The Pot of Marigold

Julie had been dreaming after having falling asleep from a restless night stemming from a job interview in the morning. She dreamt of talking to her grandmother of her problems as she did when she went to bed as a child.

“Now, my little Julie. Tell me your problems.” Her grandmother had said, after tucking Julie into bed. And so she did, regaling her grandmother about how things in her life had been going wrong as of late, about her being laid off from her part time job as a receptionist a month ago, which in turn had caused a mental block for her art studies.

After she had finished, her grandmother had hugged her and smiled at her as she drew to an arm’s length away. “That’s quite a lot, my little one….. Would you like me to tell you a story?”

Julia nodded as her grandmother’s stories always put her at ease. So her grandmother told her about how a girl out for a stroll had stumbled upon a sickly fairy sleeping in a pot of marigolds nestled in a trunk of a tree. The little girl took the pot out and brought it to a nearby field full of marigolds out in the sunshine. The fairy quickly got better and thanked the girl by telling her to keep the pot and when you are in need, take the pot to where the sun would shine and think of what you’d like to do successfully for the day.

At the end of the story, Julia’s grandmother presented her with a marigold flower in a pot. “It is time for me to go little one. This…” she gestured to the pot. “has enough magic left for one more day. But I think you have more need of it than I do. Just remember to do the task and it will succeed. Successful outcomes lead to others.” Her grandmother leaned in to kiss her forehead. “Now time to sleep, little one.”

“Good night.” Julia had said as she watched her grandmother stand up. “And thank you.”

She had just finished saying thank you when her alarm went off, waking her up. It had been a very strange dream to have had. It was only last week that she had talked to her grandmother but she had been unwell for the past few months. It was why she was alone in the family house as her parents were with her grandmother. She rationalised it as to her stress due to today’s job interview, the first one she has had since she started looking.

She slowly got up in her bed and sleepily looked around. As she looked towards the bedroom window, her eyes opened wider in surprise when she saw the potted marigold flower on the table besides the window.

They looked exactly like the one in her dreams, the petals of the flower aglow with the sun’s rays. Incredulity reigned in her mind as she knew that the flowers had not been there last night.

However, the more she looked at the marigolds, the more she thought of her dream and her grandmother’s words. She remembered how much marigolds meant to her grandmother. To her grandmother, they were symbolic of positivity and good luck.

“It couldn’t be possibly real.” She brought herself to the table as she focused on the flower, wondering if her grandmother had something she hadn’t let on, at least to Julie anyway. Touching the pot and flower, they were indeed real.

Something compelled her to take out a sheet of paper from a stack currently resting under her resume and art books, and a pencil. It felt as if a part of her wanted to test herself and her dream. She had a sudden compulsion to draw the marigolds as they were sitting in the pot. So Julie proceeded to draw for the first time in a month.

Her hand flew over the page and within a half hour, much to her surprise, she had drawn a perfectly rendered facsimile of the potted marigold, down to the shading and setting. It would have normally taken her a few hours. Julie felt buoyant at her success and absentmindedly filed the drawing away in one of her art books. Knowing she had time until her interview, she donned her exercise attire, carrying her mobile phone and small wallet in their usual places, and left to enjoy a morning run and the sun outside.

Her morning run turned out unexpectedly eventful. She took her usual route around the block before heading into the nearby park, following the main path that came out opposite to a perfectly convenient convenience store. She noticed today the marigolds dotting her path in the gardens.

As she had gone to cross the road between the park and convenience store, she noticed a luxury car nearby with its hood popped up, a uniformed man looking around in the engine bay. Feeling curious, Julie jogged by and asked if he was okay.

The flustered looking man, a chauffeur, introduced himself as Steven. “I just went for a couple of things from that store.” The one Julie was about to go to. “And when I came back, the car wouldn’t start. I was supposed to take it to the mechanic today after a couple of drop offs. The boss’ daughter and the boss’ personal assistant are both currently waiting in the back” He jerked his thumb towards the back.

Asking if she could take a look, spouting history of having a car that habitually broke down. She asked Steven to turn over the car as she kept her head at the engine bay. After listening and watching she spotted the possible culprit, a loose wire, and asked if there was any type of tape in the car. Steven went to talk to one of the passengers and quickly produced masking tape. Julie rigged a solution to hold the wire in place and asked Jeremy to try the engine again. The growling roar of the engine greeted Julie.

