The wind ...

I didn't go running this morning.  Not because of the snow, which we did get, but because of the WIND.  Oh my lands, the wind we have today!!! 

We're not unused to wind, here in southern Idaho.  On a typical day, it manifests itself as a determined breeze.  On days like today, every trash can on the street has blown over, and it looks like the truck has already collected, because the trash is nowhere to be found ... until you get into the farmers' fields downwind, and the barbed wire looks like a clothesline. 

It reminded me of a few weeks ago, when the wind snatched a piece of paper from my daughter's hands at school pick-up.  Her face squished up and I knew she was about to cry, so I grabbed her hand and we dashed off across the parking lot after it.  Luckily, it hit a tree in front of the school and stuck, so we only had to chase ... well, maybe 200 feet across the crowded school pick-up before getting it.  *eye roll*

And do you know what that piece of paper was?

An ad.

No, seriously, it was an ad for a pediatric dentist or chiropractor or something that the teacher forgot to put in their homework folders so had instead handed out on their way out the door.  And we risked life and limb running through school pick-up to get it back.

Oy.

At least it works as fodder for my prompt this week!  Without any further ado, the prompt is:
"The winds snatched it from [his/her] hands..."

Enjoy!

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My response:

The wind snatched the origami butterfly from her hands.  It passed the edge of the cliff in moments, swirling higher and higher in the updraft.

Her mouth dropped open as she watched its frantic dance.  Only the cliff edge held her back.  It had happened too quickly.

She had meant to come and stand at the rim, contemplating her loss and talking to her mother, as if she were still there.  Then, when she was ready, she would have let the small paper fly.

But just like her mother's death, the butterfly was gone too soon.  Now she stood with empty hands and a hollow heart wondering what had just happened.