The Green Parasol & The Red Canopy

View 1

The Green Parasol (May 2017)


They had been together so long she could barely remember a time when they weren't. She remembers the day they fell in love, the moment she knew they would be together forever, but now they were slowly drifting apart.
There was this thing between them and it kept growing. Everyday it grew. He couldn't figure out what it was but he knew it wasn't good. It was a vine, a strangling vine.

It made her feel confined, stuck, scared. She tried to fix it, she tried to get unstuck. No matter how hard she tried she could not get away from it.

He wanted to escape this thing. He wanted to go away and never come back, but he was stuck. The vine kept them locked in the room. It continued to grow and make the room smaller and smaller.

She searched the room for a way to leave.

He tried and tried and felt like she did nothing to help the situation. She didn't try. She struggled against it. He tried, he tried to free them from them both from the vine. She didn't.

But she did try, she tried and tried. They each did. They tried in their own ways and always at different times. Never together.

They hacked at the vine, yanking, pulling and spraying it, but the vine kept growing even stronger than before. The more they struggled the more it grew, the more it strangled them.

They needed to get away from this vine before it took over the entire room.

She knew it was both their faults. They had so many problems with the vine. She decided it was time to leave. She started to pack. She checked the closet to make sure she had packed everything, she found something strange, there at the back of the closet, behind the box of anger and frustration was their memories. It had been there for a while for years. She had forgotten it was there.

He had forgotten it too. It made him happy to remember. He wanted to believe that they would be okay. He wanted to make more memories.

They had the solution right then.
It wasn't something they could buy or be given.
It was something they already had.
They didn't even know it.
It was something big but they had to figure it out. It was right there they just couldn't see it.

They were old and wise and had lived a good life together.

They searched everywhere and one day they found it. They found the secret to the vine. When he moved left, she moved right. Then he moved right and she moved left. It was like a dance. A happy dance. The pain went away. The struggle subsided. The memories of their long life together came out and shined a light on the vine.

It was then that the vine released them, it could not hold on any longer. It began to wither away. It couldn't survive the sunlight, the happiness. Their memories were a powerful thing.

They lived in peace together for the rest of their lives. Happily Ever After.



View 2

The Red Canopy (May 2017)

They argued. And fought. They were not caring toward each other. They had been together for so long. It had been there too. Little and small, just a baby. It could hardly survive all those years. It was barely alive. The vine was so weak. Until one day when the harmony went away and It grew and grew and grew. Then It was so big and healthy. The more they were out of sync the more It thrived.

If she felt that sad or angry, It grew.
If he felt hurt or frustrated, It grew.
The vine grew and grew because they struggled and because they were on opposite sides. They never worked together.

It enjoyed the acrimonious environment and hated the harmony. Acrimonious environment helped it grow and thrive. Harmony tore it apart. It needed to prosper on their misery. It loved causing the divide between them. It flourished in the dark, environment. In the horrid soil It became stronger. It strangled them, they were stuck. It was proud.

Then one day she found the memories, It had hidden. It had hidden the memories behind the box of anger and frustration, in the back of the closet. Such a clever hiding place. But she was too wise, she was trying to leave and she found them. She found the memories. Then something awful happened.

As the 2 of them went through their memories It started slowly withering. As the memories grew and the happiness blossomed, It began to die. The sunshine was too much, too crippling. Until one day it was no more. They were at peace living happily ever after and It was dead.