Japanese Cherry Blossom | Teen Ink

Japanese Cherry Blossom

February 16, 2017
By Tak.io BRONZE, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Tak.io BRONZE, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

A warm summer evening in Orlando, Florida, Lillie was just finishing up her job at the jungle cruise ride when suddenly, her phone buzzed. It was a weather alert message, warning about a tornado on the way.

“Oh no!” Lillie thought, “I’d better get home!”

Lillie quickly got into her car and drove home. She could clearly see the tornado from her home. She ran in, and her father was so happy to see her. They both ran into the safety building into the backyard, waiting for the storm to pass by. The next day, everyone came out. The damage was done. Their home had been destroyed, not a thing was left.

    Lillie and her father had nothing except each other. All hope was lost, until Lillie’s father received a message; it was aunt Jane.

“I heard you were in a situation, so how ‘bout ya both come up here and live wi’ me.”

It was an offer they couldn’t refuse. Lillie’s frown went away when she heard.

“Great, now I can ditch this jungle cruise ride job and try to become a big hit on Broadway” she thought.

    The first chance they got, they bought airline tickets to the Big Apple, New York City. Aunt Jane always lived in the big city; she’s never been anywhere as small a suburb. Lillie’s father moved away to Florida to be with his wife, before she went crazy. Lillie had only visited her aunt Janie four times in her entire life; actually living with her was going to be a whole new, crazy experience.

    They finally landed, aunt Janie was there waiting for them. Lillie at least knew she was in good hands, for aunt Janie was basically rich. she rarely ever spent money on herself only ever buying food and clothes.

“Wow! Nice car!” Lillie exclaimed.

“Yep, it’s a 1965 Stingray Corvette.” Aunt Janie explained.

With a car like this, Lillie knew she was guaranteed at least a somewhat decent home.

    On the way to Aunt Janie’s apartment, there was a huge traffic jam.

“Oh boy, looks like ya boy, Roy, has struck again.” she said.

“Who?” Janie’s father asked.

“Ya boy, Roy, is this eleventh grader who is always causing terrible accidents and traffic jams by jaywalking in the middle of some of the busiest road and highways in New York. He always seems to have been able to evade cops everywhere. Even when this one time when the whole building was surrounded, he jumped off the top of the building and hang glided away.”

“Hang glided off the top!” Lillie exclaimed “That guy is demented!”

“Roy definitely has a screw loose” Aunt Janie said.

    After hours of waiting in traffic, they finally were able to make it to Aunt Janie’s.

“Here we are! Go ahead and set up camp, make yourselves at home.”

Janie was so tired. She just decided to go ahead and set up her sleeping area; she could unpack in the morning. Just before she got into her little sleeping area, she heard a loud thud. She ran into the other room to find Aunt Janie collapsed on the floor.

“Call 911!” Janie’s father yelled.

Lillie got out her cell phone and dialed.

    The next morning, Lillie and her father waited in the hospital. A doctor came up and started talking to them.

“She’ll be fine for now.” he said “You’re able to see her now.”

Lillie and her father walked into Aunt Janie’s room to see her in bed.

“Hey guys! Sorry ta scare ya like that on ya first night here. I didn’t really wanna mention this on your first day here, but I need a kidney.” Aunt Janie explained.

“Sis, why didn’t you say something earlier?” Lillie’s father said, “We would have come before the storm if you had just said something.”

Aunt Janie smiled and said to Lillie, “I have a gift I was saving for ya for today; I want ya ta check my coat pocket over there”

Lillie went over and reached into Aunt Janie’s coat pocket. There was an envelope with money in it.

“That there is about a thousand dollars. I want you to take it and spend it on whatever ya heart desires, but don’t go on giving it ta every single homeless person ya see” she explained, “Also, if ya check my closet at home, you’ll find a segway I want ya have, but you might need to practice how to drive it first.”

