“Trying to tell me something, Mom?” he calls out, looking up toward the clear blue skies.
His eyes then return to the seed. He knows that he will never be in one place for long enough to ever see it grow, and yet, he wants to know what wondrous thing it will become. Like a flash of light, the solution to his problem suddenly appears. He has to return this way no matter what to recover the things he’s hidden. If he waits a long while, since he is certain that no one will find what he’s buried anytime soon, then he will be able to also discover what the seed has grown into.
Without hesitation, Roderick returns to the pile of dirt with the seed. Off to the side of the pile, he finds another soft patch of dirt and creates a small hole with his fingers, one just deep enough that he supposes it will do. He then plants the seed, slowly thereafter forgetting
the whole ordeal.
In the weeks that follow, business gets so good that he reconsiders ever returning to the pass. The supplies he buried there have become fairly worthless compared to the goods he has been acquiring among the plains kingdoms. A lot of people there are wanting to leave their lands to go north or west, willing to give almost anything away for cheap in order to have some money to start a life elsewhere. One potential deal in particular causes Roderick to stay in a small, rural village for a week, something that seems like an eternity to him.
The opportunity he could have there, however, will be worth the prolonged stay, if only he can talk the man offering the deal down to a better price. He is an older gentleman, one who years ago established a small trading company in the town. It hasn’t grown very much because the man was never willing to travel and do the things necessary to make it any larger, instead choosing to stay close to his wife and children while the business moseyed along.
With his wife now passed on and the children moved away, the old man wants to sell everything, including his estate just outside of town, and retire to the mountains, but the price he demands for it all is more than Roderick wants to give, even if the deal itself is a steal. To match it, Roderick would have to give up all of his savings, and even though the
estate is beautiful and the company still self-sufficient and somewhat profitable, he doesn’t want to feel like he is starting over, especially since it will be hard to grow a company established in such an outlying place. Roderick has been sticking around in hopes that the old man will reconsider his price and lower it even more, but that prospect becomes doubtful.
“That is the cost, young man, though I admire your perseverance to try and persuade me,” the old man reminds him as the two of them wander the garden behind the estate. “I have done the accounting, and that is how much I will need to buy something small in the mountains and sustain myself until old age finally comes to take me.”
He is disappointed by the old man’s response to his final offer. Not because of the old man’s firmness, which Roderick personally thinks is wise of him, but because he realizes that there is nothing he can do now but make a decision.
“I’d be giving you everything because you’re insisting that I also buy the house, but I would never be around to live in it. I just don’t think I can do it. I do hope someone comes along so that you can live out your days as you wish.”
The old man smiles at Roderick appreciatively, but then his eyes shift to the ground behind him.
“That’s strange,” he trails off, stepping by Roderick to bend down. “I don’t remember ever planting these.”
Roderick kneels by the old man, who is examining a group of budding, lightly-pink flowers growing together in bunches from a small plant. The old man seems very confused by it, though it is no surprise to Roderick that he could have forgotten about placing the plant. The old man already demonstrated a few times an ability to be rather absentminded. Roderick attributed this to age and nothing more since the old man has otherwise been rather sharp and witty in conversation.
“Well, they’re pretty, so I suppose it’s good that you did.”
The old man then looks Roderick in the eyes, a smile returning to his face as he places his hand on Roderick’s shoulder.
“Even if you don’t come back to buy the property, I hope you’ll come through this way again before I sell.”
After some more light conversation, Roderick thanks the old man for his hospitality, bids him farewell, and goes on his way toward the next town. Shortly thereafter, Roderick becomes ill and has to stay put for another whole week, this time under the care of a doctor in a small, trailside outpost.
On his final morning there, Roderick is treated with a warm breakfast made by the doctor’s wife. Afterwards, he thanks her and is escorted by the doctor to his wagon, which has already been prepared. Looking back at the doctor’s home one more time, Roderick notices something familiar. A small, flowering plant with lightly-pink flowers.
“I have only seen these once before,” Roderick comments as he walks over to them. “What are they?”
“I’m not sure,” the doctor responds. “I don’t really care much for gardening. Anything that grows here grows on its own.”
With a quick survey of the property, Roderick realizes that this must be the case. The yard surrounding the house is nothing but a scatter of weeds and grass with a few other wild plants mingled in. A doctor, he imagines, would be too busy for such things.
“Would you mind if I pick one, then?”
“Of course you may,” he offers kindly. “My wife will also appreciate one, so thank you for pointing them out.”
The two wish each other well, and Roderick then travels to a larger town, an economic center for the region he is in. There, he plans on selling most of the wares he has been acquiring in the countryside. He has found that people in the country tend to sell things that people in the city will buy for a much higher price, which has been an important element of his success. This stay in town is no different, and he is able to end up selling all of his wares in just a few days.
Having turned such a quick profit, Roderick is eager to move on and scour the countryside once more, but a great storm hits the plains and keeps him stuck inside his inn for several days. One particularly stormy evening, he lies in bed, staring at the ceiling while twirling the flower in his hands. There is something about it he finds enchanting, which is why he has kept it in water to preserve it for this long.
“It’s strange,” he thinks out loud. “No matter where I go, no one seems to know what you are or where you are from. You seem to be as much of a stranger to these parts as I am.”
The thunder calms a little after that, and Roderick is able to fall asleep, the flower resting on his chest. When he awakes, the sun has returned and the dark clouds have passed, so he hastily dresses himself and hurries outside.
Just beyond the inn’s entryway, he spots a small, flowering plant out of the corner of his eye just off to his right. He is hesitant to turn at first, troubled by what he expects to see. Sure enough, there they are. Lightly-pink flowers.
He removes the older flower from inside of his vest to compare it to these ones. They appear so similar that they might as well have come from the same plant. Roderick looks around to see if maybe there is someone to ask about the flowers, which he doesn’t recall being there when he arrived in town, but decides that there is no point. The memory of the seed and the pass are now at the front of his mind, though he tries to dismiss it.