ForNever

I go to school in Balbriggan, at the Community College. We used to live here and moved to Drogheda two years ago. We move a lot. My friends are all there so my parents agreed I could finish my schooling in the same school. Looking at a map of Ireland it will look as if I travel across two counties just to get to school, but in fact it really only takes about twenty minutes by train, on a good day.

My mom usually leaves early for work, before I even drag myself out of bed, so this morning I decide to take advantage of the early morning stillness of my house.

In my pyjamas, I go downstairs and then through the kitchen out the back door into our little back garden. Summer is not here yet, but there are a few early bloomers popping their heads out from the shrubs surrounding our patch of grass. I look for a bunch of yellow flowers. I cannot be fussy because I do not have many flowers to choose from, so I pick a few who have opened up completely.

I go back inside the house, wiping the early morning dew off my feet vigorously before I step onto the biscuit coloured tiles decorating our kitchen floor.

Back upstairs, I rummage through the immersion closet for the large yellow circular tablecloth. My mother likes to pack all her linens and towels in here on the shelves above the immersion.

I get the little glass jar of St. John's Wort Oil from the bathroom cabinet. Celtic Tribes saw the plant called, St. John's Wort as a symbol of the sun's healing and life-giving powers, because of its bright, yellow flowers. This plant is considered as a king amongst magical plants and it protects against negative influences.

Walking back to my room, I cradle everything in my arms while I make sure not to bruise the yellow flowers. I put the flowers and the miniature glass jar on my dresser. The large yellow tablecloth billows over my head as I shake it open and I lay it down on the floor in the centre of my room. I pick up the glass jar from my dresser and I pull the cork stopper out effortlessly. Standing back, I sprinkle a few drops of the blood-red oil onto the tablecloth. I lean sideways, keeping my feet still and pull two yellow candles from my night stand, next to my bedside lamp. Holding it carefully, I rub a few drops of the oil onto the candles. I step onto the tablecloth and then I sit down cross-legged in the centre. Reaching up to my dresser, I pull the bunch of flowers down. I remove two perfect blooms from the bundle and then after dividing the remainder of the flowers into two bunches, I place a bunch of flowers on each side of me, at the edge of the cloth.