What color am I ?
Flower and Stilt- Short Story
Flower and Stilt had been married for over 45 years. They made two children together, a boy and a girl.
Like many families, this one had their struggles. Yet, overall, they had much happiness together. Each of the four of this small family was intelligent and compassionate. Each of the four of them had skills and talents respectively.
One day, after the boy and girl had grown into adults and left Flower and Stilt to enjoy retirement, which they really did, there was an incident that brought waves of many feelings and insights to the elderly couple.
Stilt was driving the car and Flower, as usual was in the passenger seat. At one point, when Stilt had been slowing down or had stopped, a man with a gun pointing at Stilt, told him to let him in the car, so, having no choice, Stilt allowed that.
Fear surged through his body, and his most prominent thought was that he hoped as hard as he could hope that Flower would not be harmed. He did not know it in the moment, but her huge fear at the time was that he would be harmed.
As they drove in tense, frightened silence, the man with the gun decided to speak.
How long have you been married? he asked. Stilt told him that they had been a couple for over four decades.
The man may have asked more questions which each elderly person did his or her best to answer.
At one point the man asked Flower what "color" he was.
She replied, calmly, "I don't know, sir."
He said, "That's right, we are all the same color here!!" Nobody disagreed.
Finally, the man requested that Stilt pull over. He did, and the man, who had taken their wedding rings, offered to give them back.
He says, "You probably want these back, don't you?"
They both agreed they would like them back. So he gave back what he would have stolen, and told them he wished they were his grandparents.
As he was leaving, Stilt offered to give him 20$. Now this was a whole lot more money in those days and I imagine Stilt offered it so that next time the man would just take a taxi. But the man refused to take his money, and left them to their shaken up, and relieved states.
Flower passed away before Stilt, but I am confident that the veil separating the living and the dead involve pacts that the living make with the dead and if Stilt ever wanted to find Flower again, he would. Their love for each other and their qualities too abundant to miss mean that they will be loved into the next world and on and on.
May the man that met these two on his path find his way to the merciful grace awaiting him after the human suffering has gone from his breath.
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