Originally hosted on https://illoria.wixsite.com/annamittower/anthology-of-speculative-scribbles

“Mik! Psst!”

Miklin jerked around. A figure beckoned to him from the door of one of the darkened shops. He squinted, trying to see the person’s face, but the light was too bad. However, he did approach the person. He had learned over the past year that those who meant him harm would swagger up to him in broad daylight, not whisper at him from dark corners.

Up close he did recognize the person. The elderly woman ran Natalie’s favorite florist on the station and, in the past, she had often stopped in to chat with the store owner.

“Here.” The woman thrust a long thin wrapped item into his hands. “Tell her happy birthday for me.” Then she shut the door in Miklin’s face.

He bowed slightly to the closed door and returned to walking. Another gift for Natalie. And by the shape of it, some kind of flower. This alone would make Natalie happy for weeks.

The dropbox, when he returned, contained yet another package, this one filled with fresh food. He turned on the refrigeration unit before stowing that inside. They so rarely had fresh food that they kept the unit turned off normally to save money.

“Mik, is that you?”

“Good morning!” He pulled back the curtain hiding her bed. “Happy birthday, dear Natalie.”

She smiled up at him. “Have you been sneaking around this early?”

“Me? Sneaking around. I would never. No, I went shopping so we could eat well today. But I think you will be surprised.” He carried her to the kitchen and sat her down at the small table. “It looks like people remembered your birthday and three presents have already arrived.”

“Presents?” Natalie’s face lit up. “Don’t tease me, Mik.”

“Swear on my life, Nat, I am not teasing you. Would you like to see some of them? One of them you can’t see till later, though.”

“Show me!”

“First of all,” he retrieved the package from the florist. “Your florist friend waylaid me on my way back. You should open this one first.”

He hadn’t seen her so happy as she carefully opened the paper covering. A single rose rolled out onto the table. It clearly wasn’t in the best condition, but it should last another week or two with proper care. Natalie’s eyes shone with tears as she gently picked up the rose and lifted it to her nose. Miklin blinked back tears of his own and cleared his throat noisily.

“I’ll see if I can find a proper vase for it. I think we still have mom’s somewhere.”

He used that as his excuse to turn away and stick his head into a compartment and hide his tears. It tore him apart to see the change in her. He wished that she could be this happy every day.

True to his word, he did find the crystal vase which used to belong to their mother. A quick wipe cleaned it so the glassy facets glittered in the dim light. “Here you are, Nat. I think the rose will look quite nice in that.”

She placed the rose in the vase and it dangled too far out. “Oh dear, we shall have to cut it down to fit.”

“Yes, we will, but let’s look at your other present first. For this one, you will need to turn a bit.” He stood near the refrigeration unit and waited until she looked over, then he dramatically opened the door to reveal the fresh food.

“Mik! You didn’t buy that, did you?”

“No, no, Nat. This was in one of your presents. We’ll cook it into a splendid meal for your birthday. I know how tired you are of nootbars. So start thinking of what you want me to make.”

“I’m already hungry just thinking about it.” She smiled widely, her happiness practically radiating from her body.

“Now, close your eyes for a minute. I have a small surprise of my own for today, but you woke up too soon for me to finish it.”

She stuck out her tongue at him before doing as told. He waited until he was sure she couldn’t see, before pulling out the new water filter. He removed the old nasty one as quietly as he could and dumped it into the recycling. However, he had to clean the filter slot before inserting the new one. The old one had turned it into a slimy black and green mess. At last, he installed the new filter and turned the water on.

“Mik, turn off the water! You know how much that costs to let it run like that.”

She still had her hands over her eyes when he checked, but a frown showed beneath her hands.

“I know, I know, but this is necessary.” Miklin scooped up a handful of water to taste it and found that the taste had dramatically improved. He filled up a cup and turned off the tap. “Here, drink this. And I’ll fix breakfast.”

“Drink what? I can’t see, remember?”

“Silly woman. You can take your hands off now.”

She did so and stuck out her tongue again. “If you don’t actually tell me what to do, I can’t do it. Silly indeed.”

He laughed and dug out a nootbar in the flavor she could tolerate as well as his half bar. She made a face when he set it down in front of her, but she still unwrapped the bar.

“Why do you only have a half bar? You need more food than that.”

“I ate half of it when I left earlier,” he lied and then changed the subject. “You still haven’t tried your drink yet.”

“It’s just water.”

He shrugged and smiled mysteriously.

“Isn’t it?”

He took a bite of his bar, nearly gagged, and rose to fill a cup for himself. After he drank it down, she finally took the glass in hand for a taste.

“You bought a new filter!” she accused.

“Bingo! Happy birthday!” He grinned at her.

“But…”

“No buts. You said to spend the bonus on a necessary item and I did. That old filter was going to make us sick. So it was necessary to replace it.” Necessary five months ago, he didn’t add.

“How did I know that you’d end up doing something like this? But it’s already done and a used filter can’t be returned. Thank you, Mik, even though this was too expensive of a gift.”

He choked down the last bite of his bar and ruffled her hair. “It’s your birthday. We can afford to splurge a little. Shall we cut the rose and fill the vase with our new clean water? I’m sure the flower will last longer feeding on that.”

She nodded, chewing on her own food. After a trim, the rose didn’t sit in the vase so awkwardly. He transferred both it and Natalie to the living space after she finished eating.

“I’m going out to search. But I’ll be back at the start of second shift instead of staying out late. We’ll have your birthday dinner then.” Miklin bent down to kiss her on the forehead.

“Good luck, Mik!”