I’m going through my early flash fiction stories. I used to post them as a “daily dose of fiction.” This one caught me off guard

💔 The One Who Knows

At the community center plant exchange, Sue stood frozen over a cracked terracotta pot and a wilted basil plant.

Tears welled up.

“I don’t know why I’m crying,” she whispered.

Skylar stepped forward but hesitated.

Before she could speak, Eleanor stepped in and knelt beside Sue, gently touching her arm.

“I cried like that over a broken pot once,” she said softly. “But it wasn’t really about the pot.”

Sue gave a small, startled laugh — then let the tears come.

Skylar returned a few minutes later with a spare pot and fresh soil.

Together, she and Sue repotted the basil, gave it a deep drink of water, and carried it out to Sue’s car.

No one rushed her.

No one asked what it was really about.

❤️‍🩹Sometimes the healing begins when someone sees your cracked pot and says, “Let’s plant anyway.”