Today, the birdie will come.

Leah slips out of bed and kicks her teddy bear out of the way. She opens up her dresser, which contains three identical brown dresses. She swaps the middle one for the one she’s wearing and cuts most of the sleeves away. She admires herself in the mirror. Deeming herself ready to start the day, she goes out into the hall.

There’s a dry flowerpot, and the plant is beginning to wilt. It’s not special enough. She continues her way downstairs.

The hall has portraits of Assyrian kings. The butterfly ones were better. She wanders around the dining room. There’s a flowerpot in each corner of the room and they’re all identical. It’s not special enough.

But then she spots a cactus that clearly needs watering. She rushes to the bathroom and takes the bucket. She fills it from the bathtub and brings it to the cactus. It grows stronger and taller. She ignores the ringing phone. The portraits have gone blank, and the water turned red while she wasn’t looking. It’s rose water!