Her grandma gently combed her fingers through Elsie's thick, luscious hair. She closed her aged eyes sniffing in the faint scent of lavender that wafted in the air.
“Speak, child,” she urged softly. “Talk to me. What weighs heavily on your soul beyond the passing of your lover?”
Elsie sighed, her head laid on her grandma's thighs. She had lived by this elderly woman’s sage words for years and time after time they had proven true. Now she needed guidance to sort through the turmoil churning in her mind.
“You once said ‘scatter the seed, the earth decides what grows’.” Her voice came out hoarse with exhaustion.
Her grandma paused, then nodded. “I did. And have you?”
Elsie sat upright, already missing the soothing touch. “Ma, I did and it's exhausting because once they grow, then the earth herself squashes them…like she doesn't want me to keep them.”
She has scattered herself into Benjie and he vanished when she needed him most. Daniel stayed awhile because he adored her sadness; it made him feel needed.
But George was different. Gentle in an unfashionable way, he knew her more than she wanted. He didn't push for a piece of her like the others but gave of himself.
A sad chuckle escaped her. “One night he asked why I love like I'm preparing for famine.” Grandma smiled faintly, her gaze urging her to talk more. “I told him I used to love like there would never be winter. He held me tight, I remember,” she paused, wrapping her arms around herself, her eyes distant and sad.
“What did he say?” Grandma's firm voice pulled her back.
“Maybe love isn't about what grows back…maybe it's about who still plants after nothing grows.” Grandma clicked her tongue and held Elsie as she wept openly. “Why, ma? Why take him away from me? Have I not planted enough?”
The two women rocked each other that night while the answers remained far beyond their reach.
I hope you enjoyed reading this short piece. It's inspired by the Freewrite #dailyprompt phrase "scatter the seed".
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