Buzzed, I meander to the front porch, waiting for my ride to pick me up. My mother, coming in from gardening, hands me a freshly picked bundle of lilacs. "Here," she laughs, friendly, "I bet these smell better than cigarette smoke."
Laughing, I take them and agree, not wanting her to hang around and smell more than cigarettes.
My ride comes quickly.
And when I return, a half hour later, the lilac buds are closed, wilted in the absence of a bush to grow on or a vase to dwell in.