When we grow up, we find out that we’ve crossed the thin line and that we really need to protect ourselves from ourselves.

~~~o0o~~~
A few months ago, there was a promise of flowers blooming in her garden in time for the spring. She has toiled and labored over the years, hoping that somehow there will come a time when all her labor will yield a bounty of strikingly beautiful flowers. But somehow something always goes wrong and the buds that she faithfully waits to bloom, drops off. They say that flowering ties fall apart when they are planted in the wrong season. She knows. But she is now very much weary for she has tried planting them in different seasons and faithfully tended each plant. Sadly, the petals never opened to be kissed by the rays of the sun.

Last time she was once again hoping that things will be different. The buds have increased and somehow she felt that the three sisters have finally willed her garden to bloom. But she expected too much. The beautiful buds she was nursing for quite some time now is on the verge of falling off, with the edges yellowed by dryness.

Over the years she has seriously contemplated on tending a new garden. But this garden has been hers since time immemorial. She wanted to gather the flowers on the seventh month of the Jewish calendar, in time for thanksgiving, for the time she has graced this world with her presence and finally for the time when the long table will be set.

Will the long table still be set? She is still very much unsure. She was asked to decide yesterday, but neither she nor the other would like to give their say on the matter. Was it to escape guilt? Were they merely trying to wait for the inevitable?

Life was so much easier back then isn’t it? When the only thing she cared about is tying her hair real tight lest the God of the north wind play with it and make her look more of a gargoyle than a dainty princess. But her stubborness has caused her so much pain. When do you think will she ever learn?