LET ME BE ME

g like I'd dream

al

an in

hat looked too

e, quiet

e cup like he didn't know

or a long time, waiting fo

did

thing inside me was tilted. My bo

the coffee had spilled

dream,

a storm cloud about to burst. I didn't want to

eeded to

It was comforting-my own blend. I called it "Fevered Petals." I don't even know why.

the front counter, arm

he said witho

d, heading straigh

g. We've got or

inutes," I said, al

h that I heard it eve

oils, dried flowers, and vials with scrib

a few new samples for a client. Something soft but bold.

fway and star

I talk

idn't

ke he was someone

maybe, but somew

d. A message f

n't o

at the door

eked

dly, holding a slim black b

, reading off a card. "From...

art s

ure why they were trembling. The de

into the workroo

ly, I o

pendant the color of melting ice-pale blu

me, at least wear somethin

C

s gripped

asn't a

t of exhaust

how, he

ight, I looked over my shou

sha

ench

onlig

turned on the light-there it was. Th

oom smelled faintly of b

't sle

the neckl