A groan of a sigh sounded as Candy exhaled. Jasper?s note held in one hand, she glanced away from the dainty curving flourish of his penmanship and toward the gift he left by her mailbox in the Outback. The makeshift planter?composed of barbed wire wrapped around the edge of a light bulb that looked ready to shatter; the silver ring removed from the bottom to reveal the artistically applied cracks ran to the very edge of the bulb?housed a small green plant with two white blossoms in bloom. A lesser evil compared to Nayun?s attempt to give Candy a fish, a plant dying from lack of attention didn?t seem as cruel.
Even so, she bristled at receiving yet another gift from someone, having never done anything to encourage people to do so. Before giving in to her desire to smash the planter, Candy?s eyes returned to the note and read over Jasper?s words.
Candy,
A trip back home left me thinking and remembering what I -don't- have here. I have very few friends and although you don't use that terminology, the first few days I was here you were nice and helped me. It's appreciated. Do with as you will the planter for it's the token more than anything, a piece of friendship wrapped in glass. I wanted to remind you that a midst the harsh realities of life and the 'breaks' and rough edges of life, there is still peace and good things in the world.
Jazz
Good things in the world.
Candy?s jaw twitched at the thoughts those simple words evoked. What little good she?d known and truly believed in?her parents?no longer existed in the world. Everything, everyone else, only stood suspect to her eyes. The few times she really let her guard down, she regretted. It left her keeping everyone at a distance. Better to keep everything at arm?s length than get poisoned by hope, caught in another lie. She crumbled the note, heat from Firestar causing the paper to turn weak and break into tiny flakes.
Peace.
From the ghost of the note, that single word etched across her mind and mixed with bittersweet memories from different days. Candy could see her mother?s reaction to the planter; envision the smile that would cross the woman?s features. Her father would be instructed to hang the plant somewhere where it could get enough light and though he would act hassled?he?d happily do as his wife asked.
Peace.
Candy pressed the tip of her tongue against the edge of her teeth, considering the gift. Jasper?s magical nature hadn?t gone unnoticed. Just as she teetered toward taking the gift home, her usual nature of distrust came around to leave her second guessing the gifter?s intent. Slowly she picked up the planter, braced from some influx of magic to come from it as it had from the blue fur-covered being or the portal to the Isle. That nothing happened didn?t fully sway her. Still, she carried it into the locker room and stashed it away in her locker.
There would be time enough later to decide what to do...
Even so, she bristled at receiving yet another gift from someone, having never done anything to encourage people to do so. Before giving in to her desire to smash the planter, Candy?s eyes returned to the note and read over Jasper?s words.
Candy,
A trip back home left me thinking and remembering what I -don't- have here. I have very few friends and although you don't use that terminology, the first few days I was here you were nice and helped me. It's appreciated. Do with as you will the planter for it's the token more than anything, a piece of friendship wrapped in glass. I wanted to remind you that a midst the harsh realities of life and the 'breaks' and rough edges of life, there is still peace and good things in the world.
Jazz
Good things in the world.
Candy?s jaw twitched at the thoughts those simple words evoked. What little good she?d known and truly believed in?her parents?no longer existed in the world. Everything, everyone else, only stood suspect to her eyes. The few times she really let her guard down, she regretted. It left her keeping everyone at a distance. Better to keep everything at arm?s length than get poisoned by hope, caught in another lie. She crumbled the note, heat from Firestar causing the paper to turn weak and break into tiny flakes.
Peace.
From the ghost of the note, that single word etched across her mind and mixed with bittersweet memories from different days. Candy could see her mother?s reaction to the planter; envision the smile that would cross the woman?s features. Her father would be instructed to hang the plant somewhere where it could get enough light and though he would act hassled?he?d happily do as his wife asked.
Peace.
Candy pressed the tip of her tongue against the edge of her teeth, considering the gift. Jasper?s magical nature hadn?t gone unnoticed. Just as she teetered toward taking the gift home, her usual nature of distrust came around to leave her second guessing the gifter?s intent. Slowly she picked up the planter, braced from some influx of magic to come from it as it had from the blue fur-covered being or the portal to the Isle. That nothing happened didn?t fully sway her. Still, she carried it into the locker room and stashed it away in her locker.
There would be time enough later to decide what to do...