Bravery (a love note?)

She made faces at me to

Make me laugh, and when it worked

She laughed too at

My laughter.

She put a hand on my shoulder and just

Left it there

For a moment,

While I slowly died inside, wishing I was

Brave enough to put

My hand on hers.

Later,

She was sitting in a nest chair

Playing on her phone and I

Sat there for about

Two minutes trying to

Work up the courage to ask her

If I could braid her hair.

But then she said

Yes,

And pulled one long ponytail over her shoulder and

Handed it to me.

Her hair was in two sections, braided on top of her head and flowing in

Two almost-waist-length ponytails down her back.

I knelt behind her and

Brushed my fingers through her hair before

Braiding it.

It was soft and

Touching it was calming.

We were quiet, just

Sitting in peaceful coexistence.

She started singing softly, and

I joined in and the world

Seemed to slow down for a moment.

I took the other section of her hair and

Braided it into several pieces, separating it and

Separating it again, not wanting to

Stop

Touching it.

She leaned her head back on the chair and

I smiled at her, though she was

Facing away from me.

“Did you make me pretty?” she asked.

“You’re pretty,” I said and

In my head I added “already,” but I

Wasn’t brave enough to

Say it out loud.

If you could

Stay in this moment forever

Would you?