A friend sent me a picture (above) of an orchid shaped like a dancer and asked, “Dennis, what can you write about this?” A part-challenge, hopeful request that I met. This short fiction piece is about finding beauty—in an unlikely place—and how that helped a young girl deal with loneliness, to accept and appreciate new surroundings and make new friends. And that what you find often leads to some self-discovery that can have a great effect on your life. So, always look for the beauty—the things we should appreciate—around us. Because they’re there. It may take some work to uncover them, but they are always there.
You can read the story that resulted here.
What a few readers thought about it (more reader comments are here):

The following reader is who sent me the picture of the orchid:

Then when she’d read the story….
