Narcissus

 Good morning,

Do you ever feel as though your morning was just a few minutes late? Not like really late, but just a little bit that has you wondering if you got up a little later or are just slower about things? That's what this morning feels like. Part of it could be because I'm still kind of tired. It's been a busy week moving things and packing a few last things, and trying to figure out where to put other things.

And I've been trying to keep up my writing. I did write on Sunday evening because the story wouldn't leave me alone and I just felt like it. Now I have the freedom to skip another day during this week and still keep up with my 100 to 100 challenge. 

This week is hot. Yesterday and today we have Excessive Heat Warnings. It reached 100º yesterday with the heat index of 110º. Not fun. So thankful for AC!

Today's story is from Sunday's picture and word of the day. My mom gave me the idea for this story after looking up the word Narcissus. I hope you enjoy it.

 

     Gloria yawned and stretched. The bed was soft and the blankets warm. Turning on her side, she looked out the large window at the bare trees and the leaf covered ground. This family vacation was just what she needed.
    After a few luxurious minutes of knowing that no homework or school bus waited for her, and that she could sleep as long as she wanted, she suddenly didn’t want to sleep any more. The day was cloudy, but autumn days were best that way.
    Sitting up, she leaned back against a large fluffy pillow and reached for the book she had been reading the night before. She could read all morning if she wanted to.
    However, as she began reading her eye fell on a word that reminded her of something and she fell to thinking instead.
    “Stan told me I was like a narcissus. I should look that up. I didn’t think he liked me, but he must.” One finger began to twist the long dark hair. “I’ve never had anyone, especially a boy like me enough to tell me I was like a flower. I wonder what a narcissus looks like.”
    Laying her book aside, Gloria reached down and picked up her phone from the floor. A quick search showed her several flowers in the narcissus family.
    “How lovely! Stan must really like me.” She smiled dreamily and stared unseeingly out the window. “Of course I am pretty and smart. I don’t know why more people don’t like me. Maybe Stan will send me flowers of the narcissus family. I wonder if narcissus means anything. A lot of flowers have meaning.”
    Forgetting completely about her book or about getting up, Gloria did another search. This one proved more enlightening.
    “Narcissus was a hunter in Greek mythology who was very beautiful and vain and rude.” A slight frown began to grow on Gloria’s face. “He saw his reflection in a pool and fell in love with himself. He was then turned into the narcissus flower.” The frown turned into a scowl. “Narcissism is the absorption of one’s self.”
    In disgust, Gloria tossed the phone onto her bed. “Did Stan tell me I was like a Narcissus because he thinks I’m too absorbed with myself? How rude! I’m not like that at all! I am polite to others, I help the teacher, I’m not rude to others, I volunteer for things if they aren’t too messy or dirty, I offered to help tutor, I offered to be queen in the school play. And I’m sure I’ve done many other things.”
    “Maybe you should take a look at that list again.”
    Gloria started and her eyes flew toward the door where her sister stood. “What list?”
    “The one you were just muttering. Everything you listed begins with ‘I’. And,” her sister went on ignoring Gloria’s rolled eyes, “every conversation I’ve heard you in at school revolves around you. What you did, what you think, what you feel. I’d say Stan was right when he said you were like a narcissus.”
    Gloria opened her mouth to argue, but her sister disappeared leaving her alone. “But I’m not at all like that,” she said to the empty room. “Am I?”
    For several sober minutes, Gloria reviewed some of her most recent conversations at school and with her friends. It was true. She did talk about herself more than anything else. “I guess I’m pretty vain too. And if Stan was thinking of where the name narcissus came from when he told me that, he was right. It’s not going to be easy changing, but with God’s help and lots of prayer, I’m not going to stay a narcissus.”

Have you ever known "narcissus" people?

What have you been doing this week?

Do you have AC?