“Do you believe in love at first sight?”, he asked her.
They’d had a perfect date so far and sparks were flying. She paused.
Remembering her past.
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They had a perfect morning together.
Mom woke her up with kisses in bed and whispered in her ear they would make pancakes from scratch together. With all the butter and extra syrup.
It was brilliant, and her favorite thing in the world. Pancakes from scratch. With all the butter and extra syrup.
She hopped out of bed quickly in her unicorn Onsie, her curls sloppy, and falling over her face when mom threw a backwards look at her and said,
“You want me to braid your hair in a french braid?”
She didn’t have to answer. The sparkle in her eyes was enough and she wondered what had happened in life to make this miraculous day come into existence.
She thought maybe it was falling asleep last night and praying that she wouldn’t be so stressful on mom. She knew it had been rough on her since she’d lost her job. Mom had been irritable, yelling at her a lot about leaving her shoes in the entry way of the front door, her toys on the living room floor, and not cleaning up her toothpaste mess in the bathroom sink.
Whatever it was, this day was magical. Mom braided her hair, let her make a mess in the kitchen making pancakes, with all the butter, and extra syrup.
Then they didn’t even clean it up.
Mom just said, “Let’s go out and shop for something fun for you to wear and get some ice cream”.
They went to her favorite store and picked out a bright orange outfit. Her favorite color.
They got ice cream. She was blissfully enjoying the day, and eating her mint chocolate chip cone when they stopped at Lowry Park. She sat down next to mom on a bench and looked up at her sad eyes.
She knew it had been hard for mom, and still, here she was giving her the best day ever.
“I love you so much mom!”
Mom looked down at her and half smiled. Then she said,
“I love you too. It was love at first sight when you were born. Hey, sweets, I gotta use the bathroom. I’ll be right back. Stay right here and don’t move.”
Mom didn’t come back for hours. And she didn’t move. Daughter sat there until well after dark when a police officer stopped and asked her what she was doing on the bench. She explained mom went to the bathroom but hadn’t come back yet.
He put her in the back of his squad car and took her to the station.
She never saw mom again.
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“No. I don’t.” She answered him. I don’t believe in it.
She decided when she was six years old, she didn’t believe in love at first sight.
And maybe she didn’t believe in love at all.