Steven and a well dress blond woman came out of the back of the car, both thanking Julie. Steven introduced the woman as Amanda, the personal assistant of his boss’ wife. Julie advised that the car really need to get looked over today, to which Steven nodded appreciatively.

Relief spoke volumes on Amanda’s face who, as she told the story, was worried that she was going to be late to get the boss’ daughter to ballet class and herself late to work. “Thank you so much, you are a life saver.”

Julie shook her head, remembering what it was like to worry about lateness. “Well you had better go. Good luck.” She waited until the car left before continuing to the store.

When she went into store, she was greeted by the cashier as she raced to the back for two drinks, a coffee and a water. As she went to pay, she remembered she bought a lottery ticket last week and so she handed that to the cashier.

“Congratulations, miss. That’s a one hundred dollar win. Did you want to take what you owe out of that?” Asked the cashier with a smile.

Julie nodded, smiling at her good fortune. She replied. “Yes please and also can I get a couple of the scratch-its too please?” She received the scratch-its and her change and bid the cashier good day.

She left and turned quickly down the adjacent alleyway, looking for a middle aged homeless man named Sam that she had gotten to know over the last couple of weeks after he had helped her one day after she sprained her ankle from jogging after a bad interview. She found him as he was just waking up.

“Good morning, miss.” He said. He appreciated being treated like a normal person.

Julie placed the scratch-it and coffee down by Sam. “Morning Sam. Remember fifty-fifty.”

“I remember. Good luck on your interview.” He smiled through his long beard. Julie waved as she left.

When she got back to her house, she looked at her mobile to see how much time she had until the interview. However, she saw she had pending messages from her parents. She assumed it was to say good luck and went to get ready.

She got prepared for the interview, thinking over and over she will succeed today. She got ready on time, bundling herself and her resume into her car, which decided to be trouble free today. Her drive to the interview was nothing but green lights and there was an empty carpark in front of the building.

Her interview was at a graphics design and advertising company named Evelhart Inc. that needed a part time receptionist. She did not have to wait long before she taken to a small boardroom where, to her surprise, she was greeted warmly by Amanda, the personal assistant from earlier in the day, and her boss, Agnes Evelhart, the owner of the company.

“This is the girl I told you about that helped with the car earlier.” Said Amanda.

Agnes, a kindly looking lady, turned from Amanda and smiled at Julie. “Is that so? ….. Thank you for your helping my assistant and my daughter. I understand you are here for a job interview for a part time receptionist job.”

Julie didn’t know what to say other than “Yes, ma’am.” She handed her resume and cover letter.

“Well, this is a different cover page.” said Agnes. She lifted the drawing of the marigold from behind the resume cover.

Julie looked mortified, but at seeing her discomfort, Agnes continued. “Don’t worry dear but this is beautiful…… why are you here for a receptionist position? Tell me about yourself.”

Julie slowly gathered her courage as she told them about herself, regarding her previous work and as well as her art studies. After a few questions, Agnes and Amanda conferred quietly. Agnes then got up and told Julie that she would like to offer her an internship in the graphics design department so that she could both work and study. Julie happily accepted.

“I look forward to your success here.” said Agnes as she left.

The rest of the day went as a blur. Amanda showed her around the various departments before being shown where she would be working under Agnes. Julie left assured that tomorrow she had a job and an internship linked to her studies.

She got home and slept on the couch. Waking up at sunset, she quickly tossed together dinner and sat in front of the TV, with the news on. About to change the channel, she stopped as she recognised her local convenience store. A reporter was interviewing Sam, who apparently had won big on a scratch-it, the one she had left him. The clip ended with him saying, “To Julie, fifty-fifty, I’ll see you tomorrow here.”

She went to her phone, intending to call back her parents and talk to her grandmother about her incredible day but the phone suddenly started ringing. Julie picked up her phone and saw it was her parent’s number again and she answered. It was her mother.

“Sweetie, I have some bad news. I have been trying to contact you all day.” said her mother.

Julie’s dread rose. “What's happened? I had my job interview today and missed your calls.”

There was a loud silence. "Sweetie, your grandmother Mary died last night.” Her mother continued, fighting back sobs.

Julie’s eyes filled with tears as her mother passed on what transpired. Her grandmother had passed peacefully. Julie felt numb. She took out the drawing of the potted marigold out of her resume and went to her bedroom. Turning on the lights, she turned to the table by the window. The marigold flower and pot were gone except for a few petals.

She went over and placed her drawing on the table. Silently she whispered, “Thank you Grandma.”