wildflower

[bulrushes]

On the doorstep of a little house in Forks, Washington, a basket is placed.

The doorbell rings.

There are footsteps, and then there are not.

Comments

[bulrushes]

"Is the day I basketed a nice day?"

[asmyown]

"I thought it was, but I think I'm biased because that was the day I first met you."

[bulrushes]

Astrid giggles.

[asmyown]

Lynn smiles, too.

"I'll leave it up to you to choose when you'd like me to celebrate your birthday."

[bulrushes]

"I think basketing day makes sense. It is when I started being Astrid anyway even if I was somebody else before that."

[asmyown]

"Basketing day it is, then. I don't think I can manage to make you cake, but I will try to find a vegan equivalent."

[bulrushes]

"Okay."

[asmyown]

"And if I don't manage it, I can always bury you under presents."

[bulrushes]

"But then I would be buried!"

[asmyown]

"Yes, but they'd be presents!"

[bulrushes]

"How will I open them if I am buried?"

[asmyown]

"You're a smart kid, I have no doubt that you'll find a way."

[bulrushes]

Hee hee hee hee.

[asmyown]

Lynn giggles, too.

"But I hope you can find a way fast enough, because if you're in there for a year you'll be buried under even more presents."

[bulrushes]

"Oh no!" laughs Astrid. "So many presents!"

[asmyown]

"You'll be known as the present girl. Because you'll be perpetually buried under them. Don't worry, I'll give you the bunny book right before your birthday so you won't be bored under there."

[bulrushes]

"But it would be dark under all the presents."

[asmyown]

"Hmmm, you're right. I'll have to get you a lamp, too. It'll need an extension cord, instead of batteries, otherwise you'd lose your light after a while."

[bulrushes]

"And I would get hungry in there."

[asmyown]

"Maybe I'd have to let you out for food and bathroom breaks. You'd get to stretch, eat, and use the bathroom, and then right back under the pile of presents."

[bulrushes]

"But then I could not go with you to school."

[asmyown]

"True. Hmm. Okay, burying you under presents is no longer viable."

[bulrushes]

"If they are soft presents you could pile them on my bed and I could sleep on them like a dragon. Could I be a dragon?"

[asmyown]

"You may be a dragon."

[bulrushes]

"Raaaar."