The Carnation

The Carnation

Scarlet’s eyes could not resist the unassailable sunlight. As she was forced awake by the reflected rays brightening the home with ease, her tired eyes gazed at her calendar; it was marked Valentine’s Day.
The pink fox grinned her pointed muzzle at the holiday, which was appropriate for her eccentric and lively nature. Being young and endowed with beauty, she expected attention and interest in her character this day. Anticipating a guy or two after her, she bathed with usual details, making sure her fur shined like the snow. Her attire was casual, for she did not expect to need much assistance with her natural beauty.
Oh, how the snow frustrated her. The vixen normally enjoyed the glittering white power, but today it forced her to hide her beauty beneath a jacket to stay warm. Her shoes crunched into the snow as she made way to go shopping, shivering from a breeze.
“Ah, Scarlet.” The fox froze like the snow as she was quickly stopped by a wolf close to her age. He was strongly built and smiled at her affably. It was Ron, a friend who lived nearby.
“Good morning.” She replied with a soft voice. She had little opinion of Ron, but enjoyed talking to him.
“Are you busy?” He inquired and crunched his feet beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. She was not accustomed to him being so close and she nearly pushed away from him.
“Not really.”
The gray wolf reached into his sleeve. “Then may I present myself to you?” A flower bloomed from said sleeve of his jacket, sprouting a deep red rose with a long stem that was set forward for her.
Scarlet was stunned at first, lost of words, but she smiled rather quickly. “Oh, why how sweet.” She realized it was a present for the holiday and she took the rose into her own possession.
“Would you be my Valentine this evening?” He presented the classic question, but without any sign of nervousness or tension. He petted her head and drew her lime eyes up to his. She was a pure catch of a woman for any man.
The fox suddenly felt warm and relieved of any stress she had. The wolf was handsome, with a nice build and a cute face. His touch made her purr while her heart was sucked in by his. She felt unique to be taken by such a wolf. “Sure.” She accepted without a second though.
Scarlet gasped softly as the rose pricked her finger with a thorn that had not been removed. She found a small cut on her finger and tried to ignore the pain and blood to keep the mood positive. Ron did not bring attention to it. “Great. We can talk at my place tonight.”
With complete agreement between their novice hearts, Scarlet moved on with new found joy. The honor of being basically asked out by Ron made her quite esteemed. She once again felt gorgeous and a princess amongst guys by nature. What a pleasant Valentine’s day this was becoming.

The day of love was just as prominent for Sage. A young fox of a green tinge, Sage was young and intelligent, but no more than cute physically. His pessimistic nature brought little hope of his wishes for a mate, but today he was bringing together the effort to try.
He had his orange eyes on someone; a vixen who lived nearby. He knew her name, Scarlet, and had memorized her body and information he learned in their occasional conversations. Her birthday was September 16th, she was 5’6”, she loved nature and candy and she had the sweetest character known to her species. There was never enough to know about her.
Ah, she was coming! Sage perked to life outside the supermarket as he spotted his idol. Oh, she was as beautiful as ever. The winter jacket did not suspend her luscious pink hair from being lively or her green eyes that were equal in value to emeralds. He felt inferior as a peasant to his noble, but he could not back down today before someone else took her from him.
“Hi Sage.” He nearly jumped in surprised as she spoke and presented a smile with her innocence.
Sage was hesitant at first, but soon walked beside her. “Good morning.” He replied, already blushing.
Scarlet was a detector of sentiments and noticed his odd shyness. “Something wrong?”
They stopped walking as Sage fumbled with words. Quickly, but gently, he presented her with a flower. “Happy Valentine’s day.”
Scarlet gained blush like him at the sudden show of affection. The flower was a deep, blood red, but the petals stood straight out at her, rather than spread like a rose. She accepted the carnation and smiled at him, but she felt nervous; she already had a Valentine.
“Thank you.” She found it cute that the flower, a scarlet carnation, matched her name. Sage was uplifted, but hesitated to say more. “But…” She negated the positive outcome. “I’m taken this Valentine’s day.”
Sage’s incomplete smile frowned at this news; of course, why would such a pretty girl not already have a Valentine? He nodded and tried to return the smile to his muzzle. “It’s simply for friendship.” He lied to make both of them feel better, though it seemed to only twist the knife.
“Hehe, you’re sweet.” She replied and kept the carnation. “You have a good Valentine’s day too.” With that, she went off on her business.
Sage was left speechless. As expected, he was denied his chance for her love, possible forever, and he had crushed hopes of further attempts by issuing the flower as a gift from a friend. He hung his head with the realization that she was too perfect for him, taking his leave with glistening eyes.
Scarlet felt bad for having to deny her friend, but she knew it was all she could do. As she fiddled with the carnation, she quickly found something unusual; a piece of heart-shaped chocolate was attached to the stem. This teased her love for candy, but, as she turned around to thank the sweet friend, he was already gone.

