A Thread of Lavender

Returning inside from the evening streets, I climbed onto the low side table where a small ceramic dish held dried lavender stalks. One brittle stem had fallen across the polished wood, snapping in half. I picked up both dry fragments and set them back into the shallow bowl. Next to them lay a spool of faded violet embroidery thread, its loose end trailing down the side. I turned the small wooden bobbin between my hands, slowly rewinding the slack strand until it coiled snugly around the notched edge. A quiet scent of dried blossom drifted across the dark surface as everything came to rest.