“I worked on the jungle cruise ride at Disney World, so a segway couldn’t be any harder.” She joked

    Lillie was so excited when she got back to Aunt Janie’s apart. She had a thousand dollars to spend in New York City and have the ability to travel on a segway all throughout New York as well. First Lillie was planning on seeing the empire state building, so she kissed her father goodbye and went down the sidewalk on her new segway. The city wasn’t everything Lillie was expecting. There were bums everywhere asking for money, people doing weird tricks and performances for tips, people in all sort of funny looking outfits. Only one stand caught her , attention; a small shop selling different homemade perfumes. Lillie used some of her money, and bought a bottle of her favorite scent, Japanese cherry blossom.

During her stroll, she was just about to cross the road when just before she could the light turned green.

“Dang it!” Lillie thought as she waited for the light to turn red.

Out of nowhere, this kid in a hoodie runs right out in the middle of the street. He jumped right on top of a car, smashing the windshield, and jumped off just as fast. The car went out of control and overall caused a 6-way car crash. Lillie sat there in shock. She remembered what Aunt Janie said about the eleventh-grader causing accidents, but never would she expect to witness him in the act. As fast as her segway could go, she went across the street looking for him. Very quickly, she spotted him running down the sidewalk. Lillie floored it, trying to catch up with him. Finally, he turned into an alleyway where she could corner him. She went deep into the alleyway looking for him with her phone out ready to capture him of film. There was no sign of him anywhere.

“I know he turned down here!” Lillie thought while staring at the end of the alley.

Out came a voice from behind the dumpster in the alley.

“Well, the smell of Japanese cherry blossom doesn’t travel down these alleyways often.” it said.

“Who's there?” Lillie yelled.

He leapt from behind the dumpster, snatching the phone out of Lillie’s hand. Lillie turned to see him. It was him, wearing the exact same hoodie.

“Well, hello there young lady. Surprised that my keen sense of smell gave ya away?  What’s a cute 16 year old like you doing in this alleyway? Chasing the guy of your dreams?” He said with a smile.

Lillie blushed and yelled “No! And I’m 20 for your information! I heard about you causing trouble all throughout New York. Jay walking and then causing horrible accidents!”

“Uh oh, looks like ya caught me babe. That’s right. It’s me. It’s ya boy Roy!” He yelled revealing himself from the hoodie. Lillie got a good look at him. A young boy with sterling gray eyes and hair whiter than snow stood there. His shirt had a picture of skull and crossbones on it.

“Get a good look at me babe. You’ll be one of the very few who ever saw the face of ya boy Roy!” He said trying to take off. Lillie, with quick wit, rolled over to him on her segway, and grabbed a hold on him, demanding that her phone be returned. Roy tried everything to get away, but he could not break free from Lillie’s grasp. Lillie was determined that he would not get away with stealing from her. Finally, Roy came up with a plan.

“Fine! Ya win! Here!” Roy yelled. With Lillie holding her hand out for for phone, Roy reached into his pocket.

“Here ya go.” Roy said with a devilish smile. Lillie screamed as soon as she saw what it was. Roy had hid a rat in his pocket in case he had to make a quick escape because he knew a girl like her would not love the sight of a rat near her or in this case, on her.

“So long toots!” Roy yelled as he ran out the alleyway. Lillie chased after him, but she was too late. She could not see him anywhere once she left the alleyway.

    Lillie went back to Aunt Janie’s without her phone. She was so mad that she had let Roy get away with her phone, and that she wasn’t able to finally stop him from his crime spree. When she walked in she saw her father.

“Where were you? I tried to call you a thousand times.” He asked.

“My phone was was stolen by Roy!” She exclaimed.

“Your phone was stolen, and by that kid Aunt Janie was telling us about? That explains why it says you’re still down town.” Lillie's father said.

“Wait!” Lillie exclaimed “Did you say that it’s down town?”

“Yeah, I installed a tracking device on your phone. In case anything were to happen to you, I would be able to find you.” He explained.

“Let me see!” She said. This was her chance. Maybe she could catch Roy after all. She ran out the door, making sure she had her bottle of Japanese cherry blossom perfume, got onto her segway, and floored it.

