The Vase

Nature within heals, cool touch of the vase grants dreams to come true. And to break it, it loses all its power, and becomes a decoration.

Was it blessed? Was it cursed? Valence did not know. She struggled to understand the significance of this vase. It's been broken several times. Where is the last piece? She's had this on the corner table for over a decade. It has her mothers initials. She kept it because her mother created it. Twenty-one years ago, when Valence was born, her mother passed away due to an illness after giving birth. Her mother Ketrina was twenty-two.

Valence didn't get to meet her mother. She didn't get to know her voice or learn her behaviors. Discover dreams with her or have her meet the loves of her life. Valence wished for all that. She dreamt of living a life with her mother. This is all she ever thought about. Always imagining what it would be like to be in her life.



The Enchanted Vase



A white vase painted with soft blue strokes, stood out among all the treasuries a young Ketrina created.

Her hands cleaned up the table as the surface spun slowly. She dropped some clay onto it. Her hands cupped around the large clump, and she peddled the table to move one way and then another. She moved her hands to create a shape she imagined, and the table spun faster. Wondrous vinyls played in the background, was it Mozart, or Bach? Her favorites. All she loved was in this grand garden shed. She enjoyed making all kinds of house treasures, souvenirs for her town for tourists, decorations for newcomers. Most of all, she loved to give her ceramic and clay creations to her unborn child. These gifts, soon to be memories of her existence.

When she lied on her bed, hoping to be relieved of her illness, she wrote words onto a small thick paper, she placed it within a box. Ketrina put it inside the corner table by her bedside, she kissed her hand, and lightly touched her most prized possession; the white vase. The smell of lilium starfighters filled the room.

"Find me. When you are older."

Two months earlier...

Valence bumped the corner table and the vase tipped and shattered. Again. She was installing a new mattress. Moving it in alone. She's always had a tough time welcoming help, even harder for her to ask for it. Valence stopped, set the mattress against the wall, she knelt beside the mess. Tears fled from her hazel eyes. She cries.

Every time it fell, she fell. Every time it broke, her heart broke. She needed to put it back together again. And she did just that. Beautiful. Just like it was. Yet so imperfect. The vase had its own flaws too. A piece was missing. This irritated Valence, she'd stoop down and looked under the table, across the hall around and around in the living room and dining room. Just like it ever was. Never to be found. She'd click her tongue, pull out the broom and dust pan, and sweep.

Present...

"No!" She threw her fist at the ground and wailed in pain. "Why does this keep happening? Are you cursed or am I?" Valence wiped her eyes, and held them closed. She sniffed, and dried her face with her cream silk blouse. "I can't keep fixing you. It's just too much." She said to the broken pieces of her mothers vase. Today's Valence's birthday, and the day of her mothers passing. She fixed the vase and placed it on the corner table to let it dry. "I think it needs some flowers." She rushed outside and plucked some beautiful, large daisies. Her favorite. She put some water in the vase, then cut the base of the flowers, and gently arranged them inside the vase. She stood back and smiled. She moves the vase a bit more on the white crochet cloth. Perfect.

She stared into the blank space on the lip of the vase. "Hey. I wonder..." and she reaches forward to grab the one drawer in the table. It never occured to her that perhaps the missing piece may be in the drawer. She pulled it open and... nothing. She looked inside and it was too dark. She didn't want to pull the whole thing out of the table. She searched for a light, and shined into the drawer. There was a box. It's edges were roughed and torn and smudged prints were on the corners.

Did Ketrina put this in here? Did my mother leave this here for me?  Valence took the brown paper box out of the drawer and brought it with her to the loveseat. She settled down into her comfortable position and gently opens the box. The lid flipped open and revealed inside was a note on top of a sparkling white and blue piece of glass. The note read: "Find me. When you are older." Valence placed the note on the lid, and immediately she knew what gift lied inside. She picked out the missing piece, lept off the seat and raced to retrieve some glue.

Valence came to the vase and gently, aligned the edges of the shard into place. For a moment, the vase glowed, the sunlight warmed the room, the white walls beamed bright. The vase is whole again. For the first time in 22 years. Valence smiled. She became complete, and truly happy. This is a gift. The best gift she's ever been given. She wiped a tear from her rosey cheek and brushed away her auburn hair. "I wish you were here mom. Just for a moment, to hear your voice." There was a smudge on the newfound piece and she lightly wiped it off with her thumb. Behind her the curtains blew, a soft breeze cooled the room. Valence watched the curtains settle and the clouds came by and hid the sun. The room cooled down more. She took a step and grabbed her sweater. "Thank you, mom." Valence came to the loveseat again and read the note. Over and over. Scanning it. Smelling it. It smelled like a dusty, old table. Her eyes moved in the ways the letters were written. My mother's handwriting. Her last few words. And they were for me. She snuggled in closer to the chair, grabbed the quilt from behind her and wrapped it around her bare feet. She can let go now. She can believe that everything truly will be okay. She closed her eyes. And slept awhiles.

Valence.

A voice awakened her. It's dark out now. The rooms too cold. Valence stretched up and out of the seat. She closed and locked the windows, and spread the curtains towards each other. She took the note and box and rested them beside the vase. She kissed her hand and touched it, goodnight. Valence walked up the nearby stairs, to her room and nestled into bed. She had no idea about the voice that called out to her. It kept her mind thinking. She rolled over and turned on the lamp. Did someone call me? She got up and walked around in her room. And the voice called out.

Valence. "Who's there?"

She ran to her closet and rummaged through it. She held up her childhood baseball bat. "Hey! Get out of my house!" She ran out of her room and stopped at the top of the stairs. "Hello? I'm calling the cops. If you don't leave." And nothing replied. Even the floor boards hadn't groaned and the door didn't creak.

Valence relaxed her arms and let down the bat. She came back into her room and buried herself under her blankets, the bat in tow.

Was that my mom?

She believed it may have been her mothers voice. She prayed it was.

She softly hummed a comforting song and gone back to dream a sweet dream. It was of herself with her mother, Ketrina, wandering a forest. The trees colors were vibrant and healthy. Her mother young, and full of life and beauty. They played amongst the sounds of nature, dove into lakes of sweet waters, and laughed and stargazed. A wonderful dream. A wish come true. It was real. And it belongs to Valence.



"This is a beautiful story. The gift of love. A loving mother will always be near to her child. No matter where she goes. And no matter where I am, know that I will always be with you." A mother said to her two young kids. "I love you my darlings."

- M.R.H