Deployment

"look, my child "

the mother blew into her outstretched hand and the flower that was there, similar to the shell of a snail, slowly unfolded

the flower was at the end of a long thin bluish stem, its red ochre petals shaped like a crown.

both were on top of the only visible hill in the middle of the vast expanse of grass. the fields at the foot of their hill responded to the child's apprehension with an uncertain shudder at first and then

the ground suddenly began to tremble

"patience," whispered the mother.