    She passed by everyone. Her job working on the jungle cruise ride would end up helping her in the future after all. She went as fast as she could on the segway, with her father’s phone in her hand with the location of her phone and, most importantly, Roy. She never stopped for a second. . She was determined that he was not going to get away from her. Finally, she got there. She stopped in front of a tall building, a baby supplies factory. He was in here. She dialed 911, and told them everything.

“I have the guy, Roy, cornered, the one who caused all those accidents. Meet me at the top of the building across from the baby supplies factory.” She ran in, looking for him. She couldn’t be far from him, for it said her phone was only a few yards away. She went up the stairs of the building. She found it, the room where it said her phone was in. She barged in prepared for almost anything. No one was there. She looked around the room, searching for any sign of Roy or her phone, until she heard his voice.

“If it ain’t my old pal, Japanese cherry blossom! Congratulations, you’re one of the few people clever enough ta find the secret hideout of ya boy Roy! Cleverly hidden in a baby clothes factory.” He exclaimed.

“Give me my phone back” She demanded, “There’s no way to escape now Roy; I’ve got you cornered.”

“Exactly, and weren’t ya ever taught not to corner a wild animal? Ya might never know what they’ll do.” Roy said pulling out a switchblade. Lillie wasn’t going to let that stop her. Lillie gave Roy a swift kick to the stomach.

“And weren’t you ever taught not to mess with a master of karate?” She said. Roy went flying to the wall. Roy looked up to see a large bin of baby clothes. Just as Lillie was coming to get him, he knocked the bin down, burying her under a huge pile of baby clothes. Roy got up pulled out a gun.

“It’ll end here, ya better watch out babe.” He said. Lillie, as quickly as she could, escaped from under the baby clothes and ran away from him. He slowly walked out of the room, and took a big breath in through his nose.

“Ya can’t hide from ya boy little miss Japanese cherry blossom.” Roy said standing next to a room.

“It’s all over! Ya boy wins! ” he yelled, barging into the room. He stood there in shock. Lillie wasn’t there. There was absolutely nowhere to hide. The only thing in the room, was a small table with an open bottle of Japanese cherry blossom. Lillie snuck up behind him, and kicked the gun out of his hand.

“Your keen sense of smell might recognize me as Japanese cherry blossom; too bad it doesn’t know me as baby powder.” Lillie said covered in baby powder.

Roy knew he was in for it now. He slid right past Lillie trying to get down stairs, but Lillie was blocking his path. There was no way he was going to get past Lillie, so he ran up stairs. Roy had a backup plan, in case something like this were to happen again. Lillie chased him all the way up stairs, all the way up to the roof. She was too late. Roy was on his hang glider, prepared to fly. Roy ran off the the roof, gliding to the building next door.

“You’ll remember this as the day ya failed at catching ya boy Roy!” Roy screamed midair.

Lillie stood there with a large smile on her face, for as soon as Roy landed on the building across the street, he was taken down by police.

    There was a huge crowd surrounding the building, watching Roy come out with handcuffs on. News people were everywhere trying to get an interview with the police and Lillie. Lillie watched as Roy was being put into the police car.

“You’ll remember this as the day you were foiled by the girl who smells like Japanese cherry blossom.” She yelled at him. Lillie’s father was escorted to the scene, along with the mayor of New York City. Lillie’s father hugged her and told her

“That was great, I couldn’t have asked for a better daughter.”

“Young lady, that was a fine thing you did for the city. We’ve been on Roy’s tail for weeks, but with no prevail. You’re one of the brightest people I’ve ever met. Is there anything I can do for you in return?” The mayor said. Lillie usually would have denied the offer, but she did have one thing in mind.

    Three days later, Aunt Janie was out of the hospital. Her kidney transplant went perfectly. Aunt Janie said to Lillie

“I could’ve afforded it. Why’d ya waste your opportunity on paying for my kidney transplant?”

“You deserved it Aunt Janie!” Lillie told her

“You let us both into your home in our time of need, so I decided to repay you in your time of need.”

Ever since then, there have been less accidents in New York City, Lillie and her family, in the most cliché way possible, lived happily ever after, and Roy continues to sit in a jail cell, forever hating the smell of Japanese cherry blossom with a passion.



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