Spring: The changing of another season. Ice dripping and changing into water at the change of temperature. Snow melted before your eyes. How Original Cindy hated the first few days of Spring. Everything looked so confused. It was a sort of half and half. There was still ice and snow, but also patches where it had melted leaving puddles of mud. Every year she watched dejectedly as the fluffy looking white powder disappeared.
"Morning." Max bounced into the apartment. "Isn't it great? Spring is here. No more freezing cold apartment. No more slipping on icy pavements. At least not until next year, anyway."
Original Cindy watched Max suspiously. "What are you so happy about? Last Summer, you were complaining that it was too hot. But the first few days of Summer you thought were wonderful. Same with Winter, only you said it was too cold. Same with Autumn, then it was the leaves changing color and messing up the streets. Of course, your problem with Winter changed, when Jondy cured that love bug virus of yours and you found another way to keep warm."
Max shrugged her shoulders. "So, you get grumpy every year when the snow starts to melt. What's up with that?" She had become used to her friend's anti spring mood over the years. "You want me to stay home with you tonight? We can be grumpy together." She was sure Logan would understand if she cancelled on their plans tonight.
Original Cindy couldn't help but smile at her friend's thoughtfulness. "Nah. No sense in both of us being grumpy. Somehow I figure Logan's probably making plans for the two of you as we speak."
Max shrugged her shoulders. "He said something about wanting to surprise me. I'm sure it's nothing that can't wait."
Original Cindy chuckled. "Oh no you don't. You are not canceling. You want to cheer me up, then be back here tomorrow with all the details." She had come to know that where Max was concerned, Logan pulled out all the stops.
Max's face lit up. "Deal." She left Original Cindy glaring at the melting snow and went to get ready for work. Secretly she was glad she hadn't had to cancel on Logan. As much as Original Cindy's friendship meant to her, this was the same thing that happened every year.
Logan looked over his handy work again. Everything seemed to have been thought of. All he had to do was wait for Max to arrive. Plucking a single daffodil out of a vase that he had placed on the floor, he walked over to the door where he could hear the lock being picked.
Max was surprised to open the door and find Logan waiting for her to finish breaking in. "I'm obviously loosing my touch if you actually know when I'm breaking in." She beamed when Logan held out the daffodil for her.
"Close your eyes." Logan watched with amusement when Max rolled her eyes but did as she was told. Gently taking her hand, he led her into the living room. "Alright. You can open your eyes."
Max wasn't sure what she had expected, but her jaw dropped at the sight of the extravagant picnic set up on the living room floor. A checkered blanket had been laid out on the floor. Plates of sandwiches, cakes and fruit had been carefully placed on the blanket. A bottle of wine was chilling in a bucket of ice to the side. Surrounding the blanket, vases of different brightly colored spring flowers had been placed.
Logan watched Max silently for a moment. Expressions of surprise, then delight crossed her lovely face. He seriously doubted, she had ever been on a picnic before. "When the weather improves a bit more, I'll take you on a real picnic." He promised.
Max threw her arms around him and kissed him. "Thank you. This must have taken you ages to set up." She couldn't believe how lucky she was to have Logan in her life. She had spent so much of her life convinced that she was destined to be alone.
Logan led her onto the blanket and sat down beside her. "It was worth it to see the expression on your face." He poured them each a glass of wine. "To Spring." He toasted.
Max clinked glasses with Logan. "I take it you enjoy Spring." She sipped her wine, looking at Logan over the rim of her glass.
Logan looked wistful for a moment. "My mother used to love it. She loved the brightly colored flowers, the way you could smell the different scents on the breeze. My father though it was all sentimental nonsense, but when he thought no one was looking, you could see what he liked best about Spring. It was my mother's obvious joy in it. He would watch her for hours, when she pointed out the different types of flower to me." He missed those times he spent with his mother. His father, for all his sternness, took such joy in his wife's appreciation of life.
Max wished she had known Logan's mother. The rare times that Logan spoke of her, she sounded like a wonderful person. "It sounds as though you inherited your mother's love of Spring." She giggled to herself. "I left Original Cindy sulking at the melting snow. Spring is not a favorite of hers."
Logan chuckled as he pictured Max's friend staring out a window fully prepared to tell the snow it wasn't allowed to melt. "Maybe we can convince her Spring isn't so bad. Let's eat first though, I'm starving."
The next morning Original Cindy woke and swung her legs out of bed. Still half asleep, she stumbled into the living room. The sight that met her eyes was so unbelievable, that she rubbed her eyes to make sure what she was seeing was real. The living room was full of balloons, each anchored down with a vase of Spring flowers. One balloon caught her eye. It had writing on it. Walking closer so that she could read it, Original Cindy began to chuckle. "Still think Spring sux?" Marveling in the splashes of color, she shook her head. "Alright Boo. Maybe Spring isn't so bad after all."
THE END
