Livora Gracely

She meant to blow one bubble.
The squirrels had other plans.

It was supposed to be a very short pause between one useful thing and the next.

She sat beneath the leaves, straightened the folds of her green dress, and dipped the little wand into the bottle.

One breath.

A bubble appeared.

It trembled at the ring as though reconsidering the entire idea, then slipped free and floated upward.

A white squirrel stopped beneath the bench.

Its head tilted.

The woman blew another.

The squirrel stood on two legs.

A second squirrel arrived.

Nobody had invited it.

The third appeared with such remarkable speed that one could only assume squirrels maintained an excellent local news service.

Soon three white faces were following every bubble.

Up.

Left.

Higher.

Gone.

The woman smiled and blew another.

This one drifted dangerously low.

The nearest squirrel stretched both paws toward it.

Pop.

The squirrel froze.

It inspected its empty paws.

Then it looked at the woman.

There was accusation in that look.

“Oh, don’t blame me.”

She blew a replacement.

This one survived longer, catching pale green leaves, sunlight, and a tiny upside-down garden on its shining surface.

The squirrels watched.

So did she.

Somewhere beyond the garden waited a list of things she had intended to finish. There were messages unanswered, pages half written, drawers requiring organization, and at least one task that had been “urgent” since Tuesday.

For the moment, none of them knew where to find her.

Another bubble rose.

She followed it with her eyes until it became almost indistinguishable from the light.

Then she noticed something peculiar.

She had stopped thinking about what came next.

No grand decision had been made. Nothing had been solved. The afternoon had simply opened a small space and, for once, she had not rushed to fill it.

The smallest squirrel climbed onto the bench beside her.

She dipped the wand again.

One breath.

One floating sphere.

Four faces turned upward.

The bubble climbed through the leaves and disappeared.

Nobody chased it.

Nobody needed it back.

She smiled and prepared another.

Apparently, the next useful thing could wait.

The squirrels had already scheduled the afternoon.