“Valley of Flowers”

“As he moved slowly forward, feeling more like a weightless spirit than a physical body, the seeker caught his first whiffs of the Valley’s scents. The perfumes of wildflowers, wild rose bushes, and wild strawberries wafted up and into his nostrils. Having always been highly susceptible to fragrance, he stopped walking and closed his eyes, so that he could put all of his attention on these delightful natural aromas. Theo felt as if he were approaching the person of the most beautiful woman imaginable, whose skin emitted this variegated perfume. Once he managed to reopen his eyes, the trekker noted the patches of flowers and bushes whose olfactory gift he had just received, and sent out to them a silent “thank you.” One group of flowers especially drew his attention. They rose up about a foot high from the midst of an outcropping of ash-white stone. Their mauve blooms opened up like butterfly wings. Their stalks grew thick, almost like cane, and their long, lanceolate leaves were divided down the middle by a vein the color of Bordeaux wine.”