O Body Swayed to Music

Orchis spectabilis, when first discovered by science in the 1920’s, it was originally named after the Roman physician, Galen, writer photograph.

Read Part I, II, III, IV, V, VI

VII

Heady Aura

She alternated small steps to lengthen the short walk with striding large, liking the way her short skirt rode high on her thighs, allowing them to flash from under her long coat. A heady aura of something musky lilted from his coat, could it be wood smoke?

Clouds that had threatened unleashed their early spring rain. She removed a compact, folding umbrella from a pocket and pulled him closer still, sharing the intimate world of the umbrella.

Andrea hadn’t texted. She needed time. A storefront had a perfectly coiffed bed of red tulips; she stopped to admire raindrops on fresh formed red petals. She never wanted to garden, to ruin her fingers in the dirt, but she liked to look. “Aren’t they just perfect? Perfect, European, sophisticated, ordered, a world of pageantry where everything is just right.”

“Yes, in their way. Completely low country. I’d like for you to know the showy orchid, the Orchis spectabilis.”

“Orchids? Tell me about them.” She turned to look up into his face from very close, the tulips forgotten, as if pure power of will would force the shadows under the umbrella on this dark day to give up a new insight. She had intended to test his indulgence by stopping to look at the flowers, assuming…