Greener

            Amanda stepped out onto her balcony for the first time this year and breathed in the spring morning air. She had closed the balcony in November and just never went back out there until this morning. She’d been meaning to put her plants out and set her little chair back up, but time had just gotten away from her. It was so nice now to step out from the living room and feel the spring air wind its way through her hair and across her face.

            She took another deep breath and it felt clean. It was literally fresh air. It was so much better than the climate controlled air that forced its way through mutual vents and air flow systems of her condo. It always seemed a little musty to Amanda. She took another deep breath and leaned over the railing and looked out over the bustling streets below.

            It was Amanda’s first day of vacation and she wanted to enjoy it. She’d been cooped up in her little office at the museum for months it seemed. Preparing for the antiquities of China and India to be presented in the Museum was time consuming and the hours were often strange thanks to the time zone differences. When she was finally at home during those long few months she ate something and usually went right to bed. She vaguely remembered having a boyfriend when the whole procurement process started at the museum, but she didn’t recall what happened to him.

            “His name was… Andrew… something,” she asked the spring breeze.

            The breeze didn’t answer. It gently swirled through the balcony railing balusters and around her ankles. She looked down half expecting feathers to be twirling around her ankles. She realized she probably shouldn’t be wearing such a revealing nightgown out on her balcony. She was on the sixth floor from the street, but any wandering eye might be able to catch an up-skirt view.  She might end up giving a little Marilyn Monroe show if the wind blew a little harder.

            She stepped away from the railing and was about to step back into her condo but stopped herself.

            “No. I haven’t been out here forever. I want to enjoy it,” she said slightly defiantly.

            She stepped back toward the railing and looked back out over the city. She did hold her nightgown closer to her body though. She looked back out over the city as the morning sun kept climbing. She could see the green tree tops now blooming. She realized it had been a very long time since she’d actually seen the color green. She felt like she’d taken it for granted but now acknowledged how much she had missed it. There was something comforting in the greenery that spouted up across the urban landscape. The green broke up the hardscrabble grays and browns that made winter so austere.

            Amanda took another long breath and felt something like peace inside. Her stomach was calm. Her mind was clear. She thought about maybe walking down to the beach near-by and reading by the water. She might get a nice cup of coffee and some brioche at that little café down the street. Perhaps she could call Andrew Something and see what he was doing. Or perhaps not. 

            She looked back out over the streets and smiled.