Amelia wasn't scared. Her aunt had moved again, the third time in two years; this time they had a weird neighbor and even though the neighbor had a black cat and a broom that hovered above the ground sometimes when it thought no one was looking, Amelia wasn't scared. The neighbor lady had a kind smile, and she had lots and lots of flowers that talked to Amelia when she was walking past her house on the way home from school.
(Somehow the flowers were never as scary as the voices inside the wall had been.)
She was having a particularly interesting talk with a sunflower about where they turned when it was cloudy, when the neighbor came outside.
"Oh, hello there," she said. Her hair looked like the girls on Amelia's aunt's old records and her dress was really strange. But nice. Amelia thought she might try something like that herself when she got taller.
"Good afternoon, miss." Adults liked it when you were polite.
The sunflower whispered, "She's not a miss, she's a Tennessee."
Tennessee laughed. "That's quite right, I am a Tennessee. And you are Amelia Pond, correct?"
"How do you know my name?" Even raggedy doctors who landed in your garden didn't know your name.
"Oh, I know lots of things." Tennessee put her finger on her nose and grinned at Amelia. "I know, for example, that you draw stories, great stories. And I know you like flowers, and definitely like dogs."
Hold on. Amelia tilted her head. "You mean you've seen me drawing in the garden, and you've seen me talking to your flowers and to Mr Philips's dog—oh, and you probably heard my aunt calling for me, didn't you?"
"You are a sharp one, Amelia Pond, that's what I know," Tennessee said, and her smile was all, it was just like the sunflower's.
Amelia told her so, and Tennessee curtsied. "Thank you my dear, that is quite the compliment. Tell me, would you like to come in for tea?"
Amelia thought about it for a second, and then she decided that no one with talking sunflowers could be all that dangerous.
--
As it turned out, she was wrong, but not in a bad way. Tennessee was actually very dangerous, but only to the right sort, or rather the wrong sort. A week later, Amelia watched as Tennessee grew vines large and nasty enough to cover an entire infestation of great big wasps that were half as big as Amelia, and she thought, I didn't think I would get to meet another one.
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Date: 2010-07-18 07:07 am (UTC)(Somehow the flowers were never as scary as the voices inside the wall had been.)
She was having a particularly interesting talk with a sunflower about where they turned when it was cloudy, when the neighbor came outside.
"Oh, hello there," she said. Her hair looked like the girls on Amelia's aunt's old records and her dress was really strange. But nice. Amelia thought she might try something like that herself when she got taller.
"Good afternoon, miss." Adults liked it when you were polite.
The sunflower whispered, "She's not a miss, she's a Tennessee."
Tennessee laughed. "That's quite right, I am a Tennessee. And you are Amelia Pond, correct?"
"How do you know my name?" Even raggedy doctors who landed in your garden didn't know your name.
"Oh, I know lots of things." Tennessee put her finger on her nose and grinned at Amelia. "I know, for example, that you draw stories, great stories. And I know you like flowers, and definitely like dogs."
Hold on. Amelia tilted her head. "You mean you've seen me drawing in the garden, and you've seen me talking to your flowers and to Mr Philips's dog—oh, and you probably heard my aunt calling for me, didn't you?"
"You are a sharp one, Amelia Pond, that's what I know," Tennessee said, and her smile was all, it was just like the sunflower's.
Amelia told her so, and Tennessee curtsied. "Thank you my dear, that is quite the compliment. Tell me, would you like to come in for tea?"
Amelia thought about it for a second, and then she decided that no one with talking sunflowers could be all that dangerous.
--
As it turned out, she was wrong, but not in a bad way. Tennessee was actually very dangerous, but only to the right sort, or rather the wrong sort. A week later, Amelia watched as Tennessee grew vines large and nasty enough to cover an entire infestation of great big wasps that were half as big as Amelia, and she thought, I didn't think I would get to meet another one.