Page 29 of Born to Make You Smile

Without shelter

Without love

Alone

Abandoned

Crippled

Lifeless

Crunching under my feet

It rains

It snows

The wind

It blows

The leaf endures it all

As it has nothing more to do

But be

Then one day

The leaf becomes earth

Nurturing

Food

A new life

A birth

A round of seasons

Pass over again

And a new lost leaf finds its way

To me

That evening, I headed over to an empty area of my room. I played some new age music and practiced a relaxing yoga sequence. With controlled breathing, I performed the light flow of movements and gentle stretching. However, my deep concentration was interrupted when my phone pinged from my nightstand. A rush ran through me when I saw a message from Gavin.

Gavin:Look at these little rascals :)

Following the message was a photo of Charlotte, Mackenzie, and Hunter. They were all smiles, posing by the penguins.

The charming photo made my heart ache with longing.

I should have been there with them today.

I wasn't sure what was happening to me, but I could slowly feel everything in my life, everything stable I used to be so sure about being turned on its head. These feelings for Gavin were growing, becoming complicated, spiraling so hard and fast I couldn’t catch my breath.

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