Padma's hand was shaking; she could feel her heart failing. An old woman, she was. Her sister had not died more than a month ago, and it broke Padma's heart to be too weak to travel there.

Padma was dying, and there was still the age-old question to be filled. And since there was no one around to listen to it, she had to leave it for someone to find.



People reminded us life was dangerous.
When we'd walk outside the door,
And they wondered why we smiled.

After riding through apple fields,
And running into trunks of trees,
People reminded us life was dangerous.

People put our little whispers to a stop,
Told us to blow out the light,
And they wondered why we smiled.

My friend and I sat on the bridge railing,
I fell into fits of giggles when I tumbled.
People reminded us life was dangerous.

We ate all the pie and fell ill,
Taking turns in the bathroom,
And they wondered why we smiled.

Even if we died tomorrow,
We lived today to the fullest.
People reminded us life was dangerous,
And they wondered why we smiled?



Sighing, she put down her quill. She stared down at the last stanza. There was no one to read it, but the truth had been told.

And now she could be laid to rest.