This was a close one! No clear runaway on this one. Which is the fun part. 😉 Who doesn’t like all the wondering right up until the end?

What a great week. Obviously everyone else agrees with me, since all of the top five made a good showing in this week’s voting. Thanks again everyone for sharing your talents with us here.

But there can only be one winner. So this week, with a prompt of “blue” is:

Tauisha Nicole, @shells2003

Congrats! Here’s her fantastic and popular budding series. Enjoy,and come back next week!

Leah’s grandmother called her outside to sit with her on the porch swing. She hadn’t been happier since Leah moved in with her only a few months ago. Made her feel useful in a way that she hadn’t felt in years. Sad how once you get older, the people in your life take you for granted.

At least she was being useful. At least Leah could use her for something.

Leah laid down on the porch swing, her head resting in her grandmother’s lap. They sat there, staring out into the beautiful day.

“The sky has never looked so blue,” Leah muttered, sighing as her grandmother stroked her hair.

“Oh, baby. I’ve seen some beautiful skies in my life. Some bluer than this one. Just be happy it’s blue.”

She could feel Leah’s head nod in agreement on her lap.

“I wonder if the sky is this blue where Carter is.”

Leah sounded so far away when she said this. Her grandmother paused for only a second and started stroking her hair again. “Would it matter? You aren’t there to see it.”

“I know…it isn’t that I don’t want to be.”

“You ready to tell me what happened, sugar?” her grandmother questioned.

Leah merely sighed. “He doesn’t want children. How could I fall in love with someone who doesn’t want children?”

“You can’t help who you love, sugar,” her grandmother’s soft voice replied. “And running away doesn’t solve anything. How do you know if he’ll change if you’re here with me and he’s back there?”

She felt the wetness of her granddaughter’s tears on her skirt. “He doesn’t want children, Gran. What more can I do? If he had more of an open mind, I wouldn’t be here.”

“Did you talk to him?”

Leah was silent.

Deep down, she knew she didn’t try hard enough. Leah held on to her stomach, rubbing the skin that protected her baby. She couldn’t help but remember the explosion of feelings she felt the moment he said he didn’t want children. It ruined her. Turned her whole world upside down. Made her sadder than sad to leave him…

But, she did what she had to.

“I’m scared, Gran,” she finally admited on a sob. “I’m scared love just isn’t enough to fix this one.”

Her grandmother didn’t press her to talk further. Instead, she pulled her grandchild closer, allowing her to get out the tears. And there she tried to comfort Leah under the clear blue sky.