Roesellah's

      Roesellah had been born on Terror Mountain where flowers were few and far between. There were plenty of trees and Neggs of course but very few flowers. She’d always loved them. Her family though never understood this love, as far as they were concerned flowers had no value. Still, her mother would always give her flowers for her birthday and encouraged her to follow her dream.

      ---

      When deciding where to open her new shop she’d spun the globe her family kept in the living room and put her finger down. She’d landed on the Haunted Woods the first time, and Maraqua the second time. Roesellah spun one more time before giving up and landing on Mystery Island.

      The guidebooks all said this island was full of beautiful tropical flowers. It had sounded perfect at first, till she got there. Her guidebook had been right, the island was full of tropical flowers. That was the problem, with so many free flowers just outside she didn’t think anyone would pay her for them when they could pick them themselves.

      She looked around her empty shop and sighed. Worried her dream would be short-lived she pulled the door shut behind her and locked it. As luck would have it though, she bumped into an Xweetok and her Korbat daughter walking down the street toward the docks.

      ---

      Bellsamy struggled to balance her basket and Faeline who was cranky from a long day without a nap. She knew she should not have let her stay up to play with her (almost) cousin Door, but they had been having so much fun.

      They had come to the island so she could visit her sister-in-law and her family, as well as Bandy’s garden. Bandy was her sister in law’s adopted brother. He could grow almost anything, including rare to find herbs that she needed for her cures and poultices, as well as flowers from all over Neopia.

      The Haunted Woods, well not without beauty, had few natural flowers. They had been impossible for the Xweetok to resist so she never left without a basketful of them. This basket went flying however when a pink Aisha bumped into the harried pastel Xweetok. Flowers went everywhere.

      ---

      “I’m so sorry, truly I am, I should have-” Roesellah hurried to apologize and stooped down to pick up the flowers that had fallen. She stopped abruptly when she saw the strange and beautiful flowers.

      “Alright, alright, Fae,” Bellsamy put down the wiggling Korbat and turned to the Aisha, who was holding a handful of her flowers. Faeline tried to take advantage of this situation to crawl away. “Don’t worry dear, it was really my fault I wasn’t looking where- are you alright dear? You look quite pale!” She picked up her infant daughter and balanced her on her hip while she bent down to help the Aisha.

      “Yes, I-I’m sorry, I was distracted, these flowers are beautiful!” She exclaimed, lifting one to her nose before returning them to Bellsamy’s basket.

      “Aren’t they just,” Bellsamy laughed. “I don’t know how he does it, but Bandy can grow anything in that garden of his.”

      “Yes,” Roesellah agreed, as she continued to pick up the spilled flowers and herbs. “Did you say, Bandy, does he live on the island? Does he sell the flowers he grows?”

      “Oh, yes, now where are my manners,” Bellsamy smiled. “My name is Bellsamy and this little squirmer is Fae. Bandy is, well he is like my brother. He does live on the island in fact. I don’t think he sells his flowers, but he loves to show off his garden. I’m sure if stopped by he’d show it to you.”

      “I’m Roesellah, but I can’t just show up at their door, can I?” Roesellah asked, surprised, smiling at Faeline. The baby giggled in response.

      “Well they wouldn’t have such a large family if you couldn’t,” Bellsamy jokes, and then smiled somewhat awkwardly when she realized the Aisha didn’t understand her joke. “I’m sorry, I suppose that is a bit of a family joke. Bandy is one of seven in his household. Some of his siblings are rather well known, especially amongst islanders.”

      “Oh, I’m still new to the island,” Roesellah said, biting her lip, still unsure.

      “Welcome, from another non-islander, it really is a beautiful place to live,” she accepted the now full basket and fished a piece of paper out of one of her pockets. She scribbled something on it and offered it to the Aisha. “They really are very friendly. The garden is truly something to see, and Steel is a great chef. He loves to cook for others.”

      “Thank you,” Roesellah answered hesitantly, accepting the paper. Who was Steel she wondered, probably one of the eight? Maybe if she couldn’t sell flowers, she could employ this Steel.

      “It was wonderful to meet you dear, but I must be going,” Bellsamy smiled, readjusting the young Korbat. “This little one hasn’t had her nap yet. Good luck dear, don’t be too shy to see the garden.”

      ---

      Roesellah wrung her paws together and checked the paper again. This was the right address. It wasn’t what she was expecting. The house was huge, certainly big enough for eight pets. In fact, it looked like it accommodated twice that in the multicoloured house. Every room seemed to be made of something different from the rest.

      She hesitantly approached the door and rapped on the door with one paw. A sudden shout from inside the house made her jump.

      “Can someone get the door!” A female voice called out. “My paws are full! If I let go it will explode!” They sounded young to Roesellah.

      “Mom said no more explosive inventions in the house,” a male voice replied.

      “Well, it won’t if you go get the door!” The first voice retorted.

