She's got fire red hair right out of a bottle and sticks for legs, the skinniest you've ever seen.  She wears slippers instead of shoes, and always wears navy blue knit socks that are a size too large, causing them to sag and hang loose around those wispy, thin skin covered limbs.    A floral cotton skirt, gathered at the waist, rests just below the knee, and she keeps her tiny frame warm with a pearl buttoned turquoise sweater. Her hair is always combed and neatly coiffed above her haphazard outfit.  That hair, it's the cherry on top. But, she never smiles.

I've seen photos of her beauty queen days; they're displayed on the nursing home wall.  She had a throw-back-your-head laugh in those days, and was dressed to the nines.  I think she tries to mimic her old fashion sense when she clips that string of pearls around her neck, but it's not quite the same.  Something's missing. The joy.

Where did the joy go?  Where did that old beau from the photos go - the one that's sitting on the hood of that convertible with her?  Somehow, between then and now, her stride turned to a shuffle, and she lost it.  She turned her head, and tossed that crown of red, and life passed by.  And now, turning the silver to red does something for her in the drudgery of assisted living. She may not have anything to smile about yet, but with her roots done, she's ready for whatever may come, or whoever may come to interrupt the bleak.  Painting her hair red, it means she's got hope.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. ~ Proverbs 13:12

Today I'm sharing with Five Minute Friday where today's word prompt is RED.