December 17, 2083 - Felicity Watts is 5, Leila is 28.In the morning, her mommy does yoga. Felicity likes it. She's liked it from the first time she snuck downstairs early, before the sun had come all the way up, and saw her mommy bending and stretching in the living room. "Come here," Leila said, and showed her how to move from one pose to the next. "This one is Warrior Pose."
Now they do their practice every morning together as the sun rises, to welcome the day.
Leila tells her that they do yoga to be healthy, strong, happy, and peaceful in mind. Felicity's brothers are too little do to this with them. And her daddy won't do it either. He won't even watch them doing it. He says he hates yoga. So they do it together, just the two of them. It's their own special thing.
Felicity likes her mother's soft voice in the morning, nearly a whisper as the rest of the family sleeps, as she narrates the sequence. "Reach up high, longer and longer, and now dive down like a swan." They plant their hands to the floor.
"Am I good at it, mommy?"
"That's perfect, baby," Leila says.
When they're finished, they bring their hands together over their hearts, the Prayer Pose. Felicity does it too.
"Namaste," Leila says. "Do you know what that means? A very special friend taught me this once."
Leila kneels down in front of her, looking up to her daughter's eyes. "It means, I honor the place in you in which the entire Universe dwells. I honor the place in you which is of Love, of Integrity, of Wisdom, and of Peace. When you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me, we are One."
Felicity nods lightly. "Namaste, mommy."
Her mother smiles, but it's not the happy kind of smile. The other kind. The kind where her eyes fill up with tears but she doesn't actually cry, the kind where she reaches out, taking her daughter's hip in her hand, and says, "Oh, baby. Namaste."
She says they do yoga to be happy, to be healthy and strong and peaceful in mind. So Felicity doesn't understand why it always makes her so sad.
*******
(footnotes: 7 weeks ago.)
notes: just a little thing this weekend, but hopefully not without substance ;)
I'm using this little bit of breathing room to finish off a novel chapter, and prep for the next HUGE story set! Oh, does it ever need prepping for! :o
That is the perfect example of how something can be so beautiful and so painful at the same time.
ReplyDeleteDaddy hates yoga and won't even watch them? Does this mean that Matt knows or at least suspects? Did I miss something (entirely possible)?
Now I'm really looking forward to more of Leila's story.
So Leila is still doing yoga, and still allowing herself to think about Corbin. I'm so surprised, because I'd think that she'd want to distance herself from everything he represented and immerse herself back in what her life was before him. I guess she's accepted that she'll never be the same.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Matt will ever confront Corbin.
Illandrya, thank you! Matt always suspected, even as far back as last summer - he just didn't want to admit/think about it. He finally also came to suspect that it had something to do with the yoga. I linked up a footnote post: fish and the bird, part 4.
ReplyDeleteRachel, it appears so, huh? lol! I think he awakened things in her that were suppressed, that would have been there if she never married Matt, and that she she doesn't want to let go of. I won't say any more though, because the next piece explains that quite a bit. ;)
It makes sense to me that Leila did not go back to her own life. You can't go back once things change, once they open up for you. Even though she made her decision to stay with Matt what she took away from Corbin will always be in her heart. I do wonder if she will re-think her decision however.
ReplyDeleteI know I don't comment much...but I do read. ;)
And I meant old life not own life.
ReplyDeleteGayl, it's so good to hear from you here! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! Yes, I agree. I think she fully knew before she even broke things off with Corbin that she could never really go back to the way things were. So it's up to both her and Matt now if they want to accept the way things are.
Thanks for reading! :)
"And her daddy won't do it either. He won't even watch them doing it. He says he hates yoga."
ReplyDeleteAw. I can imagine that would be quite the sore spot for Matt! Game play wise though, I didn't even know kids could do yoga!
This was so sweet and beautiful. And sad at the same time. I too was surprised that Leila is still letting herself think about Corbin. It must be unimaginably difficult for her, but I guess maybe she draws some comfort from it as well. Having that little piece of him with her still, even though they can't see each other any more. I'm so interested to read a little more about that in the next piece.
I don't blame him not wanting to do yoga, that is the thing that drove the wedge (deeper) between them.
ReplyDeleteFeelings are hard to turn off, and doing the yoga wouldn't help her heal. But I also see why she does it, she wants to be close to Corbin in some way.
