Fireflower Flood

The only light was the glow of a blue hued moon.

Mimi stood on her balcony, watching as the lower levels of the street and buildings flooded with icy water. She didn’t know what happened exactly, but she woke up and the valley she lived in for most of her life was turning back into a prehistoric lake. So many people drowned, and so many left for higher grounds or simply left the town altogether. No one knows what started the sudden flood, but when it did, the canyon collapsed, clogging the way out through the east. To the west, the small mountains dissolved, turning into trash and rubble walls.

Not Mimi. She stayed. And the water became glacial cold. She watched as sprigs of trees flowed down the street, which in turn became a mini canal and funneled the water like manmade riverbeds. She could feel the icy chill from the flooding waters all the way from her fifth-floor balcony. How long has it been since she left the sanctity of her apartment?

“Still here, huh?” Mimi turned around to see her one neighbor who had stayed behind as well. Johnathan was leaning against her doorway, a bottle of some sort of alcohol held loosely in his large hands. Most of the power went out during the flood, so the shadows of the nightly moon illuminated the last two tenants of the Fireflower apartments. The newly resurrected lake even collided with the power plants around the valley, resulting in many places being rendered powerless. Some, a very few, had solar panels and were spared. Not the FireFlower Heights.

“Same as you.” she responded. Johnathon smirked.

“I didn’t have anyone waiting for me.” he nonchalantly replied, taking a swig of his drink. Mimi turned back to look at the asphalt-lined river.

“Me either.” Mimi whispered back. She let out a sigh and turned to face Johnathon, leaning casually onto the solid metal frame of her balcony. The glacial waters radiated a cold, making her arms pebble up. But she was used to it by now.

~~~…~~~

Johnathon took in the sight of Miss Mimi Charles leaning under the morose colors of the full moon. She was pretty, sure. Not a raving beauty by his standards, but pretty enough.

Since the Flood, most of the other tenants high tailed out of here, leaving all their shit and some of their pets. So far, he had three freshly abandoned cats, a demented cockatiel who just loves to whistle the Halloween theme song, a skinny chihuahua that is constantly shaking with its miniature rage, and a fish tank with various freshwater aquatic life.

But Mimi. She was smart. She had a garden on her balcony. Sapotes, tomatoes, potatoes, an apple tree and a lemon tree, along with various herbs peppered her area with lush green and jewel like fruits.

But back to the scene at hand.

Mimi was pretty. She was lush and robust in her figure like a stacked milkmaid from the 1800’s. Heavy breasts that were currently unbound by a brassiere, wide hips with small love handles, and thick thighs that looked to be soft as pillows. Her wavy dark hair was short, brushing her shoulders, and pink full lips that beckoned to be lavished and ravished. In her eyes were pools of color, reds and golden browns and pale shades of green. Those colorful eyes made him think of her as a fairy, beckoning mischief and wonderment.

“I saw more people in boats being ferried out earlier today. One of them was the landlord’s family, but not him.” Mimi whispered after a few minutes of cooling silence. Johnathon made a quizzical noise in his throat.

“So he’s still in the building? We aren’t alone?” Johnathon asked, sipping his beer. Mimi shook her head. John pondered. They were on the fifth floor of the Fireflower apartments. There are twelve floors altogether. Each floor had seven apartments, minus the bottom floor, which only had two.

“Seems to be. But he must be way at the top. I cleared out all the plants and some food from this floor. I found a few cute little snakes that needed a home.” Mimi then pointed to the two small boas that were coiled happily and lazily in her lemon tree. He shuddered. He didn’t like snakes. Both little serpents were a fancy, snow color and were quite tame. He spotted two more lying about near her tomatoes, corn snakes of orange and red.

“I found some booze in a few apartments.” Johnathon replied after a few minutes of collective silence.

“I can tell.” Mimi replied, a smile on her full lips. Johnathon took another drink.

“What do you plan to do? Besides the landlord, we are the only ones still here at the FireFlower. Are you going to evacuate too?” Johnathon asked. Mimi shrugged her shoulders.

“I plan on staying. The bottom floors of the complex are solid concrete. And while there is no power, I have a few small solar lamps that can give me light. I have all my books, my new snake friends, and I still have a Brita filter to give me clean water. Besides, where would I go? I don’t have anybody waiting for me, no one worries about me. I'm alone.” Mimi revealed. Johnathon finished off the alcohol and placed it to the side. No sense in littering, even if they might be the last ones in the valley.

“Our floor has concrete patios. I can possibly build a fire if I need to.” Mimi continued.

“But what will you burn?” Johnathon asked.

“I’ll grab some of the floating branches from the river, dry them. Use them. I’ll go through the abandoned apartments, burn the papers I find, the wood. I made do then, I can make do now.” Mimi countered.

“And what about food? Your plants will die in the winter.” Johnathon whispered.

“Then I’ll start canning some of my fruit. Drying my herbs, my vegetables. Ration it out. Our ex-neighbors will also have some things I can salvage.” Mimi replied.

“And what about meat? You going to eat your snakes?” he asked.

“There are mice in the apartments I got the snakes from. I can use some as fishing bait, catch some fish to eat. I can set traps, catch some birds. I can manage.” Mimi replied. Johnathon watched as the lush woman turned and gazed out to the new river, now four floors deep. The intense flow was starting to mellow, like the lake was beginning to settle its new depths.

