It's Still Life

100 Word Wednesday: prompt – image of an open palm

The girl shrank from the compliment, as if it shone too bright. Her grandmother’s eyes — the weight of ages. “There once was a chalice,” she said, “cracked, scarred by flame, hollow with longing, and when the rain descended, the chalice turned aside. ‘I am unfit,’ it groaned.”

“The rain replied, ‘I do not fall to crown the flawless. I fall because I must. Without your hunger, my gift is wasted. Will you not receive?’

The chalice yielded. Water filled its wounds until they gleamed. And it understood: a vessel is never chosen for perfection, but for the grace of others to give.”