"Lavender"

The slight tickle just above my lip as the deep purple buds brush against me with the wind flexing them this way and that. A soft giggle rising up my spinal column escapes like a deer springing and clearing a high fence. My heart beats wildly and my eyes grow wide as my nose fills with the light, floral scent of lavender. Bathing in the sunlight, arms outstretched between the rows of light purple, legs folded into a butterfly with each knee pointing to the sides and my toes touching. I breathe in and my back melts into the ground. I twist the ring that’s on my right ring finger, squinting up at the sun, and I lick my lips, tasting the salt that has dried there from my sweat. Listening to the dry crackle of the plants brushing up against one another in the wind, it reminds me of the bouquets curiously hung upside down in our kitchen to dry with one small sprig…