These Little Wonders

Brendon found his feet leading him down the stairs upon following his nose toward the smell of food.

He tugged awkwardly at the strange clothes of Felix's brother, though he couldn’t help but notice they had similar taste.

His mind hadn’t been there when he got dressed, it was in a completely different world, as foreign as the clothes he was wearing.

There were more questions in his mind than he could ever imagine, and they were all about Felix.

He was bursting at the seams, wondering what happened to her family, why her mother was wearing the same wigs, where her brother was, why she freaked out when she saw him looking at the pictures, the list was endless.

The thoughts however went out the window as he entered the kitchen to find Felix standing at the stove in front of a steaming pot.

"I hope you like spaghetti."

Brendon nodded. "Sounds wonderful."

He watched her for a few minutes as he finished, too tired to say much in the comfortable silence.

To pass the time he looked around the kitchen, finding the amount of plant life in there staggering.

"All done!" She announced, shoving a plate of sauce and noodles in front of him.

Brendon did his best not to laugh at the nervous anticipated look on Felix's face as he took a bite.

He didn’t have to tell her how good the pasta was, his expression said it all.

"You like it?" Felix giggled.

Brendon nodded quickly, spooning more of it onto his plate.

Felix followed suit, though with less fervor, glancing over at Brendon from time to time.

With Brendon's enthusiasm and her lack of appetite they both finished early.

"So what's with all the plants?" He asked casually.

"I love them, my mom and I used to garden all the time. And it's cold outside so I had to bring them in."

Brendon nodded and tried to find the best way to continue onto the questions in his head without hurting their friendship or Felix.

"Do you feel close to her when you're gardening?" Brendon asked, trying to empathize with her.

Felix looked away, instantly making Brendon feel like an idiot for saying the wrong thing.

He was about to apologize when she spoke, sounding far away.

"I really miss her." She whispered. "We used to spend all day outside, not just gardening but talking. Sometimes we'd read poetry or..."

Felix began to giggle between the tears in her eyes.

"We'd get bored with that and she'd plan tricks to play on my dad and my brother or the neighbors. She was so much fun, she was my best friend."

Brendon leaned forward, taking her hand to comfort her.

"What happened?" He asked, somewhat scared she'd take it wrong but somehow knowing she needed to confide.

"She died."

Brendon didn't say anything, letting the silence speak for him.

The silence filled Felix up, rising like hot air and taking the story with it to her lips.

"She was diagnosed with a brain tumor. They found it too late and couldn't do anything."

For a moment she paused, taking deep breathes and trying to put her words together.

"When her hair fell out we bought her all these wigs. One for every mood. She said it was her way of seeing the world because it was all through different eyes."

Tears began to fall down Felix's cheeks and still, a smile managed its way through them.

"That last month she saw butterflies everywhere. Said that even when she was bedridden a part of the garden was still with her."

Brendon reached forward and wiped away the tears with his thumb.

"When she died I didn't cry because I knew she was somewhere where there were butterflies and flowers and there weren’t things like tumors but..."Felix lost her voice and the look in her eyes was cloudy with thought.

"But what?" Brendon asked softly, his curiosity and sympathy working hand in hand.

"My dad didn’t see it like that."

Felix quickly stood up, paced for a few minutes before leaving the kitchen.

Brendon hesitated for a moment before following her into the living room.

He found her standing in front of the family pictures, namely the one of an older man.

"Is that him?" Brendon asked, gesturing to it.

She nodded.

"My mom told us all it was okay that she was going to die, that just because she wasn’t here physically she'd always be watching us and there for us when we needed her. So when she died my brother and I didn’t cry or say goodbye because we understood. My dad didn’t."

From there she turned away from the picture and threw herself onto the couch.

"What happened to your dad?"

Felix sighed, burying her head in a pillow.

This time Brendon didn’t move, he let it come to her and her come to him.

"He stopped being my dad and fell into depression. Two months after my mom died he committed suicide."

Those words were the farthest thing Brendon expected to hear.

The pieces of the story had fallen into place, Felix being an orphan, all the wigs, her mother's death, and even her personality.

There was one stray thread though.

"What about your brother?"