WALKING ON ROSES

by Hannu

Samantha was a beautiful blonde, six feet tall, and well tanned. Tanned? Yes, it was summer. Actually, it was hot midsummer, and so she was wearing bermuda shorts and a top that covered her breasts which, by the way, were medium-sized. Her body was vigorous due to aerobicking that she did at least three times a week. Her hairdo was a pony tail so her long and wavy hair wouldn’t make her shoulders sweat. As a summary, she was a gorgeous woman in her prime.

Samantha was used to doing long barefoot walks in summertime. However, she was living in a town, and there weren’t good places there to walk barefooted. There wasn’t a single park in the suburban area where she was living. She didn’t want to drive miles to get walking, so she had to walk on sideways which, of course, were surfaced with asphalt.

Samantha was again doing one of her long walks. She had already walked two hours, and had one hour left before she would arrive back to her home. It was a perfect day to be outdoors. The sun shone in the cloudless sky, and that was fine, but it made the asphalt hot under her bare feet. She was tired of walking on asphalt. It is so hard and even. It would be much more pleasant to walk barefooted on something soft and uneven. But there she was walking on hard and burning hot asphalt, and the only variation were pebbles which stabbed her soles when she stepped on them. Of course, her feet had got used to walking barefooted, so pebbles didn’t cause real pain to her.

Samantha stopped walking, bent her knee, and raised a foot turning her sole upward. She looked the sole, and it was rough and callous under the heel and under the ball of foot. Furthermore, it was almost black of dirt. The white skin was partially visible under the arch, but it was dirty there too. So, asphalt is hard, hot, and also dirty. How much better would it be to walk on lawn. Samantha continued walking and thought about lawn. Lawn is soft and heels sink slightly in it. So, soles don’t need thick calluses. Lawn is cool even in sunny days. Lawn is clean and feet get a scent of grass by walking on it. Lawn is ... a living thing. People enjoy walking on living lawn. Is the enjoyment achieved through suffering of lawn? No, plants don’t have nerves, so they can’t feel pain. People should step on plants with a clear conscience.

Samantha was always searching new routes for her walks, and now she was walking on a street that was new to her. Still, the street was quite similar to others. It had two lanes for cars and one sideway for walkers. There were houses on both sides of the street and gardens around houses. The sideway was bordered from gardens by hedges or by big bushes. She saw that one garden had rose bushes as a border, and bushes were full of red flowers. She stopped beside roses, and snipped one flower with her nails. She brought the flower to her nose and sniffed it. It had a really sweet scent. She dropped the flower, and admired flowery bushes for a moment. Then, she was about to continue the walk, but felt something under her foot after one step. It wasn’t a pebble. What was it? She looked down, and realized that it was the rose flower which she had sniffed. Her right heel was pressing the center of the flower, and petals were protruding around the heel. She raised the heel and saw that the flower was almost totally flattened.. Only the receptacle had resisted her weight somewhat, and caused her feel a lump under her foot. She remembered the scent, and was sure that the sweet scent of rose flower had adhered to her foot. Maybe, she should perfume her other foot, too.

Samantha snipped another flower, and threw it in front of her. She stepped on the flower with the ball of her left foot. She shifted her weight onto that foot, raised her right foot, and rose onto the ball of the left foot. Her weight was now fully on the flower, and she felt it squashing under her foot. She stepped back and raised the left foot. The flower was flat, of course, but it was still in one piece. Samantha was little disappointed. She hadn’t imagined that a flower would be so hardy. She placed the ball of her left foot again on the flower, and shifted her weight partially on it. Then, she twisted her left foot few times grinding the flower onto asphalt. She raised the left foot and there was a moist spot with crushed remnants of the flower on asphalt. This time, she was satisfied with the result and smiled happily. She looked the sole of her left foot. Few tattered petals had caught on her dirty sole, and, strangely enough, she felt that it was great.

