Serenity, Illinois

The lights were turned down, the room enveloped in a soft orange glow. There was a small stereo playing a mix of pan flute music and whale noises. Not Poppy’s favorite, but her clients seemed to like it. Give her some mellow jazz and she could relax much easier than with whales crying. Or were they moaning? She was never really sure.

In her calmest, most soothing voice she said, “Mr. Roberts, is your temperature good? Are you comfortable?”

There were mumbling sounds from the headrest that she took as an 'everything is okay' sound. Mr. Roberts was recovering from a car accident and she had been seeing him twice a week for a month. She had developed a fondness for the large man. He was furry all over, as in head to toes furry. She thought it made him look like a big bear and it made her giggle inwardly every time she saw him.

Poppy loved working on people. Making them relax, feel better, sometimes even leave happy. Poppy’s mother always said she had a gift. It was a gift she had been told her father had given her. Her mother Rose had always been so vague about her father. She often called him an angel, but Poppy took that as her mother just vaguely remembering the man that knocked her up.

That may not be the most flattering way to think of him, but she never understood her mother’s fascination with the man. He’d left her high and dry, but she still talked about him so wistfully and Poppy wasn’t about to crush her mother’s memories.

Whoever he was, whatever ‘gifts’ her father had given her were nothing short of a miracle. With just a touch, Poppy could take away someone’s emotional pain, their hurt, and their feelings of fear or inadequacy. Anything that was negative in their life she could take away, even for just a little while.

It didn’t hurt her to do it. It would make her tired and drain her a little which would leave her hungry and sleepy. It wasn’t a terrible price to pay at all. Mr. Roberts would go home feeling better, his shoulders less stiff. Tomorrow the aches and pains would return, but tonight he would sleep well.

Poppy loved her job, she felt that she could do a lot of good and the personal toll was manageable.

Despite being raised by a single mother, Poppy’s childhood growing up in Serenity, Illinois had been typical. Long summers with humidity that would wreak havoc on your hair. Cold winters that stretched on and on. Poppy’s mother used to joke that the only thing that grew in Illinois in the winter were the snow drifts.

It wasn’t bad though, and she wasn’t the only kid growing up without a father. But as her friends had grown up and moved away to go to college or stretch their wings, Poppy’s mother had told her that she had a destiny that was in Serenity, and that she couldn’t move away. There was too much to be done. That a great battle was in their future. Poppy didn’t understand what she meant and her mother would never explain it. Just cryptic offerings that she would spout as if she was reading them off an invisible sign that only she could see. Thankfully, Poppy was happy living in Serenity, and it wasn’t a hardship to stay. Besides, her mother needed her.

A small timer in the corner chimed, letting her know she needed to wrap up her session with Mr. Roberts. She focused in on his anger and frustration that he still hurt. She could tell that he was feeling lost because he couldn’t help out at home. His wife was doing everything to care for him. He felt sad that he couldn’t do more.

Poppy pulled at those feelings, drawing them into herself and felt the slight euphoria that replaced it course over the man’s body. His muscles loosened and she heard him sigh in relief.

“Mr. Roberts, she said, her voice soft and melodious, “I’ll see you next week. Make sure you drink lots of water and get a good night’s sleep.”

“Thank you,” came the muffled reply.

Poppy left the room and stepped into the shared office of the massage therapy practice. Her coworkers Edith and Mario shared the space and managed independently for the most part. They referred clients to each other and covered each other’s patients when they needed to. It wasn’t as cutthroat as when Poppy had started out after leaving massage school. She’d joined a salon and the fight for tips had gotten ugly. Time and clarity had led her to Serenity Health and Wellness.

Now that she was established at her job and her career was underway, she suddenly found herself at twenty-five years old and still living at home with her mother. She had considered moving out a number of times, but there just didn’t seem to be a good time to leave her mom alone.

“Mario, I’m done for the day. Do you need me for anything else?”

Mario turned from the bowl of steaming miso soup that was making the tiny office smell like an aquarium.

“No, I’ve got that fibromyalgia patient coming in. I’m always so nervous that I’m going to hurt them more when they already are in so much pain,” he said and then went back to slurping his soup.

“I’m sure you will do a wonderful job. I’m going to check on my client then head home for some Great British Baking Show and me time.”

“Don’t you have ‘me time’ every day?”

Poppy pretended to think about it, and then replied, “Yes, yes I do. Thanks for reminding me!”

She gave him a little wave and turned to find Mr. Roberts waiting at the reception desk with a relaxed smile on his face.

“I don’t know how you do it, Poppy. I always feel so good after I see you.”

“You know that I’m glad to help. Are we still billing the car insurance company?”

“Yes, so far they seem like they’re going to pony up for this. It’s not like I asked that semi-truck to rear-end me.”

“Of course not, that’s crazy talk. You rest up and I’ll see you next week.”

Poppy waved him off and then took her tip that he’d left and tucked it into her pocket. That was going to buy her some tacos on the way home.

She hopped in her small sedan and headed towards home through Serenity. She waved at a few people near the park that were doing yoga in the grass. Poppy tended to run in the hippie circles, but she wasn’t the vegan, organic, spin her own wool kind of massage therapist. Sometimes she wished she could be, but it just didn’t feel right.

Poppy never wanted to be anyone important. Not famous or well-known. She just wanted to be loved and cared for. Maybe it was because she didn’t have a father. She craved that feeling only a tall, strong man could make her feel, but somehow dating hadn’t been huge on her mind lately. Sure, there were men that were interested in her, and her mother said it was because she glowed like an angel.

Glow or not, Poppy figured it had more to do with her round ass and more than a handful breasts. She had embraced her naturally curly hair a long time ago. She kept her mahogany colored hair cut just past her shoulders so the curls were long and bouncy. In her youth when she’d begged her mother to let her cut her hair, she had assumed wrongly that if she got it cut just like the girl in Dirty Dancing, it would make her look cute and perky. Instead, it gave her an unfortunate helmet head that she barely lived down during her junior year of school.

Tucking one of those curls behind her ear, she felt good about what she’d done for the day. Her client felt better, she’d made a little money, and she could go home and veg out for the rest of the day. Maybe a stop at the Honey Depot for a caramel honey roll for dessert would be a good reward to go with the tacos.