written By
Under the auspicious gaze of the Minerva statue in their living room, Phyllis
and Florian were preparing their trip to the Montréal botanical gardens. They
were retired botanists.
Florian remembered his botanical mission to Taiwan and said:
“We could re-design our garden with the waterscapes of the Japanese
gardens.”
Phyllis continued: “The exotic exhibit of orchids, irises, and amaryllis should
be a treat of colours.”
He added: “The arboretum with its pine, and maple varieties and the
medicinal plant garden with its rows of lavender, sage, and milk thistle will
be splendid.”
Enthused, Phyllis, then, decided to go to town. She kissed Florian goodbye and
took the car. She parked in Exchange Street. Along the avenue leading to the
stock exchange, she crossed the bronze statue of blindfolded Themis holding
her scales of justice.
In the shopping mall, she bought a lottery ticket, knowing it was inflated to
thrice its price. It would be drawn tonight. Walking away from Thetis towards
her car, two masked rascals grabbed her bag and ran away quickly. Phyllis
collapsed on the concrete pavement. Shocked, she asked a passer-bye to call
her husband.
She straightened up, realizing she had spent too much of saved money on a
lost lottery ticket. Florian had arrived with a surprise. He had reserved
dinner-for-two in a Taiwanese restaurant with mottled carp ponds lit with
red lanterns. He took her hand. Phyllis began to cry like an inconsolable little
girl who had broken her favourite porcelain tea set.
