The Lilac House

The first time Mara realized the lilacs bloomed again was when she was just eleven.

It was in the yard behind their house, next to the fence her mother wouldn't let her climb over. They would grow in May, like they were supposed to, purple and heavy with pollen. But then they would grow again, always the second week of November. These flowers were weaker and faded, almost as if they were supposed to be closed during that month but were unable to.

Her mother said it was due to the type of dirt they grew in. "The bushes sometimes grow at weird times and can happen when they are near water."

They did not live near any water. Even as a child, she knew that. She just accepted her mother's explanation like she did everything else she'd lied to her about. She held onto it quietly. Like a splinter that will poke you one day if you don't remove it.

For sixteen years she did not return to Aldergrove. Until her mother was on her deathbed and a nurse told her that she didn't have much time left.

Nothing had changed about her house. The fence was still there. The second week of November had arrived, and there were flowers on the lilac bush.

Mara stood there for a moment and then walked inside.

Her mother barely took up the space she was given on her bed. She smelled of medicine and some faint scent Mara refused to think about. She looked at Mara when she heard her walk across the wooden floors.

"Oh, you came."

"The lilacs are growing again." Mara offered. Because that was all she knew how to say to her mother. It was a topic they avoided most of their lives.

Her mother smiled slightly. "They always flower at that time."

"You said it was from the soil."

"I said many things to you."

Mara took the seat beside her bed. That was always there as well. In the same position, she was sure. As if the house had remained in time just for Mara to return.

"Did you know your Uncle Theo?"

"All I have is a picture of him. I know he had your jawline. I remember him laughing at something off-screen during one of Thanksgiving dinners. I must have been young enough to be carried around at that point. At some point I was told he moved west, and at another point he passed away at a young age. I didn't question why those were two different statements. Children learn how to ignore things that may upset their parents."

"Your uncle planted that lilac. He wanted it to grow on your grandmother's birthday. Which fell on May the 9th. He took his time making sure the plant would flower on that date every year. Like it was a reminder."

"Right,"

"He disappeared during November. November 9th to be exact. We thought he just up and left. He was that type of man. Come and go without warning. Even your grandmother believed that he was just an unstable person. The flower bloomed six days after that." She stared at the sheets on the bed, picking at the fabric. "I have never once seen that plant not bloom during that month."

"But lilacs aren't supposed to do that."

"Correct."

Mara expected her mother to explain more. Her entire life, her mother never finished sentences. She would always leave her hanging. She hated that about her. Apparently she still did after all these years.

"Where did he go?"

She looked towards the window. There were lilacs growing outside in full view.

"He is underneath them. Your grandfather buried him there that day before your grandmother returned from the doctor. I was 14. Saw everything from my window. I never told anyone. Not your grandmother or your dad. Not the police that came asking questions for nearly a year." She faced Mara again. She had no tears in her eyes. That scared her. "That plant was made to bloom during May. Every May it thinks that's what it is supposed to do. But once it becomes November. It remembers."

Silence fell between the two women. A car drove by outside. Everyday life was happening somewhere.

"Why tell me this now?"

"Well, you're going to live in that house one day. Figured you'd want to know what you're inheriting."

Her mother passed away 4 days after that. On November 13th, the lilacs were still flourishing outside. Mara stayed beside her until morning before contacting her family.

She never reported to the police about her uncle's body. Was it because she was a coward? Maybe. Or maybe she wanted to show some mercy to her grandmother, who had been deceased for decades now. Her mother had been dead for just 4 days. Or her uncle, whom she knew nothing about besides that he had lived under her yard for years. She wasn't sure which reason was accurate. Or if they all were. Just as the lilac can be two things and one of them is false.

When spring came, she sold the property. After she watched the lilacs bloom for their normal month. She did not tell the people who bought her house about the plant.

There was one thing she took from her parents' home. She took a piece from her lilac and planted it on her balcony.

In May, it flowered normally.

But in November. She stared at it daily after her job. Similar to how her mother probably watched the plant outside. When October came. Nothing grew on her lilac. Not in the beginning of November either.

November 9th. One flower appeared. Small. Barely a sign of it, but it was there. She had not moved from that house in sixteen years. The flowers still grew.