Humble Boy by Charlotte Jones

been writing about flowers –
    Flora    – the pollination of flowers –
    Jim    – and I saw you. The sun is shining around your head –
    Flora    – and you come towards me – your gown flapping in the wind –
    Jim    – like I’m flying towards you –
    Flora    – and you look at me –
    Jim    – I look at you –
    Flora    – and you say –
    Jim    Did you drop from the sky?
    Pause.
    Felix    ( quietly ) Eureka.
    Felix looks at both of them. They are transfixed with each other. They come together.
    Jim    My Flora.
    Flora    James Humble. Bachelor of Science.
    Felix is apart from them.
    He stumbles off.
    Flora    James, I’m sorry – I’m so sorry –
    Jim    ( to Flora ) Hush. I have to tell you about the flowers – all the flowers I have planned for you …
    Flora    Yes. Tell me the names. The names of all the flowers.
    As Jim lists the flowers, Flora slowly starts to cry.
    Jim     Papaver dubium.
    Flora    A poppy?
    Jim    Doubtful poppy. To help you sleep. Dianthus barbatus. Sweet William. For peace.
    Flora    Yes.
    Jim     Mimosa sensitiva. For scent. Zinnia elegans. Elegant like my Flora.
    Flora    A sunflower, I’d like a sunflower.
    Jim     Helianthus multiflorus.
    Flora    And some love-in-a-mist.
    Jim    Whatever you want.
    Flora    Some love-lies-a-bleeding.
    Jim     Amaranthus procumbens.
    Flora    Some St John’s wort –
    Jim     Hypericum perforatum – for sadness. Lythrum salicaria – purple loosestrife, for contentment. Oenothera biennis – evening primrose, for ease of heart.
    Flora    Some bluebells.
    Jim     Campanula rotundifolia. For the spring.
    Flora    And more scented flowers. I need more scent. I need to be able to smell them again.
    Jim     Lavandula spica. Blue and white varieties. Passiflora caerulea. Passion flowers. Dianthus deltoides. Syringa vulgaris. Some sweet-scented heliotrope. Clematis and honeysuckle. My bees love that. Buddleia for the butterflies. Scented hyacinths. French marigolds. Tagetes Patula. Aster multiflorus. Amaryllis aurea. Can you smell them all?
    Flora    Yes. Yes, I can. I think I can.
    Jim    Good. ( He goes to go. )
    Flora    No, please, James. Please don’t go.
    Jim    All the bees have gone now. It’s only the queen left. Bombus floratum. She’ll have to do the winter on her own, but she’ll manage that. She’s strong.
    Flora    No. No, I can’t.
    He leads her to the rose bush. He bends down and smells it. He gestures that she should do the same. She does so. She breathes deeply, takes in the scent.
    Jim    There.
    Flora    Yes.
    He exits. As he does, the hive lights up, and then fades. She looks up.
    The music changes suddenly to a humming, resonant of bees and a revving car engine. Flora reacts as if she had tinnitus in her ear.
    Flora    I can’t do the winter on my own. Felix. Felix? Oh my God. Please God – Felix!
    She runs towards the exit. Felix appears.
    Flora    I thought you’d gone – I thought you’d –
    Felix    I was just starting up the car.
    Flora    Suddenly I had this terrible feeling you’d … I don’t know what I thought. It was stupid of me.
    Felix    No, no, it wasn’t stupid. At the beginning of the summer I thought I was going to – But I’m not brave enough to let go.
    Flora    Thank God!.
    Felix    B–b–but I just want … the p–possibility … of another life, Ma.
    Pause. Felix picks up the ashes.
    Flora    Say the