A Story That Makes No Sense

It started with food being thrown across a table. A dare. A challenge. A single oily rice paper landing on her newly-washed blouse suddenly made her feel brave for the first time in her life. She felt a spark, a calling to do something with no plan or structure.

The crumbling structure loomed over her the following morning and she was ready to climb it. Or so she wanted everyone to think. Her Google search history revealed a different truth:

“Penalty for trespassing”

“Can you go to jail for breaking into a construction site?”

“How to pick a lock with a paper clip”

She knew it was trouble from the moment she laid eyes on it. But it was exciting. New. Forbidden.

In the dark, she waited. Music blaring from the stereo. A flower in her hair. From the back seat of the car, a voice whispered, “You’re beautiful.” She blushed. But her own voice in the back of her mind pleaded, “Don’t do this.” But she did anyway. She thought she was in love.

The flower that was once in her hair, was worn in her heart for the rest of the month. Schedules, homework and caution were all ignored so that she could tend to its beauty. Others watched her blossom bloom, whispering and mumbling. It only made her prideful. She never knew there could be such happiness.

As she celebrated her twenty-second birthday, she was so filled with zealous joy that she did not notice that a single petal on her flower had begun to wilt.

One petal at a time or perhaps it was all at once, it began to yellow. While it had no thorns, she felt the pain of it all. Slowly.

But she held on. Cupping the daisy in her hands. She tried watering it with her tears. She tried leaving it alone. Showering it with compliments. Giving it every last piece of who she once thought she was.

Alas, she heard the voice again. She was overjoyed.

But the voice came to say, “Good-bye.”

Suddenly the flower was gone and with it, so was everything that was once in her heart. She was empty. She had nowhere to go. No one to cry to.

So she walked out the door.

And bought a turtle.