The crossing bleeps.

“Lily! Hurry!”

Lily rushes; her flower falls. With infinite care, she stoops, small fingers scrabbling for the thin stem.

“Leave it Lily!”

She straightens, in resignation twenty years too old. Her face says: of course the world would do this to my one, perfect thing, again, again.

Fiona Kamal is in training to be a mad cat lady. She lives in North Vancouver with three cat-loving daughters and a husband who is feline-averse. Isn’t tension the source of all inspiration?