I heard the sunflowers talking

6-year-old Amaya visited her grandparents' farm one late summer morning. She was excited to come over, because she'd finally get a chance to see the little chickens that had hatched nearly a month ago.

Rushing to finish her pancakes and bacon, she asked her grandmother for permission to go see the young chicks.

Chuckling at Amaya's anxiousness, Grandmother wiped flour-covered hands on her worn, rooster apron.

"Sure dear. But make sure you walk realllll slow when you pass the sunflower garden... You may hear them whispering secrets." Grandmother winked, eyes twinkling with humor as she turned to the kitchen sink to wash dishes.

"Yes ma'am-... wait. Grandma, hear the flowers talk? Flowers can't talk!"

"Are you quite certain?"

"Yes ma'am! I've only ever seen them grow and die," Amaya said, folding her small arms.

"Maybe... Have you ever tried listening?" Grandmother asked, not pausing her scrubbing.

The question left the young girl puzzled. Had she?

"Oh, go on, have fun. Don't pay attention to an old woman's stories," Grandmother waved her away.

Amaya shrugged and exited through the back door, bounding down the creaky wooden steps and setting off. Flowers can't talk, she thought, skipping past plump cabbages and rows of winding cucumbers.

Picking up her pace to a jog, Amaya leapt joyfully beyond the pig pen, jumping over carrot tops, excitement building as she thought about the fuzzy yellow birds. She nearly forgot about the sunflower garden when a cool breeze suddenly blew, carrying with it a whisper of voices. Abruptly stopping, Amaya stood as still as the ground, her heart racing. What was that sound?

Looking around at the haze of vegetation, Amaya's eyes then rested eerily on the small picket fence labeled "Sunflowers". The fence enclosed a space about 100 feet in perimeter, a garden her grandfather kept for leisure.

Concluding that the noise had merely been imagined, Amaya took another step when the wind blew again, and once more, she heard the symphony of whispers.

Baffled, Amaya crouched down low, creeping up to the fence, out of plain sight. Surely what Grandmother said couldn't be true... could it?

Squinting through a gap in the planks, she peered at the golden flowers suspiciously. Surely, they couldn't talk!

A gentle breeze swept through, causing the tall green stems to sway and rustle as their leaves touched each other.

For a long time, everything seemed normal. Soon, little Amaya's eyelids grew heavy, when suddenly, right before her, she observed something remarkable. The textured brown seeds on the flowers molded into tiny, intricate faces, complete with finely shaped noses, lips, and eyes. Astonished, Amaya's own eyes widened so much that it seemed her face would run out of room.

"It is real!" She gasped, careful not to speak too loudly.

Their tender leaves stretched out into the form of little hands, moving about as their tiny voices chattered on.

"Eleanor, do tell what you heard in the farmer's head this morning!" One sunflower pried, eyes eager for gossip.

"I will not, Ida. You know... Just because we can hear the thoughts of man, doesn't mean we should talk about them. His Majesty the King created the mind to hide the thoughts... Not blabber them for the pigeons."

"There's nothing else for us to do, other than talk and share secrets, you old Fogey!" Ida rolled her eyes, appetite unsatiated.

"I'll tell you what I heard last evening." Another flower chimed in from a separate row.

Eyes brightening, Ida leaned as close as her stem would allow.

"Oh Silus, do tell, do tell!"

"Well... I won't say who... but a member of the Woodlin family came to visit for a spell..."

"Who was it? Was it a man or a woman?"

"Dear, I wouldn't dare tell you, else you'll ramble it off to the crows. I'll be plucked within the hour or dried out by the sun." Silus chuckled. "Now... as I was saying. This particular family member went right into the bathroom (I know, I heard the thoughts), and when he sat in his seclusion of privacy, wouldn't you know, he's planning on buying a property in Mud County, leaving his family, and running off with another woman!"

Listening, Amaya frowned. What was Mud County? What did it matter that a man who had a family wanted to go running with a woman?

"Oh, Silus! That's fantastically terrible. Now, I hope he gives his wife Grace a chance to redeem herself from his horrible intentions, don't you think?"

"Oh, who can tell?" Silus continued without thought. "Actually, I'm quite hopeful for the situation. These things can be a bit meticulously entwined"

The other flowers gasped in revelation. Silus suddenly quieted, realizing his mistake. "You wretched dandelion... I never said his wife was Grace."