The rose and the carnation were put in a vase in Scarlet’s room, side by side. She was proud of them both, but she wanted no more; she had to prepare for her night with Ron. Her silky hair, her pillows of fur, her eccentric tail and pretty clothes had to present a perfect young lady. Valentine’s day had to be perfect.
To Scarlet, this meant a casual outfit which she believed exampled her best, and not a formal make over. She arrived at Ron’s house, a few blocks away, with simple attire and a prepared smile. She was met by the handsome gray wolf at the door. He also was casual and invited the vixen in with pleasure.
A pleasant aroma and the taking of her jacket gave Scarlet a good first impression, but she soon met a lackluster evening. She was given a dinner of weak steak, under a supposedly romantic setting of dim lights. There was nothing wrong with it, but the appeal was not there for Valentine’s day. As he kissed her paw once for compassion, she questioned if he was right for her.
As they talked and learned more, Scarlet began to itch for more fun, or to leave. He was nice and generally sweet, but she felt bored. He tried to offer her alcohol, but she did not plan to stay and waste with it.
After a monotonous two hours, she spoke out. “I need to be going.” She said politely, although she felt bad that her heart had rejected him. It was not like her to find a boy who acted mostly normal to be unattractive.
“So soon?” He raised an eye while sitting on the couch, even though it was 8:30.
“I’m tired.” She claimed.
“Why not stay with me tonight?” He rose from his seat and moved beside her, casting her in his shadow. His arm came to her shoulder, but his paw rested close to her chest. As she saw his eyes, she realized his romantic goals. She had no interest in him and found him boring, and this only showed how hasty he was, so she glared at him, pushed herself away and left promptly.

Sage’s evening did not flatter any more than Scarlet’s. His subtle rejection from Scarlet left his mood empty for the rest of the day. He tried to stay calm and move on, but his heart begged for attention and haunted his spirit for the one vixen. There was no hope getting Scarlet now; if he wanted love, it would not come from her.
The lonesome fox trekked through the snow that night after work. His crunching footsteps were as alone as he was. The day had taunted him with a media of Valentine’s and he was happy to get away from it all.
Close to his street, another figure formed out of the snow. To his surprise, he made out the image of his dreams: Scarlet, hidden in the drizzle of fresh snow. He was confused by her appearance, as he thought she would have a date tonight. This was refuted by his desired angel heading towards him on her own, but with her head hanging.
My, it was cold. Scarlet shivered as she realized she had not prepared herself for the winter evening. Her fur and light jacket were not strong enough to resist the chilly breeze. She’d have to endure it until she got to her home.
“Scarlet?” She lifted her head as Sage appeared from the snowfall. She was surprised to see him out in the bothersome weather.
“What are you doing here Sage?” The green fox was clearly nervous at the vixen, whose beauty was not affected by the snow. Her pink fur was sprinkled with white flakes and her eyes glittered as a focal point.
“I was about to ask you the same.” He replied. “Did you go somewhere?”
“It was a date.” She answered simply without adding details.
Sage did not ask about it or attempt to contemplate it, but this renewed hopes of possibly attracting her to him if she had left so early. “Well, do you need a walk home?”
She beamed a gently smile to him that would warm even the coldest of hearts. “Yes, that would be sweet of you.”
Using the compliment as nutrition, Sage began to walk towards her home, which he knew the location of well. Neither of them spoke, but the silence was better than further rejection. However, he soon blushed as he felt a warm paw, only ideal enough to be Scarlet’s, grab his own.
Scarlet was relieved to have someone with her. She could trust him and attached her paw to his to keep close to him. She though of the carnation he had given her, supposedly only for friendship, and wondered with her heart about him. As she glanced at his face, catching a glimpse of his eyes through the drizzling snow, she knew it was more; it was written all over them.
The walk did not last long enough. They soon arrived at Scarlet’s home which was dark and void without its beautiful master. They paused near the door for what Sage though would be a quick farewell.
“Have a good evening, Scarlet.” He told her, unable to resist looking into her eyes of nature. His paw was too weak to break from her grasp, so he was forced to wait for her permission.
“You too, Sage.” She gazed back at him before soon she found her lips implanting a small kiss on his cheek. It was as if it had been waiting to be released from her pressured lips. Leaving Sage speechless, she went inside.
Sage stared at her door for a moment, as if she’d come back and stay with him more, before figuring out he was alone and had been kissed. It was like a dream, the white flakes presenting a fanatical scene. The kiss was far from what his goal was, but Sage’s hopes rose to heights never reached before. Her love was an honor and he would accept it with grace.
Scarlet was distracted by Sage as she wrapped up her Valentine’s Day. Her thoughts were jumbled between the two lovers introduced that day, but would soon be clear, for, as one rose wilted, a carnation bloomed.