YOUR DAISY

Chapter 14

Sister Catherine was watching them from afar.

A few weeks ago, a nun whose name is Irene, had proposed that the students dedicate a whole afternoon to spend outside once a month. She thought that passing a day outside of the boarding school would motivate them in their studies and in their faith, so after a little insistence from her part and from other nuns, the prioress had finally agreed to the innovative proposition. Today was one of those days; the one hundred pupils had been divided into five groups of twenty people and, fortunately, Karlie and Taylor were in the same group. For each gathering, three nuns would accompany and supervise them.

For this first experimental outing, they had decided to go to a beautiful park nearby the school. They crossed the gravel street, entering the fenced open space of nature. Younger and carefree kids were running around, their mothers watching them carefully as the ivory headband covering their heads protected them from the faint February sun. The nuns responsible for this group were sister Catherine, sister Irene and sister Therese. The three of them were keeping an eye on the group of the twenty girls, but the only one that was watching the two lovers goofing around was sister Catherine, a soft smile playing at her lips. The other two nuns were relatively young, their pale skin looking fresh and their pitch black habit seeming too large for their slim and small bodies. Sister Catherine was probably the oldest among the three of them. She noticed how Karlie and Taylor had distanced themselves from the other pupils, dancing to no sound in particular as wide smiles split their visages in half. They looked as much carefree as the kids giggling around them, Karlie's arms going around Taylor's middle from behind as the blonde had lost her balance. When the action only seemed to worsen the situation, their feet awkwardly tangling, the two stumbled on the ground, both of them erupting in lively laughs. Sister Catherine watched how their hands were still linked together, their legs meeting below their covered knees. She noticed how Taylor placed her head against Karlie's shoulder, the smile on her face becoming more timid and restrained as little dimples appeared at the sides of her mouth. She saw how they stayed on the ground, not caring about the green grass underneath their bodies or the rays of the sun directly hitting their faces. They seemed content; it somehow made the nun frown, wishing she could have had a friendship like theirs.

"Do you think that this will benefit them?"

The nun turned towards the younger sister standing by her side, touched her white wimple and replied, "I think it will. I've seen only happy smiles today,". Sister Catherine looked back at Taylor and Karlie, whose faces were still wearing a huge and delighted grin. "I wish we had a day like this one," she admitted quietly. The two nuns directed their attentions towards the oldest, inquisitive looks on both of their visages. "Look at them, they're having so much fun,"

"We had fun, too. In other ways, but we had fun," sister Therese said.

"I feel like all I've done in my life is loving God and getting down on my knees to pray," sister Catherine mumbled under her breath, but the other two women heard her. They stayed silent for a moment, the gravity and the meaning of the oldest nun's words weighing down upon their shoulders. "I'm—not regretting this. I decided this life, but sometimes I just wish we would have more—,"

"—freedom," sister Irene finished for her. They shared an understanding smile, the younger sister's jade eyes looking warm and generous under the sun's light. "I know," she nodded sympathetically. "That's why I proposed this. I wanted to give those girls—," she pointed to the students in front of them, who were playing and having fun as if they didn't have to go back to the boarding school in a few hours. "—the freedom that we didn't have when we were their age,"

Sister Catherine nodded gratefully before directing her gaze towards the blonde and the brunette, who were now sitting with their backs against a large oak tree. Their sides were touching, but that wasn't what surprised sister Catherine the most; it was Karlie's loving stare as she looked down at the other pupil, who was simply talking while moving her hands around to emphasize the words she couldn't hear. It were the stars inside of her sparkling green eyes, the corner of her lips slightly turned upwards in the most intimate and gentle smile as Karlie listened to Taylor speak.