Glass Flowers Blaschka Novels & Stories

************************************************** The next morning, I returned back to med school. Standing inside the lab, I stared down at the small glowing flower resting carefully inside a glass container. The Lunaris Bloom. It was rare, delicate, and nothing like anything I had worked with before. Its petals were soft silver with a faint blue glow at the edges, and it only survived in very specific conditions. That was the problem. I adjusted the tools in front of me and tried again. First, I changed the temperature settings in the preservation chamber. Nothing. Then I adjusted the humidity level, watching the readings carefully as I recorded every change.

“Come, I want to show you something.” “Really? Of all the surprises you gave me tonight, there’s more?” “Uh-huh.” There was a shelf sitting in one corner. It was covered with a white blanket. He pulled the blanket and revealed a glass cabinet containing a collection of at least one hundred pieces of mouth-blown glass perfume bottles. Julianne gasped. “Oh my God!” Jin turned on the spotlight inside the shelf so Julianne could better view the different bottles which came in different colors, shapes and designs. Many of them were adorned with Austrian crystals, which made them sparkle under the spotlight.

Surely, her mother wouldn’t have put the royal treasure in such a vulnerable position. “Glass,” Rona said, reading her mind. “Finely crafted. Imported from Antoinetta. Aren’t they lovely? The vases are filled with them as well.” Kit noted the containers she spoke of sitting on top of every flat surface in the room. They also contained purple tulips, one of Kit’s favorite flowers. “Everything looks wonderful, Mother. Somehow, you’ve managed to outdo yourself again.”

There were even tiny flowers that glowed in the dark, their soft light illuminating the garden like tiny stars. As they reached the center of the garden, they came across a patch of flowers that looked like they were made of glass. These were the crystal flowers, a rare sight even in this magical garden. Their delicate petals sparkled in the sun and shone like diamonds. Nearby, there were strange, carnivorous plants with gaping maws that snapped shut at the slightest touch.

She moved forward as indicated by him. “What I’d really like to show you is beyond that door.” He commented. Aries moved behind her as the rows were narrow. This side was kept up well. The glass and magic maintained regularly. Yes it was a natural greenhouse but they still had to find a way to keep warmth here. They did get into negative temperatures and the glass would leak heat. That was why portions were frosted and had inscriptions on it. He got several head nods from those working that he returned but his focus was more on Sybil.

Leafing through the pages, I found the item I’d been eyeing: Lot 37 — a unique, hand-blown glass sculpture, gold-and-amber swirl, signed and rare. It wasn’t cheap, but it was beautiful. It would suit my home renovations perfectly. I glanced at Gabriel. He caught my eye and offered a small, encouraging nod. "You going for it?" he whispered. I offered a weak smile. "Maybe. If it doesn’t go too high." His eyes locked on mine. "I might just give you a hand. If you promise to never fall for Rowan’s charm again."

The room beyond existed in perpetual twilight, heavy curtains blocking most of the afternoon sun while allowing just enough light to illuminate the extraordinary collection within. Eleanor's private study resembled nothing so much as the workshop of a medieval alchemist crossed with a modern botanist's laboratory. Glass vessels filled with luminescent liquids lined shelves that stretched from floor to ceiling, their contents pulsing with soft, rhythmic light. Pressed flowers floated in amber solutions, their preserved forms still radiating the ethereal glow that marked them as products of the supernatural garden. Charts covered every available wall space, detailed drawings of plant structure

The air smells suddenly of bitter almonds. “Cyanide precursor.” I step back, bumping into a display case of "art supplies" my old neurotoxin-laced paints now encased in bulletproof glass. "Funny. I don't remember submitting my palette for review." Her smile reveals a faint gap between her front teeth just like Gabriel's. "Oh darling, we've been reviewing you for years." The lights flicker. When they stabilize, she's gone, leaving only a single blackthorn rose on the case.

Instead, he mixed shades of cool, sterile white, muted greens, and the cold, hard gray of polished steel. He painted a glass greenhouse. It was exquisitely detailed, the panes gleaming with a fragile transparency. Inside, under a controlled, artificial light, grew a single, pale orchid. The flower was rendered with meticulous care, its petals delicate, almost translucent, its form perfect but utterly devoid of the vibrant life found in nature. It was beautiful, but it was a beauty that spoke of isolation and careful cultivation.

"Not really. Although I'd like a little privacy with my kitten." "Then we should go inside." She turned and headed back through the glass doorway. Blake followed. "This is a cool feature," she said. "Watch this." Shasta flipped a light switch. "There." "There what?" Where they'd had a view across the pool deck and to the ocean, the glass was now translucent. "What just happened?" "The glass panels are actually double, with a crystal mixture in between. When the switch is on, electricity flows to the window, keeping crystals in line and the glass is clear. When I turn it off, the crystals all fall so the glass looks clouded."