Flowering currant, bleeding heart and shy violets, her favorites, shade lovers all, quietly blooming in the corner.

Some flowers wither in bright light, she said. Don’t push me into blazing sun. Maybe next time I’ll fool you and come back as a brassy sunflower. The show-off you thought you wanted.

Marilyn McFarlane is a travel writer and the author of Sacred Stories: Wisdom From World Religions. She writes poetry and fiction, enjoys the 50-word form, and occasionally explores memoir. She lives in Oregon, where there is a lot of scope for the imagination.