“What do you mean?” Katherine sat down lotus-style before elaborating and motioned for Marley to sit down too. She did.
“Think about it like everybody’s their own blade of grass. The whole different- but-the-same junk and all works, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about that one blade of grass that’s been plucked too small by some little kid on the Fourth of July. Like, they’re just sitting there at some block party in the suburbs or something and they reach down and start picking at the grass.” Marley nodded, remembering doing just that mindlessly as a kid.
“And sometimes you feel like that blade of grass? That’s been plucked too short?” Katherine sighed, breaking eye contact to look at the lake’s horizon. The sun had nearly set; it was that time between twilight and dusk that felt a little like the universe was holding its breath, ready to move on to the night but also not wanting to let go of the day.
“I do,” she finally responded. “I really do.”
They sat there for a seconds, Katherine looking out at the water and Marley looking over at Katherine, memorizing her. How her curly dark hairline peaked out above her ears, how her big brown eyes were so dark they were almost black, how when they met her frown lines were deeper than should be possible, how now they were just a little less defined. How sometimes she even looked really, genuinely happy.
“You’re not, you know.” Katherine looked back at Marley, shaken out of deep thought and confused what she was talking about. “That is, you’re not ‘that blade of grass’. You fit in just right. At least... With me.” Katherine smiled a little, her expression soft and kind.
“Thanks.” She began to stand up, reaching her hand out to pull Marley up too. “Come on, we should get going.”