Thursday, January 20, 2011

Prompt 242: A Four Leaf Clover

Cold, vacant eyes stared down at the shrivelled piece of greenery in her palm. It was hard to believe that so much hatred could be directed at something so...insignificant. No..no. It was far from insignificant! There were people that would kill to find such a rare item. And yet Analia had been lucky..no..never that. Never lucky! Analia had been unfortunate enough to find the weed that had marred her life for the past several years.

Rail thin legs shifted against the rough cardboard that served as protection against the cold concrete beneath her. There had been a time she had been surrounded by lush italian marble and polished mahogany doors. Now..now there was nothing but the bitter cold wind against the shelter of blankets and trashcans she found refuge in. Once she had worn the most expensive designers money could buy. Now she wore threadbare, hand-me-downs that she rummaged out of dumbsters near the Goodwill.

The might fall hard, they say. The earth thunders beneath them as they land. There had been none of that for Analia DeLyon. Her landing had been unheard, unnoted by the world at large. No family was left behind, because they had been stripped away from her one by one. Tragedy wrapped itself around her like a shroud, grasping so tight she wondered why she did not choke at it's grip. And it all had begun the day she had found the four leaf clover in her father's garden, nestled beneath a large oak tree. The very same day that her parents were killed in a car accident.

How many times had Analia tried to lose the four cloved stigma? She had lost count. And yet, each time she did another tragedy would befall her life. The clover would show up in the shower or under her covers as she pulled them back. And the next day the company her father had put his life into went bancrupt. Or her fiance confesses that he loves another woman, and that she has to move out.

Shaking fingers, encased in grimy fingerless gloves, plucked one of the dainty leaves away with a vicious tug. It fluttered to the ground, lifeless and limp.

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