Samantha looked at squashed flowers. She had stepped on the first by accident, but had crushed the second intentionally. She had done something that well-behaved girls don’t do, and somehow, she had enjoyed it. She had to observe her feelings. She snipped a third flower, raised her right heel, and placed the flower under the heel. She was now fully aware of what she was doing. The flower was so lovely and perfect. It had a charming aroma, bright red petals forming a beautiful corolla, and fine little stamens surrounding a pistil in the middle of the flower.. The splendid flower was lying on hard and hot asphalt. Her rough and dirty heel was above the flower ready to crush it into a mess. Oh! She couldn’t be so cruel. She should spare the sweet flower.

On the second thought, she had already crushed two flowers. Why should this one make any difference? She lowered the heel slowly. Now the heel was gently touching uppermost petals, and she stopped the movement. The flower wasn’t damaged yet. She could still retreat. Instead of retreating, she continued the movement. Petals began to bend, and Samantha began to feel excitement. Soon she was able to feel the flower through her rough skin, and she stopped the movement again. She raised the heel and look at the flower. The flower was partially flattened, but still unbroken. Now she didn’t any more want to retreat. She closed her eyes and pressed the flower little more, and again more, and again, and again. As she flattened the flower more and more, she was able to feel it better and better through her skin, and the warm emotion of excitement grew stronger and stronger in her loins. Eventually, she stepped onto the flower with full weight. When she felt the flower squash under her heel, the excitement spread all over her body. She twisted her foot grinding the flower into a mess, and the excitement rushed through her body.

She snipped quickly a fourth flower, tossed it onto the ground, and stamped it without hesitation. She looked at bushes and wanted to crush a whole bundle of rose flowers. In fact, she could tear all flowers off bushes, and pile them on the ground, and then jump and bounce on them. She had to restrain herself because the owner of bushes might have seen her doing that. Anyway, the idea of jumping and bouncing on a pile of flowers was fascinating. Maybe, she would crush one flower more before leaving, or two ( snip, snip ) or ... ( snip ). Oops! She had already snipped three new flowers before having time to a second thought. At first, it was difficult to start, but now it was difficult to stop. She made a decision, snipped some more until her hands were full of flowers, and walked away.

When she was far enough, she scattered flowers one after one onto the sideway. Rose flowers were now in scattered line on the ground. She returned to the beginning of the line, and walked along it stepping carefully on every flower. She turned around at the end of the line, and walked on roses again, and then a third time back to the end. Walking on roses was really different to walking on asphalt. She continued toward her home dreaming about being a princess. The princess would have lot of servants who would walk ahead of the princess scattering roses on her way, so that she could walk on beautiful and good smelling roses instead of dirty ground. Of course, the princess would be barefooted, so she would also feel the sweetness of roses under her pretty feet.

Samantha continued her walk, and noticed that there were lot of different flowers in gardens. That was nothing new to her, but she had a new interest in flowers now. She got a new ingredient to her daydream. The princess would walk by houses and gardens, and owners of gardens would see her coming. They would pick their biggest and loveliest flowers, and throw them in front of the princess. The ground would be covered with flowers for the princess to walk on. While dreaming, Samantha forgot the hotness and the hardness of asphalt. She felt like walking among clouds.

Later, she begun to think more practical. She thought that she should choose her route through streets where there were flowers beside the sideway. So, she could pick flowers, and scatter them on her way to be walked on if she got tired of walking on asphalt. Then, she invented another possibility. She could purchase flowers which have tough stems, and use them to weave some kind of sandals. She wondered how long would one pair of flower sandals outlast. Maybe, she would wear down several pairs of them during one walk.

Finally, she arrived to her home street. She knew all who lived there.. She walked by a house, and remembered that there lived a single man who was such a wimp that he would do anything that was asked by a gorgeous woman. Samantha looked at his garden. There was an area covered with slabs beside the house, and a table and chairs on slabs. The man was sitting on one of chairs. There were also rose bushes in the garden, and they were full of white flowers.

