Forum Thread

this was a writing prompt for my creative writing class.. the word the teacher gave me was 'dead flower'

Piper stared long and cold at the dead scarlet carnation in the palm of her hand. Now what was she going to do with this, exactly? She had not even the slightest clue. Maybe she could ask a friend, like Steve or Sam. Or even her husband, Bucky Barnes. She tapped her foot anxiously, how could a small flower cause so much worry? It was just a dead flower. The color was slowly fading away from the flower, and the stem was starting to tilt downward. It was wilting. It was no longer alive. She set the carnation on the table, continuing to stare at it.
“What am I going to do with this?” she whispered, her index finger tracing the intricate patterns around the flower. Piper suddenly had a brilliant idea. She would press the flower in a book, and scrapbook it, somehow. What a genius she was! She got up from the chair she was sitting in, scurrying around her house trying to find a good book that she would press the no longer living flower in.
“Hey, sweetie? What are you doing?” her wonderful husband Bucky interrogated her. She waved her hand in front of his face, dismissing him. She was on a quest to press this flower. Now, it may seem like a simple flower to you, but it meant a lot to Piper, and had a special meaning to it. This was a flower her nephew Tony had designed to stay alive for a significant amount of time, but after the time was up, it would start to wilt, and then die. Tony had given the flower to her after she got out of the hospital after an incident she was involved in during a mission with her husband Bucky in Siberia. She was severely injured, and Tony invented that flower for her. And, as soon as it died, it was supposed to be disposed of properly. But Piper wanted to keep it as a memento, a precious memory received from her generous nephew, Tony.
“Um.. Piper? Are you alright?” Bucky quirked a brow, before Piper sighed irritably,
“I’m doing something important right now, Buck. Could it wait?” and Bucky pursed his lips together.
“What’s so important that has you in such a rush? You’re normally never like this.” Bucky pointed out, and he was right. Piper bit her lip, hesitating a bit before replying,
“Remember that flower Tony gave to me while I was in the hospital recovering from the incident that happened in Siberia?” and Bucky nodded.
“Yeah. The flower died. So, I’m trying to find a book to press it in, so I can keep it as a memento or something like that.” she continued, and Bucky laughed.
“Well, why didn’t you tell me earlier? I have the perfect book for that.” Piper face-palmed as Bucky shuffled around to retrieve the book. It was a thick book, it looked like a dictionary of some sort. But when Bucky handed her the book, and she opened it… It was actually a scrapbook he made, from back when they were growing up together in the 1920’s..
“Wow Bucky… This is amazing! When did you ever get the time to make this?” Piper gasped, surprised by this.
“Back when I was under the radar.. Hiding from Hydra. I made that. I was trying to find you to show you, but apparently there was no way I could contact you. I had a lot of free time back then.” Bucky explained, and Piper nodded.
“I understand. This is just breathtaking Bucky!” she smiled, slightly teary-eyed.
“Go ahead and press your flower.” Bucky urged her to do so, and Piper beamed. She enveloped her husband into a big bear hug, kissing his cheek and scuttling off downstairs to press the carnation that had died.