The Sutra of The Pomegranate

There was one who kept their hands folded and their eyes down, who said no before being asked and sorry before causing offense. They called this virtue. Perhaps it was. But virtue and fear wear the same face sometimes. One day they tasted something sweet and did not immediately put it down. This was the beginning. Not of recklessness. Not of abandon. But of the slow and honest question — what do I actually want, and am I allowed to want it? The answer, it turned out, was yes. With care. With eyes open. With full knowledge that sweetness costs something and that cost is worth knowing before you reach for it again. But yes. Thus the closed hand opened.