She sits on the couch next to the open
window, fresh coffee steaming from the cup in her hands. Oh, the
little moments of stolen sanity. Every reflection yields some new
revelation. Quiet mornings are the friend of introspection.
The bird outside the window sings from
its hidden perch, and each note makes her heart flutter at the
audible promise of spring. She would forgo snow if it meant light
breezes and the smell of rain. Her love of cold and winter flourished
for a season. Now it reminds her of past adventures. Adventures to
which she will return. Someday.
The house seems to be asleep. The
refrigerator and freezer hum, just enough so that she can tell
they're alive. They are the only sounds, and in the stillness they
become noisy while she listens, then settle into the background as
her mind resumes wandering, settling into herself and her
surroundings.
Her jeans are ripped in two places now
– one, the fault of a design detail and the other, a badge earned
from years of use. The tear at the knee is open and frayed, more so
today than yesterday (a side effect of washing and drying). The legs
are snug around her thighs, but after hundreds of wears the denim has
grown soft. The color has faded in the most worn spots so that the
legs and the cuffs now present very different shades of blue. A rivet
has fallen off the left side of the back left pocket, and the right
side belt loop has been pulled from its anchoring and restitched with
gold thread. The inside seams are frayed, and the backs of the knees
reveal pale blue, thread-bare stripes where the fabric has worn down
from folding in the same places for four years.
These jeans are tattered. Her mom would
probably call them “ratty.” She has nicer pairs: darker, newer,
without holes.
But these jeans are college. They are
her. She got them just before her first semester freshman year and
still now lounges in them her last semester of senior. They are torn,
they are faded. They are patched and missing pieces. They have seen
better days, and they have been treated with greater kindness at
certain times than others. But they are resilient, and they have
character. And at the end of the day, they are the most comfortable.
