I remeber back when I was 12 or 13. It was a hot summer day, and I couldn’t stand the thought of being home. So I was hanging out with a friend. His name was Aspen.

Me and him were out riding bikes. No phones to track us, just off goofing around. I was wearing some dingy clothes my mother had bought at the good will or Facebook market place. It was a worn out rainbow tie dye shirt that had the name of some beach we had never been to on it. Paired with a pair of stained blue jean shorts I had for years. He wore some pair of plaid pajama pants and a black tee with his cat’s hair on it. We rode our bikes together around town, no care in the world. No phones, no parents, nothing but the two of us. Just laughing at the stupidest things. We eventually reached our destination. Together we shared a $10 bill he stole from his mom’s purse. We strolled around our local sureway. We walked to the collection of plants on display outside. I searched through the pretty flowers and succulents, him right behind me while I sniffed and pointed at the pretty pink and purple flowers. He just chuckled to himself at my childish behavior.

We eventually had gone through all the pretty flowers, leaving the boring ferns and bushes. I was ready to go into the stores air conditioning, not bothering to look at the boring plants. But he insisted we looked at them as well. I’m not really sure why he wanted to, but we did.

He looked through the grasses and weeds on display. While I stood behind him, annoyed that he insisted on staying in the hot heat to look at these literal weeds of plants, but I stayed with him.

He eventually came across one little fern, stopping to admire it. There was nothing real interesting about it. Even the pot was boring. But he marveled at it anyways, eventually speaking aloud. “I like this one the most.”

I raised a brow. “Why that one? Out of all of the pretty flowers, you pick this boring fern as your favorite?”

He shrugs, not really giving me a valid reason, for choosing this ‘Lemon Grass,’ it said on the tag.

“Just cause.”

I rolled my eyes and eagerly walked into the cool air conditioning of the store, he followed after me, leaving the fern.

We walked around in the store for a while, relaxing in the cool air. We eventually settled on a snack to share with the $10 he took from his mom. It was a big blue bag of cool ranch Doritos.

Years later, it’s starting to shift to fall and I’m outside on my porch, skipping school cause I’m sick, staring out to my garden.

I’m 16 and Aspen passed away last November. Almost a full year ago.

My garden, full of blossoming healthy flowers, and annoying mosquitoes. I’m wearing plaid pajama pants, and a big hoodie, my dog sitting next to me while I just stare at the variety of flowers. Thinking about him, how badly I miss his simplicity to enjoy the smallest, and most insignificant things. Behind me sits a plant I bought back when he first passed away. It was the Lemon grass plant. I came across it while at Lowe’s. The pot was his favorite color. It was white with navy blue accents. The label on the plant was made from some company titled as “Exotic Angel Plants”, and it was his little plant, a lemon button fern.

I look behind me on my porch at the dead plant I failed to keep alive, sitting next to all my thriving flowers and succulents.

I miss him. It hurts not having him by me. I really didn’t know just how much he made me smile and enjoy such simple things in life, until he was taken away.

Rest in peace Aspen, you brought so much joy into this world, and didn’t deserve any of the horrors life threw at you.