alexisstempien
Who decided it was a good idea to build a city on swamp land?
She hitcher her leather bag higher on her shoulder (another bad decision: she should have invested in a backpack) and sidestepped a group of tourists on the Mall. July was a horrible time to live in Washington. Between the humidity, the heat, and the overwhelming number of tourists in town for Independence Day, she should have taken a vacation.
When she stepped inside the museum, the wave of cool air was almost as reviving as salvation itself.
Spring was a season of freedom.
As a little girl, she used to go with her grandmother to the butterfly house outside the city, where she'd ooh and ahh and giggle over the brightly colored insects. She was told every year how they grew and hatched, but the explanation never seemed to stick.
All that mattered was that they were alive and beautiful and free - and she wanted to be that way, too,
Little moments of bliss, flying and bouncing ever higher. Then falling - knees bending the absorb the shock, the fibers of the trampoline pressing lines into her feet - only to fly again. Up and down, flying and falling, up and then down once more.
But wasn't that a lot like life?
The water looked awfully far away.
She curled and uncurled her toes, wishing she had already jumped and that she wasn't just standing there, staring blankly at the waves below. Everyone else had already gone and was swimming back to shore for another dive. Only Marc remained, treading water and beckoning her on.
Would the water meet her like cement? How far could you fall without hurting yourself? Could she actually swim?
"Come on!" called Marc, his voice sounding especially distant. "It's not so bad!"
She took a deep breath, willing herself forward... then slowly turned and walked away from the edge.
He lived bound by laws. What should have been moments of freedom were stuffed into boxes - neatly organized coffins, stifling pure joy and immense hope. They were rules taught to him as a child. He never learned to understand the Love that sent those rules to the grave.