Anonymous 07/10/2021 (Sat) 18:53 No.793 del

>The dogs wrestled away by their owners Franny was alone on the smeared, broken lawn, strands of grass sticking still to her messied hair and ruined uniform
>Her purse, thankfully, was fine, the tickets safe inside for the Mister and Missus
>But there on the ground spilled in broken red petals was the destroyed bouquet, its plastic wrapping failing to keep clods of dirt and grass from the flowers inside
>Reaching a wavering hand inside Franny checked the roses, each one bruised and de-petaled like their siblings
>Deeper though, cushioned by its fallen siblings, was one last flower *just* fine enough to take home and offer to the Mister and Missus for their day
>It would have to do, Franny sighed, the cresting sun telling her it was time to go home

>The pair of boys, slinging their cart left and right through the aisles of the store, slammed each odd and end off the shelves and into it
>Drifting around corners they grabbed assorted bags of chocolates and candies, plopping a thick cardboard heart in after them just for Mom and Dad
>A handful of baking supplies on top of the ingredients for their parents’ favorite (the oldest would be making dinner) and all that remained was the card
>Pausing to catch their breaths, having deftly avoided a few polo-shirted employees along the way, they tip-toed through the silent mass of greeting cards
>Shelves on shelves of them fluttered and glinted around them, cheap kitschy cardstock bedecked in glitter or streams of glittering, metallic paint
>”Uh…,” Nathan started, “what do we get?”
>His twin narrowed his pouting face, eyeing the specific labels for each column of cards
>”Thhhhat one.” He pointed to ‘Marriage & Couples’, the frilly red text standing besides ‘Recent Passing’ and ‘New Baby’. “How long have Mom and Dad been married?”
>”...How old is-”