I was walking our dog in the back yard the other day. Suddenly she stopped, sniffed the air, and began barking. I looked around to see what had caught her attention.
Sitting on one of the large rocks that adorn our back yard was - something. It appeared to be a person, but she was very small, doll-sized. She sat cross-legged on the rock, laughing, holding a fluffy dandelion ball and blowing the little airplane seeds into the air. This was January, wintertime, dandelions don't bloom and form seeds in the winter. I backed away a step or two and reached to pick up Rosebud, who was still barking and dancing around.
"What's the problem? Never seen a dandelion?" The little person snapped.
"Ummmm." I tried to get enough moisture in my dry mouth to speak. "Not in winter."
"Or is it me? Don't you know me?"
"I - I don't think so. What's your name?" I stammered.
"Yardley," she answered.
"Yardley, that's kind of an odd name, isn't it?"
"Remember it?" She cocked her head and looked expectantly at me, a little grin playing around her tiny perfect lips.
"Ummm, the only Yardley I remember was a company that made inexpensive colognes when I was a kid."
"There you go." She smirked.
"Who named you for a brand of cologne?"
"You did."
"Me?"
Well, I'm YOUR muse. Good grief." She threw the dandelion stem down and twisted around on the rock, turning her back on me.