Dandelion and the Witch

Dandelion and the Witch — page 5 — Standing in front of her building digging through her huge purse for her keys Jessamine caught a whiff of something It was something familiar but exciting It was strange and new but earthy and everlasting Dandelions Their little yellow heads had closed for the night but their greens shaped like lion’s teeth grew like well like weeds all over the apartment building’s front lawn Jessamine’s heart pounded For the first time since she’d been pregnant she knew what she wanted She wanted dandelion leaves Before she knew what she was doing Jessamine dropped her bag fell to her knees on the front lawn and grabbed handfuls of leaves She put them in her mouth and chewed They were peppery and fresh sunny and cool

Dandelion and the Witch — page 6 — She pulled up handfuls of dandelions as she went across the lawn shoving them into her paper bag till it was almost bursting Then she headed home Shaking with anticipation for the bag of delicious greens she unlocked the building’s front door It always stuck so she had to knock it with her shoulder Then she hurried up the two flights of stairs to their apartment made her way inside and finally caught her breath She found the biggest bowl she could She dumped the leaves in rinsed them quickly under cold water found a fork and dug in

Dandelion and the Witch — page 7

Dandelion and the Witch — page 8 — 2 Twenty minutes later the bowl was empty bits of green were stuck in her teeth crumbs of soil clung to her lips and she was still famished Jessamine needed more She stood up in the dark kitchen and went to the window Jessamine looked out into the apartment building’s backyard lit by floodlights to save the landlord insurance money but with not a square inch of unpaved ground A couple of dandelions had managed to grab a foothold along the fence on one side but otherwise the backyard was bare a lifeless slab of cement She could also see into the backyard of the next-door next-door neighbor She could see a small and bent tree in the center of the overgrown yard undecorated and

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