Green Hope

/ roughwighting

plant, home plants, green, love“‘Be Bop a Lula,’” he says.

“What?”

“That’s her name, ‘Be Bop a Lula.’”

Jill inwardly rolls her eyes. Jason has been softly pushing her for more during the last year. More time together, more intimacy, more thoughts of moving in together. She’s a ‘less is more’ kind of woman. At least, that’s what she’s become.

“Why is that the plant’s name?” Jill asks, pointing to the hanging plant in his hand.

“Well, doesn’t she look like a Be Bop a Lula?”

The large plant is all curling lacy strings of leaves. Jill has no idea what kind it is. Jason is asking her with his eyes, now, if he can hang it in the corner of her bedroom. She nods, hesitantly.

Her apartment is simple, clean, no accessories or pictures on the wall and no color. White walls. Light-wood floors. White countertops. She craves simple. Unadorned. And now this, this, Be Bop a Lula, is adding a large spark of green.

They move to the living room, and Jill’s eyes turn to the corner, where an intruder sits unwelcome. “Benji,” Jason called this large Ficus plant when he brought it last week. She protested, but he gave her all this scientific/biologic reason why plants are good for a home. Oxygen and cleaning the air and stuff.

Jill emptied the air in herself four years ago when her husband and little girl died in a car crash. She has no reason to live, but her body keeps on moving, working, and now even dating, but she feels colorless. https://pixabay.com/photos/leaves-wet-foliage-wet-leaves-5892871/PastorG

“One more please?” Jason asks, his dark brown eyes pleading.

Jason and Jill met in an elevator nine months ago. A man began to harass Jill in the small space, and Jason came to her defense and called the building supervisor. Then he asked her for a coffee date. Then a dinner date. She acquiesced. Why? Because he didn’t rush her; he was quiet enough that she began to talk. He touched her in places she thought were devoid of feeling.

And now, Jason brings some life into her space.

Jason walks over to the front door, where another plant is sitting outside, waiting for permission to enter. This one is tall and spiky, prickly with personality.

house plants, succulent, cactus, green, love“I call her ‘Hope,’” Jason explains while he picks up the potted plant with a grunt and places it in the small dining room corner.

Jill’s gray eyes lighten as she considers Benji and Be Bop a Lula and Hope.

Perhaps. Perhaps.

129 thoughts on “Green Hope”

  9. Lovely….on so many levels. The nuances — daring to let life into her space (even if only a plant or two) after profound loss? Emotional risk-taking and I get that. Something I never consciously thought about and yet I relate to it. ❤️

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  10. My heart is full, thanks to you, Pamela. This is just beautiful. I can feel her allowing love to enter her life again… plant by plant. Jason is a loving and understanding man.
    And thanks for the ear worm… 😉

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  12. This is wonderful. I’ve never heard Be Bop a Lula before and will be grooving on it all day. I need to up my indoor plant name game. I’ve only named one, a philodendron, who I call Rapunzel… for obvious reasons.

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  22. Absolutely beautiful.. Things may often progress slowly.. But there is always Hope that the Be Bop a Lula returns in our lives..

    Loved the Greenery ,,,, And yes they do help clear oxygenate and cleanse ..
    Sending love.. And loved the Song, brought back a few Beep Bops of my own 🙂 ❤

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    • Your response is exactly what I had hoped, Sue. And several people mentioned that of course plants grow slowly oh so slowly and patiently. And that’s what we need to do as well. Here’s to oxygenating our souls!

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    • You are amazing Donna and you remember correctly! I better be on my toes now! But yes Wayback when early in our relationship my guy brought me a bebop a Lula to our first home. 💚 The rest of the story is fiction but yes I believe many writers intersperse the personal with the make-believe.

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    • Thanks so much Lisa. I’ve just been teaching my students about the importance of character development and how we should embody our characters. I think I brought in a lot of Chlorophyll in this one. 😃🪴

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  30. I immediately heard that song in my head as soon as I saw the first words. Now I feel old… lol.
    Wonderful story with such great analogies. Everyone needs a “Be Bop a Lula” in their life, especially when they feel there will never be “Hope” again. 🎍🌳🌱🍁

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    • If I may remind you – bebop be lula she’s my baby. Ha ha. I’m singing it for the next seven weeks also. Yes isn’t it nice that now we have so much color in our lives, Terrie?

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    • What a sweet story! And what a flash from the past! I knew all the words to Be Bop a Lula. A fun song. Nancy must be too young for it. It came out in 1956, although there were many later versions from the Everly Brothers to Paul McCartney.

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      • I never knew Paul McCartney covered that song! He’s my favorite musician. I think Be Bop a Lula is a classic, and for those who know music (no matter the age) they will know this song. Wellll, our grandkids do because we sing it to them. 🙂

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    • That song is certainly an oldie but goodie. I never would’ve known it if my guy, seven years older than me, hadn’t introduced it to me years ago. It sure does have a be bopping beat🎵 !

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