Jeans

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.