      “Scarlet! Get the door!” the second voice called out.

      “Scarlet’s not home,” a third voice, sounding annoyed, called out. “If you guys want souffle then you both have to stop shouting or else it’ll fall!” The third speaker must be Steel, Roesellah thought, remembering, he was the chef.

      “Sorry, Steel,” The first two voices responded in unison.

      “Get the door Bandy!” The first voice called.

      “Alright, alright,” the second speaker sounded a lot closer this time, and soon after a very handsome looking plushie Bori opened the door. “Hello?”

      “I-um, uh,” Roesellah turned redder as she tried to tell him why she was there. “I-um, I am looking for someone named Bandy…?”

      “That’d be me,” the Bori confirmed with one eyebrow raised. “Can I help you?”

      “I-uh, someone, her name was, uh, Bell-”

      “Oh, Bellsamy?” Bandy suggested.

      “Yeah, she mentioned you had a garden?” She said, looking down at her paws. “I’m sorry, I’ve wasted you time I-”

      “What? No! I do have a garden; did you want to see it?” Bandy moved aside from the door and motioned for her to come in.

      “Please, if it’s not too much trouble,” she said and followed the Bori inside.

      As she suspected each one of the rooms was indeed made of different materials. Some were things she recognized like wood and marble, but others seemed to be made of cloud or jelly. All were filled with all manner of interesting and odd things; some she knew and others she couldn’t name. There was also no shortage of stained-glass windows in the house featuring all the lands in Neopia.

      While the house had thoroughly impressed her the garden was something else entirely. Flowers of every colour of the rainbow filled the yard in clusters among other plants of all kinds. There were trees and shrubs and other plants of all kinds. One corner of the garden had a great blue tree with small white flowers growing beneath it with frost covering them and a patch of snow on the ground. Bandy must have followed her gaze.

      “That took some doing. That tree only grows on Terror Mountain and the flowers are a cold-resistant crossbreed that I grew myself,” Bandy explained. “I was born on Terror Mountain. Not a lot of flowers there, but still I’ve always loved them.”

      “Me too,” Roesellah said with a huge smile on her face. “I-I’m Roesellah by the way.”

      “Nice to meet you Roesellah,” Bandy said. “Feel free to look around.”

      “Have you have you ever considered selling any of your flowers?”

      ---

      “Wow, this place smells amazing!”

      “I’ll be right with you,” Roesellah called, as she heard the newcomers enter the store. She finished the arrangement she was making for the Cybunny customer she had in front of her. She’d made a rather large order of flowers for her mom as a birthday present. All kinds of purple flowers in as many shades as she carried, which was quite a few. She tied them with a ribbon and handed them to the Cybunny.

      “These are lovely, thank you! She’ll adore them! I’ve never even seen some of these flowers!” she gushed. “And they smell amazing!”

      “Your welcome, please come again, anytime,” Roesellah smiled. She waved the Cybunny and looked around for the newcomers. “Oh, Bandy, hello.” She blushed that she wasn’t expecting to see him for at least a week. Roesellah had just picked up several batches of flowers from Bandy only a few days ago.

      “Hello,” Her smile faltered for a moment when she noticed the magma Xweetok that moved to stand next to Bandy. She was beautiful with luminescent fur, and curly flame-coloured hair.

      “Hello,” Roesellah replied. “How can I help you today?”

      “I’m afraid we’re just looking,” The Xweetok smiled back. She wrapped one arm around Bandy. “Bandy wanted to show me the shop.”

      “You’re both welcome anytime,” Roesellah answered politely.

      “Scarlet really wanted to see it, she’s not home often,” Bandy explained. “She’s a mapmaker. She gets to travel all over the world.”

      “That’s amazing,” She replied, honestly impressed. Her smile faltered for a moment, but only for a moment.

      “Yeah, it can be pretty amazing, but I miss Bandy an awful lot when I’m gone,” She hugged him tightly.

      “I can only imagine…” Roesellah agreed, her broad smile fading.

      “Yeah, he may be a fancy gardener now, but you’ll always be my baby brother, Bandy-kins,” Scarlet teased, mussing up his hair with one paw.

      Brother? Roesellah could have kicked herself, but at least her smile was back and earnest.

      “Scarlet!” Bandy protested pushing his sister away, his cheeks turning bright red. “Uh, Roe, we- uh, better be going now…” He started to push his sister toward the door. Scarlet protested as he did so but let her.

      “Goodbye, Roe, I-uh, hope I’ll see you soon,” Bandy called as he pushed Scarlet out the door. Scarlet, laughing, was not going easily.

      “Goodbye, Bandy,” Roesellah called back. “It was nice to meet you, Scarlet!” She waved as the squabbling siblings walked away and sighed contentedly. Her dream had come true, and she had a feeling that was just the beginning. She had a feeling she was going to like it there.