#yaaayyyy happy birthday lee! maria & i send you kisses to the sky ♡♡♡ hope you enjoy your birthday week!

[meatriarch]

crickets sung their nightly tune in the dark, under the glow of the moon overhead in cloudless sky. air was chilled as time crawled on by, as pen scribbled carefully along paper — small green clovers decorating along the corners, with vines of leaves along their edges. she picked out the letter paper special, just for lelands' birthday, to send through the mail. she spent time with him ahead of her trip, ahead of spring break. she hadn't intended on missing the actual day, but, she'd wanted to try and hunt down someplace where marigolds were in bloom. her manager at her work, the florists, had mentioned hearing that few people had driven through a town nearby — newt — and spotted some along the sides of backroads, along property lines.

the temptation to spot some, herself, was too enticing — snap some photographs of them, to send polaroids of the stunningly golden flowers back to austin for lee, for his birthday.

and earlier today? maria managed to do just that!

smile beaming as she wrote along paper, dated in top corner : march 10th, 1973. ' — i hadn't been having much luck finding them, the entire drive over? nothing. when i left where i had parked and camped that first night to continue driving on friday? still nothing . . . i was getting a little upset, i really, really wanted wanted to find some marigolds for you, lee, and i was starting to think with every one of the stops i had planned to make, and finding none of them, that i just was never going to. but yesterday, friday night, when i stopped at this bar for a bite to eat and rest from all the stops and the driving, i happened to meet someone, and we talked for a long while. and when he was asking why i was passing through town, i told him i was looking for different flowers to take photos. and that i was having trouble trying to find a certain one — the marigolds — and i described them to him, as detailed as i could, i mean you know how i get, i talked his ears off trying to tell him about how pretty they are, but guess what? lee, he knew what they were! what flower i was talking about! said he was certain he'd seen some around on his familys' property, was pretty positive of it! and guess what, too! he offered to let me go over and get some photos of them! oh, i nearly jumped up and hugged him right there! i was so excited! we agreed on a time and he made notes on my map where his family lived, said he'd meet me off the main road and help me look around for them. and, lee, he was right! there were marigolds! all along this dirt road that cuts through his familys' property, a whole bunch of them scattered all through the grass! they were so beautiful! and they smelled so sweet! i wish i could have collected a few of them to give you, but they never would have lasted through the rest of the trip, and i didn't want to ask him such a thing, not after already being so helpful already. i'm so excited for you to see them! they're so pretty! the ones growing out of those two metal bins is my favorite! he said that his family has a whole bunch of other flowers, wildflowers and their own private fields of some of them, that he offered to me again to come back tomorrow to take more photos of. i can't wait! he said they have alot of sunflowers, too! i can't wait! — '

maria pauses her writing, setting pen down and stretching her arms out in front of her, looking out from the open back of her car, across the darkened field surrounding her. catching shadowed glimpses of wildflowers in the dark, swaying slowly in the night breeze. the lantern hanging from hook on the opposite side of car bed lit up her field of view just enough to see what she was writing, and a the few feet radius around the outside of the car. she'd tucked herself among some trees and underbrush, hidden for the most part from view of the road.

there's a brief, oddly loud rustle of leaves and branches that catch her attention, and she turns her head, twisting herself to peer out from the open end of the car off into the dark of the trees behind her. eyes narrowed, strained and struggling to allow her eyes to adjust to the dark outside. listening, listening — but slowly settles back in place when she hears nothing else seemingly out of place, and looks away.

shiver runs down her spine, and maria huddles into herself more, picking up pen to continue writing — figuring the noise is nothing more than the wind,

' — i'm certain this will reach you by the time that thursday comes around next week! i'm so excited to hear about what you did for your birthday back home, and with the others! i hope its fun and i hope you sneak an extra slice of cake to eat, for me! i'm sorry i won't be back until breaks' over, but i wanted to let you know how happy i am to have met you, lee. you're such a sweetheart and i've loved getting to know you more as time has passed. you're so funny and kind and i hope to get to see many, many more of your birthdays in the future! thank you for being so lovely, and thank you for being my friend. i hope you love the marigolds as much as i loved taking photos of them for you! happy birthday, lee! - maria ♡ '

pen stops at the little heart, setting it in her satchel. she lets the ink finish drying a moment before carefully folding the letter papers and placing them into pre-set envelope, ready to mail them out first thing in the morning with the polaroids, to be certain that they do reach him by the time his birthday arrives this coming thursday, the fifteenth.

she reaches across the bed of the car, turning of the lantern — plunging her surroundings into darkness — and settles herself under mess of blankets in the back of the car, nestling and curling herself up to sleep for the night, facing out at the moonlit wildflowers. a smile on her face as she allows herself to slowly doze off for the night.

tomorrows another big day, after all — she needs to make sure to not sleep in and keep the man from the bar — johnny — waiting on her . . .

@lifesver : another little birthday-related treat for our favorite golden retriever jock ♡