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GULL
trouble just grew wings
Her reaction is so much bigger than you could have expected that you cannot help but snort in surprise. It is funny, but Muriel’s face is initially so shocked that briefly, you wonder if you have made a terrible mistake. She showed you kindness, and (quite literally) you’ve thrown cold water on her! Any hint of amusement wavers and dies at the thought of offending such a gentle soul—she is unlike anyone you have ever met here, for there is a certain fragility to her that you do not dare tamper with for fear of breaking it. Grey-capped head ducks in a rare display of shame, and an apology is nearly ready to tumble from humbled lips…and then she splashes you with a great wave of water, giggling all the way.
Her retaliation catches you off-guard, and for a moment you can only stand there, drenched, as you stare at her stupidly. And then, the full weight of the action hits you, and forget making you smile—in a heartbeat, you’ve completely bypassed smiling and are shaking with the force of your laughter. Birds nearby startle and flee at the noise of your obnoxious cackling, the sound of your raucous hee-hawing about as unwelcome on this peaceful river as a rabid raccoon at high tea. But you don’t care. You seize the lifeline Muriel has tossed you like a drowning man, and as she shimmies deeper into the water, you charge after her with a vigor that surprises even you. It may be playful…but there is a purpose to your motion, a purpose that she had not inspired in you until now.
If she doesn’t move, within seconds, you will close the gap between you. If she doesn’t shy, you will find yourself drawing near to her, out in the middle of the river where the current flows fast and strong—but not as fast and strong as the surge of whatever is flowing through your veins in this moment. If she doesn’t flinch, perhaps flesh will meet flesh for the first time, nose pressed to nose, chest to chest, beating heart against bared soul . If. It is a word full of possibilities, and it hovers between your outstretched muzzle and her own like an unspoken invitation.
It is ironic, really: the one you had once thought so fragile has all of the power to make or break your china heart.
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