Marie turned and looked out of the frosty window. The snow on the ground had just started
to melt as the morning sun inched its way up from horizon. The days were getting warmer
again. Her leathery hand reached out and turned the handle allowing a small gap for the
fresh air to enter. She shivered but found the cold air cleared her head.
It had been a hard winter and her body was feeling stiff and contained, like a bear that just
wanted to sleep and watch movies. Still she had managed to write letters to both of her
daughters, and send a present to her grand-son. Building blocks were her favorite when
she was little and Simon being a 3 year old boy, she was sure he would play for hours and
give mum time to breathe.
She sipped her warm peppermint tea and remembered her own mother for a moment. Her
long black hair was like a fountain that she could bury her face in when she hugged her. It
always smelled like pine forest or mint. The love of gardening and the intricacies of
planting and fertilising had been a mutual love that gave them such silent joy together.
Marie had been hoping to pass this on to her girls but it seemed with the world being so
busy, the gardening never had the same effect for them. Still they were happy now and
had good families with loving husbands. This was a victory of some kind that she allowed
herself some small part in.
A small wimper indicated that her dog, Puffy was hungry so she lead him to the back porch
where his food was. Puffy was a small terrier with a strong will and old sad eyes that lit up
whenever children were around. He loved to show off and run around barking, making
them chase him. These days only little Simon was eager to oblige, and Puffy was growing
tired in his old age anyway.
“There you go my sweet, is that good?” she crooned at him. Puffy looked up and gave a
brief grateful smile.
Marie stared out the back porch wistfully and watched the sun, still rising in the morning
sky. The subtle warm glow intruded into her thinking as a strange thought occured to her.
“Maybe this is happiness”