Mimosa

My mother kept a fern-like plant in a clay pot on the windowsill above the kitchen sink.

I learned from an aunt that the plant was really a weed that grew rampant on the islands. "A Mimosa, or The Shy Plant," the aunt said.

Neither full sun nor strong breeze nor droplets of water disturbed the plant.

But if you brushed a fingertip, even gently, against the fronds, the leaves would close slowly over the main vein.

Except for the fact that I thrive in conditions of isolation, and sometimes become unnerved in the presence of other people, there really is no point to this story.