Braids of Desire

Frustrated, Gemma added another dismembered flower to the growing pile at her side. She had lost count of the number of times she had repeated the phrase that afternoon. Squinting into the bright sunshine, she leaned back on her elbows, stretching out her legs in the crisp long grass. She tugged at another juicy-looking green stem and then, breaking it in two, parted her lips slightly before popping the ends between her teeth. She glanced over her shoulder at Liam who was sitting hunched over on a nearby bench, seemingly engrossed in other things.

Her toes curled involuntarily around the stalks of white daisies that peppered the field at the end of their lane. She used to come here often, in her quiet times - to think, to read. Now she spent much of her time just wanting to be in the same space that he was in, even if they found it difficult to engage.

She couldn't pinpoint when things had changed between them. One minute they had been best friends spending the long days of summer languishing together in the back garden, wild swimming down at the river, leaping from one adventure to the next, and then, out of nowhere, the awkwardness had crept in. Her heart's desire changed - instead of simply exploring life with him, now all she wanted was to explore more of him. But just like the game, she felt that their friendship had morphed into a solo affair.

Her mother had taught her how to play the original game of effeuiller la marguerite or he loves me, he loves me not. She convinced herself that even if she did not know the extent of his feelings either way, she would be content enough to know that he cared! She drew another flower and continued stripping petals - one by one - from the pile of daisies that lay at her feet. She knew she was supposed to accept the answer given to her by the first flower, but it had not been positive, and so she had tried a second, and then a third. It was a woeful exercise but she had kept going, ever hopeful that the tide would turn in her favour. As she gazed at Liam, her heart stung just a little. She had tried to approach him earlier but he had dismissed her with a curt wave of the hand, shutting her out of the world that he was creating. He was hiding something from her, she was certain of it. And then the possibility hit her, and she threw her hand over her mouth, sucking in a deep breath. Maybe it wasn't a something, maybe it was a someone. She felt a chasm open up inside of her. The weight of it was almost too much for her seventeen-year-old self to bear. She lay back and closed her eyes, squeezing a few rogue tears from their ducts. So this is what unrequited love felt like.

A short while later, she opened her eyes, wiped her tear-stained face, and stood, preparing to leave for home. As she gathered her things she noticed one last daisy on the edge of her blanket. She picked it up and without thinking started reciting... "he loves me, he loves me not..." As she got to the last petal, her heart sank. "He..." but she couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.

"He loves you!"

She jumped, the voice taking her by surprise. She turned to find Liam standing behind her, a serious demeanour gracing his face. She hadn't seen him approaching. "Oh, erm hi Liam..." she spluttered, narrowing her eyes and staring at him quizzically.

He looked at her and then cast his eyes to his hands. She followed his gaze. He was holding a beautiful long braid of daisies, interlocked neatly in a close embrace, to form a perfect circle. He shot her a cheeky grin and placed the crown of white petals on her head. "I said," he repeated, "he loves you." He paused, just long enough to see her face light up. "I hope you like it," he whispered, wrapping his arms around her and drawing her close, "I made it, especially for you."

---

This is my entry for the 5-minute daily prompt by @mariannewest currently hosted by @felt.buzz and in conjunction with the Dreemport challenge for this week. You can find the prompt post here and the Dreemport Challenge Week 2 of the Double here.

I set the timer for 5 minutes and wrote. At the end of the 5 minutes, I used the free-write from my thought flow, created during those 5 minutes, as the basis for a short story.

My lovely partner for the August Dreemport challenge is @fredaa. She is a new Hiver. Please support her by taking a read of her own post for this challenge, titled Long Braids.

---

Resources

Header image created in Canva Pro using:

He She It Loves Me Daisy by Stefan Dinse on Canva Pro

Closing image created in Canva Pro using:
The Daisy Oracle by Zerenn from Getty Images on Canva Pro

Infinity divider created using Canva Pro library.

Dreemport banner used with permission of @dreemsteem and @dreemport and designed by @jimramones