"Thanks to you my dear, I know who that is! How delicious... Why, Its Charlie Woodl-"

"Silence, you rambling baboon!" Silus hissed. "Anyone could be listening... If this secret gets out before its time, we could cause a devastating split in the Woodlin family!"

"What are you going to do, stop me from sharing? Get up and... stop me." Ida smarted, motioning gracefully.

"Ida, you're being cruel... you wouldn't want your secrets to get out now, would you?" A different flower intercepted, others murmuring in agreement.

"You couldn't possibly know any of my secrets Gretchin dear. Don't threaten me, or I'll share with the garden of how you despise your father- in- law."

Gretchin gasped, covering her face with wrinkling leaves. Her sobs were deeply felt and high- pitched.

"How dare you, Ida? Gretchin is the sweetest flower..."

"Oh, don't bore me, Liza... Your petals aren't as velvet as you display. In fact, your appetite is so prodigious, you couldn't help but eat up the compost of those seedlings that should have sprouted well over a month ago. Ha! Because of you, they're in an early grave." More gasps sounded from the patch.

"Enough, Ida! With this devouring attitude of yours, one would think you were....." An unknown flower leaned into the group, speaking in a deep, low, but articulate voice. "A weed. An estranged dandelion."

Eyes growing wider than they had the first time, Amaya couldn't believe her ears. This garden was full of secrets! Though she hadn't the slightest idea what an "estranged" was, she thought dandelions were as pretty as snow flurries in the summer... and truthfully fun to play with.

Letting out a sound of Shock, Ida held the base of her stem with a leaf. "Oh Collin! My own deceitful husband..."

"You can't challenge me my love... I know all... of your secrets. I know you're friendly with the others just to blackmail them when they unravel their burdens. We've never had a decent conversation in all the 14 days of our marriage, and I fell for you merely thinking you were unique in an angelic manner. Now, I see I was the one who was deceived. You truly are the very devil himself. Tell them the truth about you, my love... about who you are... about what you are."

Shaking her delicate flower head, all of the seeds in Ida's textured face bleached pale. "Collin, you wouldn't..."

"I would, my dear... My sweet, scornful love... My golden reprobate. You... Ida... Were an incident. A casualty never to have happened, yet, here, you... are. Your late mother, dear soiled Ingrid, crossed stems with a common spurge-"

"Silence! Enough!" one of the taller sunflowers reprimanded. "We aren't to gossip and harm one another with these secrets... We neglect what we should be listening to when we pay attention to the distractions."

"What on earth do you speak of William?" Ida dragged, sarcasm masking her relief to have the conversation shift.

"I have a secret that I overheard directly from the courts of His Majesty the King."

"Of course you did," she tested.

Who, Amaya wondered, was the King?

"The King spoke? What did He say!?" Eleanor asked desperately.

"Elle, its serious... so serious I'm not quite sure I should repeat it."

Façade breaking, Ida grappled William by his stem, shaking him furiously. "Oh William, you know how dreadfully anxious I am! Spit it out!"

"Control yourself now girl, before you pluck up the poor fellow!" Silus pulled her away.

Peeking back at the gasping William with equal determination, Silus began grappling him by the stem just as his wife did. "For goodness' sake, tell us what the King said William!"

"He...! He said... He's coming soon...!" William wheezed in between rattles. Releasing him abruptly, Silus' seeds, as well as every other in the garden, turned pale.

Regaining his breath, Silus straightened weakly. "He said He's coming back... back to judge... To judge the farmer... His wife... The Woodlin family... The world... Every thought we overheard... And us."

It was the first time Amaya could remember there being total silence from the start of the conversation. She didn't understand the context of what was happening, but she could feel the strong undercurrent of what wasn't said... And that frightened her.

Suddenly, Eleanor caught Amaya staring directly at them, freezing, her face distorted in fear. "You heard our secrets child?" She addressed her in a quieted whisper with surprising calm.

Not knowing what to say, Amaya scrambled from her hiding place and ran all the way back to the house. Bursting into the kitchen, she exploded into the living room where her grandmother sat. Gasping for breath, and heart pounding in alarm, Amaya shouted, "I heard the sunflowers talking!"

-jAy P.