'it is only when all your buttresses fall away do you learn to stand tall Aapa' she said, straightening out the wrinkles in the bedsheet.
she turned and looked at her critically.
'what more could you possibly be waiting for?'

appa, staring blankly ahead, whispered.
'to see if I stand or I fall'

...............

this time last year there was a birdsong in my heart, she thought.
easy to fool yourself that spring optimism was budding love. still pink in the tip.
maybe that is why they say nip it in the bud, she thought to herself. it wasn't really to warn you to pluck it dead when it starts, but rather to not confuse the warming weather and hope in the air for infatuations of the heart.

.................