Prairie Morning

The smell of parched grass and sun-baked earth wafted on a cool spring breeze in to her nose.  It was warm but not hot, the kind of warmth that makes one extremely drowsy.  Her light linen gown fluttered in the breeze and tangled with the golden knee-high grass. She looked up towards the horizon. The golden plain stretched for miles and miles in every direction. At the distant edge she could just make out a faint line of oak trees and then the immense blue sky that filled out all other space.  She sighed quietly adding her breath to the breath of the prairie. She padded forward and began walking among the whispering plants on bare feet marveling at the warm, soft dirt beneath her. As she went she startled the little birds and baby rabbits out of hiding. She laughed quietly and felt as though she could never be happier.

If her mother had been there she would have told her to put her bonnet back on because as her mother said, “The sun is both a curse and a blessing! Too much sun and you’ll get those horrible freckles your cousin Annie has, poor dear.” But she despised bonnets. She loved to feel the wind in her hair and the warm fingers of the sun on her face. And anyway her mother wasn’t here to tell her what to do anymore. She could do whatever she wanted. She could run through the fields with no shoes or stockings, especially no stockings. She could keep one or two of the fluffy brown rabbits if she wanted.  The world was hers!

She stopped walking and started to spin in circles laughing loudly. When she stopped she was facing the opposite direction she had been walking in towards the little log cabin where she lived. She was not entirely alone though. He was here too. There was no one else in the world who made her as happy as he did and just the thought of him returning that afternoon from the town over the hills made her laugh again. She twirled once more then leapt forward and dashed back to their golden home where everything was perfect and he would be back soon and they would be together again.

“Love,” she thought, “is amazing.”