because he only ever wore two types of shoes, converse high-tops in black and slippers–called Petunia dumb right there in the store for not knowing that you don’t call ice cream by its color. I have never seen Petunia turn around so fast in my life.

“You take that back two shoes,” Petunia yelled. She yelled so loud that everyone in the store stopped and stared.

“What are you going to do, Petunia Pink?” Tommy laughed back.

“You don’t want to get me mad, Tommy, so take it back.”

“I will not. You are so dumb. Calling an ice cream flavor pink. You are truly not worth my time to even explain it to you.”

Well, Petunia stared at Tommy so hard that I thought her eyes were going to bug out of her head. What happened next was incredible. Tommy, as he exited Mr. Alfonso’s ice cream shop, started puking pink. It was the most disgusting sight I think I had ever seen. Pink puke. But not just any pink puke. Pink, soft serve, ice cream puke. I looked at my dad, my dad looked at me, and we both looked at Petunia as she licked her pink ice cream looking all pleased. Now we couldn’t tell if she was delighted with the flavor of her ice cream or Tommy’s sudden and inexplicable puking episode.

“Petunia, what happened to Tommy’s two shoes?” I asked as we were sitting on the steps of my parents’ new barn.

“Do you want to know?”

“Yes, I think I do.”

“I made him puke.”

I was stunned. I half expected Petunia to say that, but the other half of me didn’t know how to react.

“Granny says you’re unique that you know things.

“Mhmm. I suppose.”

“Do you want to see something?” Petunia asked suddenly.

“Sure, Petunia.”

Petunia stood up and grabbed my hand, and we turned and went in o the barn.

Now I wish I could tell you that the only thing in the barn was old rafters and spider webs as far as the eye could see, but that would have been ordinary. I wish I could remember that my parents told me that under no allowed to go into that particular barn, even if thunder, no uncertain terms, owned it. Somehow, being with Petunia was magical.

Of course, the inside of the barn was painted pink. Every shade of pink that was ever invented, waiting to be created, and possibly even waiting to be considered a new hue of pink. Besides the insanely Pepto-Bismol coloured insides, lights hung from the rafters, and there was a weird circle made out of pink stones laying smack dab in the center of the barn floor.

“What kind of rocks are those?” I asked, walking to the circle.

“Quartz”

“What’s the circle for Petunia?”

“To keep this world together.”

“Wait, what? Petunia, you’re funny. To keep this world together?” I shook my head. Petunia said odd things sometimes.

“Yes.

I walked the outer edge of the pink quartz circle. Each rock was perfectly shaped and polished to a magnificent sheen. I reached down to pick one up, and Petunia yelled.

“What?’ I said mid bend.

“No! The circle must be unbroken. One missing stone will set off a chain of events that will most certainly lead to the end of humanity as you know it. The Pandemic was only the beginning. If we are going to survive, we must keep the circle intact.”

“Petunia, have you finally lost your mind? Besides, my parents won’t be pleased to know that you painted their barn pink and scattered rocks all over it.”

“Your parents know. They have always known; that’s why they bought the barn. That’s why we moved here. My parents, your parents, me, we have been summoned to stop the madness.”

I stared at Petunia in disbelief. There was something different about her. Not the usual difference, but in the barn lighting, mixed with Pepto-Bismol pink, Petunia almost seemed…

“Angelic?”

“What was that?”

“You think I look angelic.”

“How did you know that I was thinking that?”

“How do I speak to your grandmother without words and have her answer me? How did I make horrible Tommy two shoes eat his words? How is it that a mysterious pandemic has managed to affect an entire world? The circle must remain unbroken otherwise….”

“Petunia, you had me there for a minute. I believed you until you mentioned my parents. Come on; they are the epitome of boring. Besides, nothing ever happens in Starlight Grove. It never has, and it never will.”

I reached down and picked up one of the pink quartz stones before Petunia could stop me.

I studied it, looked at it and looked deep inside it. I could have sworn that I saw myself looking back.

“You’ve gone and done it now. I will need to summon the elders to fix this. Pray that they get here in time.