~~~...~~~

Mimi glanced down towards the cold waters. Some of the streetlights, adamant about staying active, glowed and gave the cold waters a soft golden hue. If she had to admit, it reminded her of Grecian ichor: The blood of the Gods and Goddesses. Even as the floodwaters overflowed the local rivers, combining the waters, it was clearer than the purest crystal. She can see local fish thriving in the waters, some obviously from the drowned pet stores. Trout, koi, Oscars, schools and schools of goldfish and guppies. Freshwater Angelfish flitted between the sunken trees, using the branches and leaves as their own personalized kelp and coral. The glacial flood seemed to terraform the new lake, creating some new environments, and a new ecosystem of aquatic life adapting.

“Beautiful.” Mimi whispered.

“We are probably thinking of different things, but what do you see that is beautiful?” Johnathon asked.

“The river. Life.” Mimi replied. She tossed her head and gazed up, the sky starting to darken into dazzling summer stars.

“With no light pollution, no smog from cars and the factories and mills, I can truly see the beauty, the vastness of the stars.” Mimi sighed as she kept her eyes on the sky above. Johnathon also glanced up.

“They are just stars.” he muttered. Mimi shook her head.

“They are more than that. They tell our stories, our legends. They are the life that keeps on going.” Mimi theorized.

“Mimi, what about...love. Sex. How will you replace that?” Johnathon asked. Mimi grinned.

“Why? Are you offering?” she asked. Johnathon chuckled and moved in a fluid motion towards the soft woman. He casually leaned over her, placing his hands by her side, on the railing, trapping her. Mimi stared up into his eyes, steady and unafraid.

“And if I am? What are going to do?” Johnathon growled out softly.

~~~...~~~

Mimi took in Johnathon, really took him in.

He was a tall man, imposingly tall. With a Barreled chest that resonated with a deep, testosterone-heavy voice that rumbled just from his speaking. His arms were thick, but not fat. They held muscles. Muscle that told of hard work and function, not stenciled or by Hollywood standards. His legs told the same story: hard work, function. She gazed up into his eyes, a striking blue that glowed from the golden hue of the asphalt river. In the daytime, they were the same blue of the glacial waters. He was a tall, beefy man with dark hair in a neat, slightly managed beard, and dark blonde hair that was pulled back into a loose braid. Mimi had to admit, he seemed to have some Scandinavian roots, trace amounts that blossom forth in his build, his coloring. If she had to, she could compare him to Thor, a Viking.

But she also knew, despite his intimidating looks, he was a kind man. Who else who go through all the abandoned apartments and take in the pets left behind? Who else would pop in from time to time to share a few minutes of chat with her? She also knew damn well he had a garden as well, with berries and corn, along with potatoes. Despite all that, he was a stoic man, a social recluse who kept to himself until the Flood.

“What am I going to do? I’m going to do this.” Mimi then stood on her tiptoes and placed a kiss at the corner of Johnathon’s mouth, gently running a soft finger through his coarse beard. Johnathon stiffened and moved to place his large hands at the cusp of her soft waist. Mimi then planted another kiss on Johnathon’s own soft lips.

She then pulled away, smiling as she investigated the hungry, feral fire in Johnathon’s eyes. With a heated lightness, she began to walk inside her apartment, loosely swinging her hips. With a careful, calculated movement, Mimi untied the ribbons to her sundress, letting it fall and leave her in a pair of blue lace panties and a matching bra. She heard the hissing intake of breath from Johnathon. Then, just to entice him, she took off her bra and slipped behind a wall.

~~~...~~~

Johnathon felt the primal arousal as he watched the woman slip away from his eyes. He took a deep breath, and removed his shirt, a button-up dark green plaid, leaving his thick, muscular chest bare from clothes, but not from soft hair.

Silent, stealthy, like a lion on the hunt, Johnathon followed Mimi, trailing behind her as he stepped over her clothes, and a few cats she took in. He followed her into her room, a large, window had her basking in the blue hue of the moon. She was bare, curled slightly as she stroked her warm entrance.

Johnathon stripped fully, standing naked in front of her.

“Come join me.” Mimi whispered, her voice breathy and wanton. With a growl, the large man slipped onto the bed, using his large hands to pin her own above her head. He drank her beauty in.

“What do you plan to do?” Johnathon asked once more. Mimi smiled and rolled her hips to meet his.

“What do you plan to do?” she countered.

“This.” With the grace of a cat, he bent down and captured her lips.

Their only witness was the pale radiance of the full moon.