He carved her name on a cactus leaf, that way she would know just how much he loved her, would love her forever. She kissed him and he felt all his fevered hopes collide with reality. He wanted to be lost in her arms, the moment that he had daydreamed about, but he was only thinking of the spines in his fingers.
Weren’t some cactus spines so tiny that they could embed deep in the fingers impossible to remove? Couldn’t they last for years, decades even? Could he really love her longer than the time it took for the splinters to ease themselves from deep in his flesh? Just that sense of time stretching out ahead gave him chills. To listen to her donkey laugh, to pander to her petulant whims and soothe her tantrums; all the while the cactus spines would be pricking at his fingertips. Forever seemed like no time at all, but a year? A decade? He panicked and ran, leaving his love behind him.
inkbiotic 
Love this!! Just brilliant! 🙂
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Thank you!
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Well sometimes the reality is so much more spiny than the up sweep of the runaway heart!
Great idea and loved how you expanded the idea and took it to such a great level 🙂
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Thank you wildchild! 🙂
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Very thought provoking! I guess you need to know who you are before knowing who you can be with. I’m very slow; only just beginning to know that sort of thing, so i’ll leave it to the experts for now. I’m still waiting to conquer my fear of cactus spines, and other cactussy situations, haha! Probably not alone there, granted. It’s an interesting subject. After all, time changes people. I often wonder just how realistic it is to expect to feel the same way about a person for 10 or 15 years ( let alone longer!) given that the way we feel about any other aspect of life can change so much within that time. That being said, i do really hope that there are people enjoying long term non-cactussy situations! I like to see some sort of evidence that such things exist. Just makes me think, i guess.
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I think it’s very tricky to figure it out. I’ve managed to find my own route to happiness and companionship that works, but most of the logic elude me.
And cacti are great to eat, interesting to look at, but the spines are mean! Don’t trust them, especially when they look fluffy!
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Yep, tricky indeed. Glad to hear you’ve navigated your way through the spikes with some success 🙂 I need to hear positive stories, lest i become permanently jaded!
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