Dandelion Bliss: Lillie's Journey of Joy

Lillie looked up at the sky as she lay on her back, the sun warming her skin. She closed her eyes, sighing contentedly as she listened to the sounds of birds chirping and bees buzzing in the distance. It was so hard to find a quiet spot out here in the city, but she had been lucky today. A small park nestled between two tall apartment buildings had been all but abandoned when she had arrived this morning, and she knew it would be like this until late in the day.

She opened her eyes again and sat up, brushing some grass off of herself. Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out and checked it before putting it back down, then stared up at the sky again. After another moment, she reached into her bag and pulled out a small container of dandelions. She set them down beside her and picked one up, holding it to her nose while closing her eyes once more.

"Ahhh..." She sighed happily. The smell was so sweet and fresh...she could close her eyes and pretend that time had stopped for just a moment, that she was still young enough to just be lying here in this park with nothing else to do but enjoy the sunshine on a beautiful spring day. She thought about what she would do if only she could live like this forever...if only things hadn't changed after going to college and leaving home...if only she could go back in time and keep herself from making some of those mistakes...

But no, she couldn't change things now. There was no sense dwelling on what might have been. Now that she was an adult, there were responsibilities to take care of...and there were pleasures too, even if they weren't always *quite* what they used to be when you were younger...she took a deep breath through the dandelion stem, filling her lungs with it's sweet scent as she started to close off her nasal passages with both hands.

She held the dandelion there tightly while taking slow breaths through her mouth, staring blankly into space as the warm sun beat down on her face and warmed every inch of her skin. Then suddenly something twitched inside her nose-a tickle! Then another twitch! And another! She was starting sneeze!

She kept holding the flower in place for several seconds as tiny spasms began working their way through every inch of her body-her stomach began twitching uncontrollably; every muscle seemed to make itself known by contracting or relaxing; even parts like her toes and fingers felt like they wanted a chance to move! Then suddenly everything locked up tight as Lillie's entire body tensed up-all at once it felt like all those little movements were being sucked back into one spot inside of her-it felt like someone had slipped an elastic band around all of those tics and pulled it tight! All of them gathered together right down deep inside Lillie's belly, growing heavier and tighter by the second until finally-with a loud "whoosh!", everything came bursting out! In less than two seconds Lillie let loose with a series of massive sneezes that almost sounded like someone hitting a drum: PLAK PLAK PLAK PLAK PLAK PLAK PLAK PLAK PLAK PLAK SPIT! A couple seconds passed with Lillie still sitting bolt upright on the ground with her eyes tightly closed; then slowly, ever so slowly, she relaxed back onto the grassy ground beneath her. When finally she lay motionless with sunlight warming every inch of exposed skin once more, Lillie opened her eyes and looked up at the sky again.

It was beautiful...so peaceful...and somewhere within that beauty there was something special for *her*. Something that no one else could understand or feel quite like *she* did...and somehow every time she experienced it while outside in nature such as this-something so pure-Lillie felt just a little bit closer to being able [i]whole[/i]. Maybe one day soon there would be no need for these stolen moments alone outside anymore; maybe one day soon this feeling would be something much different...something better than just being "close to being whole"...but for now it would have to do. For now this would have to do...