Margaret Thistlewood
A Brief Encounter
(a.k.a. Maggie)
Margaret Thistlewood, affectionately known as ""Maggie"" to the patrons of her small flower stall, had become as much a fixture of the London streets as the fog that rolled in from the Thames. Born in the heart of the city in 1814, Maggie had witnessed the capital's transformation from the Regency era's elegance to the Victorian age's industrial bustle. Her life, reflected in the delicate petals she sold, was a mosaic of the city’s tales, each bloom a chapter of joy or sorrow.
By the summer of 1889, Maggie's hands, though gnarled with age, were ever-gentle in their ministrations to her floral charges. Her stall, a burst of color amidst the soot and cobblestones, was a haven for the weary soul. Her eyes, a clear blue, held the wisdom of someone who had seen London through celebrations and calamities alike. Maggie's conversations were lyrical, her stories woven with the threads of experience and a poet's heart, offering solace and reflection to those who paused in their hurried lives to listen.
