A Story

Morning Glory


It is a summer Saturday, and I am walking back home from library. Today, as previous days, I change my way and choose a new street. I am new in Ottawa, and I want to know my neighborhood and my new city better. I expect to see new things, as I have already seen. Saturday is silent and solitude. As I walk, I watch the flowerbeds at front of houses. There are many flowers, which I know. However, many are new to me, or, in my hometown, we know them as wild flowers. Suddenly, I stop. There is Morning Glory, my favorite flower. I love it for many reasons. I love it from my childhood. I like its heart shaped leaves. I like its different colors. I like it because it makes mornings more beautiful. It changes the light of the sun in a lovely manner. It spirals around any subject that is near to it as if it has fallen in love with it. It is why in my hometown they call it “love spiraled.” I love Morning Glory because it reminds my childhood lovely days. My mother liked this flower and always planted its seed and I watched its growth since it was a seed until it became a spiraled lovely plant full of flowers. Therefore, it is my mother’s flower, and there is no doubt that I love it. I stand and watch it carefully and lovingly. From a far distance, a senior lady is walking to my side. I continue looking at flowers as well as at old buildings, which have a lovely style. It is getting late. I resume walking. I feel my necktie moved on one side because I have worn a thin slippery shirt that cannot hold the tie. I need a mirror to fix my tie. I reach to a parked car, and I look at its window’s mirror to fix my tie. The woman is very near to me. She has a meaningful look at me and claps her hands together. I resume walking. All neighborhoods’ dogs bark. I am happy, and the lady is happy too. I am happy because I have found another thing that links Ottawa to my childhood hometown; the lady is happy of thinking that she has saved others’ property. Everyday I learn a new lesson in my new hometown.

October 9, 2006

Asef Fekrat