By Gregory Apple
My fingers drip streaks of sky blue liquid across the canvas of a table top and then begin to paint suds over the crayon and ketchup stains. I unearth a field of blue flowers by slipping the grains of salt into my palm by the edge of the table. A kid must have drawn them beneath the plate when their parents weren't watching. Clever. I put my nose to the table to breathe in the tiny flakes of blue wax: elementary, woods, blood, dream catchers, adopti
on, love, a brother, and imagination.
When I was little I used to carry around notebooks and multi-colored pens. Each color would represent a different character I drew. Pink would often represent evil. Red would be brave like my brother. Green and blue would be friends forever. And brown... brown would be the color of love. I would draw stories of princesses, Digimon tamers, friends I wish I had, boys I wanted to fall in love with, challenges I would put my real friends through, myths and games I made up, and of course me.
I would be the coolest character of course. I would wear maybe five belts and a pair of goggles like the cool anime kids did on TV. Sometimes I would be an evil android out to destroy the world, a powerful Digimon Tamer that could defeat any opponent, a princess with magical powers but horribly in distress; I could be the ocean, I could control meteors in space, grow wicked cool jelly beans, and even create worlds of blue flowers.
My fingers dance over the picture one last time before I decide to wipe the table and get on with my job. The wax petals crumble the moment my rag washes over them and I thank the little kid who drew them in silence.
Later tonight I walk back over to the same table before getting ready to leave. The entire night after finding the picture I kept thinking about the kid that might have drawn it. I guess I just feel close to them in some really weird way. It's like finding a friend ten years too late. I smile a little and then... a brilliant beyond brilliant idea comes! I whip my head beneath the booth and look to see if they might have...
And YES! They have!
A field of waxy blue flowers completely take over the underside of the table!
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