She Just Might Get You Lost

Poppy Gray is never one you would call and ask to go hang gliding with in Hong Kong, or jump the next flight out to go anywhere- in a few words, she isn’t the least bit adventurous. Poppy Gray was just a timid, very shy girl who used her politeness and smarts as a gateway out of her small town in North Carolina.

It wasn’t like she had a horrible childhood, it was a dream come true. A home by the beach, loving parents, a dog named Bailey. Even her brother and sister got along, and they love Poppy Gray unconditionally.

You may be surprised, but Poppy wasn’t exactly happy. You’d think digging your toes in the gritty sand and staring at the sky would be enough for such a quiet girl, but not Poppy. She envisioned herself leaving the familiar comforts of home to somewhere new, somewhere different. Miss Gray firmly believed that the only way she could really live would be to surround herself with the unfamiliar.

So, after graduating from Princeton- a year early might I add, she was back in Bayshore to plan her next move. For some strange reason, her mind kept drifting to a childhood memory.

“Lets play around the world!” Poppy’s younger brother clapped his hands as he hugged a globe filled with stuffing tightly to his chest.

Poppy and Lottie shared a look of confusion, “what in the world is that?” Lottie placed her hands on her hips. Poppy giggled into her palm from the double entendre.

“It’s a game, silly!” Hayden answered matter-of-factly.

“How do you play?” Poppy scooted closer, her green eyes glistening with interest.

“You hug the world tightly, and wherever your pinky finger touches- that is your place.”
“Place?” Lottie asked.

“Your place. Where you’ll have babies when you get old.” All three scrunched their noses at the thought.

So, Poppy being Poppy, let her siblings go first. Hayden was destined to live in Chicago and Lola was to live in North Carolina.

“You go, Poppy!” Hayden handed the world to Poppy as she nervously accepted it. Lottie was off sulking since she didn’t get any place interesting.

Closing her eyes, she squeezed the world as tightly as she could and placed her pinkies where they met. Looking down at the result, she read out loud, “London, England.”

“LUCKY!” Lottie yelled from the corner where they kept the plastic kitchen. Hayden began to ramble on and on about how Chicago beats both of our ‘places’. Poppy ignored Hayden. Instead, for the rest of the day she repeated two words- London, England.