When Laurel awoke she found herself snug in her bed, safe in Oaks Grove, Georgia. Blue jays and cardinals chirping outside and the Easter morning sun lighting her entire bedroom.
She sat up and looked around the room. “Thank, goodness. It was just a dream.”
Then she let her eyes and mind clear for a moment. They stopped and focused at a glass and a wood frame mounted on her wall. The frame encased the American flag folded in a triangular shape with the field of blue and stars in full view.
Lord, please let me still be dreaming.
She felt two wedding bands dangling inside her nightgown.
"Ugh."
She looked down and reached for them. Observed them. One large enough for a husband; the other used to be her perfect fit.
Her jaw tightened. Her eyes burned. She snatched the necklace off her neck and threw it at the flag’s glass case.
Crack. Crack.
They missed. Fell on the bible lying in her rocking chair instead.
She cursed; then bowed her head.
A bubbling fury rose from her belly. “This is worse than a dream. It was my life…it is my life.”
Then she pulled her bed sheets tighter to her chest. And cried into them until her stomach emptied her heartbreak into the sheets, until she repented for the bad words she said, until her soul found a little peace. Until she saw a possible solution to this situation.
The answer sat on her night stand. It had been there for at least a week. Unopened.
The Pruning Principle
2 years ago