Leila is going to have to work towards saving her marriage, but Matt is going to have to work just as hard.
There might just be hope for Corbin after all?
Carla, lol, kids actually *can't* do yoga! ;) I used a few other animations to approximate it. Though in the first shot, that's taken from tai chi, which just happens to look like they're moving into Warrior Pose. Kids can do tai chi.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how much of her is conscious of why she still does the yoga. I think she argues with herself that she just likes it and wants it to be a part of her life, but yes, then it reminds her of him too.
Riverdale, oh, so true, they both have a LOT of work to do here, in equal parts, if they want to salvage this marriage.
I'm glad y'all are understanding Matt's passionate hate for yoga, lol!
Oh wow. Short, but so touching. Poor little girl. She has a clue, but nothing will prepare her for the truth.
ReplyDeleteI really hope Matt steps up to the plate - he has a lot of work to do. But yeah - definitely understand why he hates yoga.
ReplyDeleteLeila isn't going to forget Corbin - somehow I don't think it works like that.I do wonder how she's going to live with her choice.
Love the part about her and Felicity. Very sweet and lovely! You have lots of creativity in writing. **Sighed** about her and Corbin. Matt.. I really would love to know more about him, about Matt's feelings. Sorry, Corbin ;)
ReplyDeleteI know that Corbin is feeling hurt too, though.
I know that Matt is hurt deeply and you have already written about him.. But, still I would love to know more.
ReplyDeleteLunar, yes, it's quite a bit more than she could possibly understand :(
ReplyDeleteKiri, no matter what choice she made, she'd have something awful to live with. That's what these next few stories will be about ;)
M.J., no worries, lol! Corbin has had plenty of time to say what he needed to say. So yes, now it's Matt and Leila's turn. I meant it that way ;)
Yeah - there were no good choices for her. Sometimes it's a tough life.
ReplyDeleteLol! Yes, I can see that in your side bar ;) Can't wait for it. I forgot to mention how lovely your pictures are. Leila is so pretty and Felicity is so cute.
ReplyDeleteThis was such a lovely post. I love mommy and daughter time. It makes me a bit jealous because it seems awesome.
ReplyDeleteAh, I have to backtrack and find out more about her and Corbin. I tried to avoid this post but the temptation was too much.
Choco, hi and welcome!!! (Can't remember if I welcomed you before - I might have, lol!)
ReplyDeleteI'm usually the same way, just itching to get reading so I dig right in, especially with longer stories like this. Corbin, Leila, and Matt all have name labels in the labels box, there at the sidebar. And their storyline is called "fish and the bird", linked up at the top of this post. So dig in!
And thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it! :)
My first thought: That was so short!
ReplyDeleteMy second thought: Holy crud that was amazing!
So sweet. :) Longer isn't always better it seems...
cute! As I said once, I attend yoga 2 times a week- so I know exactly how Leila feels about that! But gosh, imagine living with what shes going through. But she made the right choice. It would NOT have been okay to pick Corbin, and I hope that thought can carry her through, and Matt can step up to the plate.
ReplyDeleteAnd I love how you made this Felicity's update. I'm glad she's getting involved!
Ellie, awww, thank you! :) And don't worry, the next few will more than make up for it in length!
ReplyDeleteBilly, I wish Felicity didn't have to get involved, but there's no avoiding it really.
I'm very mindful of Felicity especially in this. I'm not going to pretend this doesn't matter to the kids, however it goes down. Not that Leila needs any more pressure, but I think the choices she makes (and to some degree, the way Matt behaves too) will naturally have an effect on the young woman Felicity grows up to be. It's not just her age, relative to the twins, but that she's a little girl too, so no matter what Leila does, Felicity is learning from her what it means to be a woman. The question is, what does Leila want to teach her about that?
Astonishing how you can get so much out of a simple activity like yoga. I am in awe! And it is a perfect example of finding both sorrow and joy in the same moment.
ReplyDeleteBeth, thank you! :) Ah, a simple activity for most, but very a complex one for Leila, lol!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Illandrya. This post was both beautiful and painful. I am amazed at how much emotion you are able to display in such a short post done in Felicity's point of view.
ReplyDelete