Samantha walked to the man. ”Hi! Could you bring me a glass of water? It is a hot day and I have walked almost three hours.” ”Of course, wait a moment, please.” The man hurried into his house, and returned soon with water. Samantha sat on a chair and sipped water. The man was staring her admiringly. He seemed to be ready to get more orders. ”Could you do me a favor?” ”Yes, what shall I do?” ”It might be little bit too strange. Forget it.” ”Please, tell me. It would be a honor to serve such a beautiful woman as you.” ”Oh, in that case.” she said smiling. ”You have beautiful roses. Bring me some of them.” ”How many do you wish?” ”Well...maybe ten or fifteen...or. Would twenty be too much?” ”No, not at all.” ”Splendid, but there is one detail yet. Bring just flowers. I don’t want prickly stems.”

Soon, the man returned with flowers, and he had cut stems out. Samantha raised her feet onto her chair, and pointed a slab in front of the chair. ”Put them here.” ”Why? I don’t understand.” ”I told you that it would be little strange, didn’t I? Do as I said.” The man knelt down and began placing roses on the slab. When he was ready, Samantha rested her feet on rose flowers. The man was on his hands and knees staring flowers and her feet with open mouth. ”Keep on standing on all fours.” ”Why? What is this all?” ”I am feeling myself like a princess, like a spoiled princess, and you are like a servant who must obey my every whim. Servants are not allowed to look the princess above her feet, and they must keep on all fours when they are near the princess. Having roses underfoot is a whim that the princess has often. By the way, are my feet beautiful?” ”Yes, they are.” ”Are my feet more beautiful than these roses?” ”No, roses are prettier than your feet.” ”WHAT? That was a wrong answer. Spoiled princesses don’t like that kind of answers. Now, the princess is angry and wants to destroy those roses.”

Samantha rose up, and began jumping and bouncing on roses. The man stared her bouncing feet, and was hardly able to believe his eyes. Samantha stamped, squashed, and ground roses until they were only a wet mess. Then, she sat on the chair and rested her feet onto the wet grey mess. Grey? Roses had been white. How had they become to a grey mess? She looked her soles which had been almost black of dirt. They were clean now. The lifefluid of rose flowers had washed her dirty soles clean. She rubbed her feet on the wet mess, and it squeezed out between her toes. She rubbed her feet together spreading the mess onto upper halves of her feet. Oh, that felt so wonderful. The lifefluid of flowers was refreshing and cooling down her hot and tired feet, and it was soaking into calluses softening them. Also, her feet were getting thorougly perfumed with rose scent. Samantha thought that she should always do this after a long barefoot walk.

She looked the wet mess beneath her feet. Still yesterday, she wouldn’t had been able even think crushing a flower under her feet, but now, she had crushed tens of flowers. Obviously, the crushing of few first rose flowers had broken an inhibition in her mind, so that she was now free to crush as many flowers as she wanted, and free to enjoy doing that.

Mothers are always teaching to their little girls what good girls are expected to do, and what they are expected not to do until their life becomes quite limited. Later, those limitations follow them to their adult life. One of the limitations is ,of course, that good girls don’t step on flowers. Samantha had broken that limitation. She had found a new ability in herself. She was now able to step on, and crush flowers. Of course, she had always been physically able to do that, but now, she was it mentally, too. So, crushing roses into a wet mess under her feet was good to her feet, and also, to her mind. It caused her to feel herself strong and free. It gave her a feeling that she was living a full life.

The man was still on all fours in front of her. ”You are allowed to stand up.” ”Thanks.” ”I don’t want to walk on dirty asphalt with my rose smelling feet.. Could you drive me home?” ”Yes.” ”There is yet a princess thing that I would like. I would appreciate it greatly if you scattered rose flowers on my way when we walk to your car.” The man ran to rose bushes, and picked a bundle of flowers. He returned and they walked to his car. The man went ahead and scattered rose flowers on the lawn. Samantha followed him stepping on roses. This rose walk was short but enjoyable. The man drove her home, and she thanked him. ”You have been so nice to me. I wish to visit you soon again, and play more that roleplaying game of spoiled princess.” ”You are wellcome. I will be your loyal servant.” ”Excellent, but don’t forget that I like flowers so much.” ”No, I don’t forget. I will get lot of flowers for you.” Samantha went home smiling happily. She had turned over a new leaf in her life.

The end