SEARCHING FOR A UNICORN

Sara stood at the top of Main Street where it crossed Trinity Boulevard. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom and the wind whipped just enough to carry them through the town like a light snow. It was overcast in a way that made the thickness of the air feel like a blanket and the chill like the world was giving Sara its full attention.

Sara pulled her sweater around her body and tucked in her scarf so it covered her neck up to her ears. It had been a quite an eventful morning. Sara had woken up with thoughts of Paris, the Italian countryside, the islands of Greece, all of the places she’d been and all of the places she hadn’t. It was just after eleven and Sara was due to meet Jonathan at eleven thirty. He would be there on time, or early. Jonathan was never late. Neither was Sara, but on that morning the time didn’t much matter to her.

Sara stood at the top of Main Street as the cherry blossoms drifted by and her hair blew from one direction to the next. She thought of the Eiffel Tower and what the cafés looking over the Louvre must feel like. She imagined a bike ride through the country and of letting the views Van Gough captured so brilliantly inspire her. Sara let her mind wander and she set her heart free with the same spirit that drove her to live a life of chance and will. Then Sara thought of Jonathan and looked down at her watch. It was half past eleven. He was certainly at the café waiting for her. Jonathan was never late. He would be sitting in the same spot that he always did, on the corner, sipping his cappuccino and waiting for Sara to arrive so they could share a pastry of her choosing.

Sara pondered the idea of the rest of her day then she took off her watch and set it on the ground. Her cell phone rang. She knew it was Jonathan. She knew he was calling because she was late, but late for what she wondered. She pulled the phone from her pocket and set it on the ground next to her watch.

Sara looked down at the ground, watching the phone ring and the clock tick while cherry blossoms swirled over her feet and up into the sky. Again the images and feelings of people and places from around the world filled her; places she’d been to and places she would visit some day.

Sara was a woman meant to take on all of life. It was a reality of which she was keenly aware, but also distracted from by the happenings that filled her day-to-day. With a soul and approach that whisked like the cherry blossoms some would say that Sara was searching for a unicorn, others that she was a free spirit, but if you asked Sara herself, all she ever wanted was to feel whole, and full and alive with every fiber of her being.

As the possibilities of life and plans for the future consumed her, Sara unwrapped the scarf from her neck and dropped it over her ringing phone and ticking watch. She unbuttoned her coat, pulled her sweater up over her head, unzipped her dress and let it fall down around her. She stood in a pair of shearing lined boots at the top of Main Street, unclasped her bra and stepped out of her panties leaving only the floating cherry blossoms to cover the being that was the lovely Sara Nichols.

One step at a time Sara walked down the street, along the center line of course, at moments dancing and at others simply moving with grace.

Sara danced right by the café where Jonathan was at his favorite table on the corner, sipping his mid-morning cappuccino and waiting patiently for her to arrive and select the pastry they would share. He watched as Sara passed by and wondered where she was going, but made no motion to go after her. Jonathan simply sipped his coffee and watched her go until Sara disappeared into the distance and became part of the light that was the mid-morning sun.

Searching for a Unicorn awgryphon©