Quilts

She held her breath.
She had always thought that the every days of her life were pointless, leading her winding through a maze of nothing but dead ends. Growing up in a broken home she put her mind into her education and became the best of the best in her class and worked hard even after to make a living big enough to survive. She hadn't asked for much growing up and didn't get even if she did ask. At night she would lay beneath the quilts of her bed tightly wrapped in the warmth of each stitch wondering what she would do by the minutes, by the hours hoping that each day would pass faster than the one before so that she could escape. Nestled under the blankets she would dream of a time where she didn't have to hide tucked away in her room but instead she would be able to walk into the world on her own and there would be noone that could stop her. When that day came she packed what she could fit into the small s10 that was finally paid for two checks ago and hit the road never looking back and without regret.
After she finally settled into a new home, a new town, a new state her life was better but soon she noticed that when she laid at night to sleep the warmth of her blankets were bringing back a familiar security. It wasn't that she was unhappy but it was as if something was missing from her life. A piece to the jigsaw puzzle of her life wasn't there and what was worse was that it was nowhere to be found no matter how hard she searched. For several years she lived each day in routine including her time spent trying to fill the void that seemed to grow as each tomorrow became a yesterday. Then sitting at a table in the corner of a small resteraunt where the double shifts no longer seemed endless, it had clicked. How simple it all was, or was it? For years she spent countless moments chasing the idea of something she didn't know but knew she needed and now sitting there staring into the room of peope chattering quietly she wondered if something that seemed so hard to find was to good to be true....Love. She like the way the word sounded in her mind but when she said it out loud it seemed ridiculous. Though she wasn't anyone special she was someone unique, surely it wouldn't be hard to come by at least not with a few changes.
For the next few weeks she made changes but even still when she looked in the mirror she didn't see much of a difference. What had been a clever plan of finding love turned into disaster as another two years passed by. There she was again sitting in the same table and nothing had changed except that she had been promoted to management at the chatty little cafe. She began to ponder over ideas of what and why. Then out of nowhere she heard the sound of life. It was a laugh that seemed to be full of energy, drawing her into its joyful meaning. She had to know where it had came from surely from somewhere. There, there it was again. She began to search the room following the noise and then she saw him. He was the most beautiful person she had ever laid eyes on. He had light brown hair cut short and gelled to stand up in front. She could tell, though he was looking away, that he had strong features in his jaw and he couldn't be no more than about 185. She drank in as much as she could considering he wasn't turned in her direction but as if noticing that someone was watching he looked her way. Her breath caught in her chest. What a beautiful creature! He had bright blue eyes and somehow, though she had never seen, she knew there was no waters of any sea that could compare to those ocean blues she was staring in. And his smile, how perfectly proportioned it was. She wondered at that moment how God could have taken so much greatness and packed it into one human being and she continued to watch him unaware that he was looking right back at her.
Her longings were interupted when he stood up. Was he leaving? On the contrary he was walking her way. What was she to do? For the first time in her life she felt ackward about the way she looked and was nervous about him getting to close. From across the room he could only see what distance would allow him to but up close he could see what imperfections allowed. Before she knew it, he was at her side and introducing himself.
On that day she found the missing piece to her puzzle and knew that never again would she have to search. She was introduced to love and love it was. The two were side by side and heart to heart. It didn't take long for him to realize he didn't want to live his life without her and it didn't take her long to accept. The wedding was scheduled and plans were made. The day soon came and she found herself wanting her blankets again. This time it wasn't unhappiness nor emptiness but nervousness. It finally occured to her that all her life her blankets were like safe havens of warmth that she could hide from anything that willed itself to make her life interrupted. But there was no time for a quick retreat and when the music played signaling for her to take her place she stepped forward into the direction of a new life leaving the past behind her. The doors opened and she continued her walk until she saw him.
She let her trembling breath escape slowly. One look into his blues and she knew that there was nothing more than she could ever want than to be lost in them forever. Through all her years she never knew that she could be apart of something so great so close to heaven until now and everything in her being ached to be with him until her dying days and even afterward. She had not only found her missing piece but glued her puzzle in place in a frame and left it behind. She was ready to start a new puzzle a new life forever forgetting that she even started the last. And now when she looked into the mirror she finally saw a new person in her eyes. A girl from yesterday had turned into a woman and she knew that from this day she would never need the warmth of her quilts again but would be safe in his arms forever.