Daisy was the kind of friend who really listened. She was the rock for her peer group, always ready with a kind word and no judgment. While the boys in her senior class often watched her from afar, Daisy hardly noticed. Her mind was elsewhere, filled with sketches, fashion magazines, and fabric swatches.
She dreamed of making it in the fashion industry, maybe even moving to New York to become a designer. Her bedroom on the second floor of the family’s old farmhouse was covered in clippings from Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. She brought them home from every trip to the city, studying the hemlines and silhouettes of the world’s top brands.
Her walls were also decorated with her own drawings—evening gowns, sharp suits, and summer dresses. Daisy could sit for hours at her grandfather’s antique desk, lost in her work. Her pencil moved with confidence, sketching out textures and folds. In her mind, she could already see the runway lights and hear the camera shutters.
— “Daisy, honey, why are you still up?” Sarah would ask, peeking in after a long night shift. She’d stand in the doorway in her scrubs, tired but smiling. — “It’s late, and you have school in the morning.”
— “Just a few more minutes, Mom, I’m almost done,” Daisy would reply without looking up. — “Look at the way this silk is supposed to drape.” Sarah would walk over, look at her daughter’s work, and shake her head with pride.
— “You’re too talented for your own good, but you need sleep.” Daisy would nod, ask for five more minutes, and Sarah would head to bed, knowing her daughter inherited her own stubborn streak for finishing what she started. That drive was a family trait.
The family lived in a sturdy house on the edge of town, surrounded by apple and cherry trees that the grandfather had planted decades ago. In the summer, the yard smelled like blossoms; in the fall, the branches hung heavy with fruit. It was a home built on stability and quiet affection.
