February 2, 2018The church bell could be heard in the hazy day distance as her right toe pressed against the pillar of her porch while she rocked herself slowly, gently. Back arched and arms hanging lifeless. Her thin pastel-peach summer dress slightly swung in the summer morning breeze and caressed the faded-white wooden deck; the print on the dress was that of old withered roses done in oil by brush. And with creaking and sighing she squinted to see the dandelions drifting as the cicadas faded into silence; quietly observing her beautiful blonde daughter blowing bubbles and giggling after orange and blue butterflies. A pulsing yellow sun sat awatch above the germinating stone fruit in the peach tree orchards surrounding her home. She stood after a moment’s silence to search for her blonde-locked, bubble-blowing bambina. As she took a few steps, she felt a stream of sweat trickling down the small of her back and sidewinding to the left of her derrière and down her thigh. It felt like a thin, hot tiny river tickling her tush, she thought as she spotted her child falling down and then sitting in the tall grass combing her hair with the brush her father had given her.
Carved in the pastel coral-pink brush decorated with Blue-gray Tanagers, were the words “love, daddy,” in shaky lower case letters; they were almost invisible as they seemed to be swallowed up by the milky swirling pattern behind them.
The child looked up fighting the sunshine in her eyes and said, “Momma, will daddy ever come back?”
”No, darling, “ she replied as she sat next to her and played with her hair.
”Why not, momma?”
”Because your father is dead,” she uttered gently.
”Will we see him when we die?”
”No, honey, we won’t see him. We won’t see anything when we die. When someone dies they don’t feel anything, see anything or go anywhere. They simply do not exist.”
”Does that make you sad, momma?” asked the little one as she continued combing her hair with a smile.
”Yes, it does…sometimes. But it’s a reminder to love one another with everything we got while we are here. To appreciate each other. To spend time with one another. To see the world together. To seize the day, little one!” she said with gusto as she grabbed her fallen angel and buried her face in her neck and inhaled summer’s salty kiss.
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