The biker didn\u2019t answer immediately.<\/p>\n
The sunflower sat in his vest pocket, slightly tilted, bright against the dark leather.<\/p>\n
The garage felt quieter than before.<\/p>\n
Even the distant hum of the engine seemed softer now.<\/p>\n
The little girl stood close, waiting.<\/p>\n
Patient.<\/p>\n
Not afraid.<\/p>\n
The biker finally looked down at her.<\/p>\n
Then at the flower.<\/p>\n
\u201cUsed to be for someone,\u201d he said quietly.<\/p>\n
A pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow I\u2019m not sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
The girl tilted her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid she leave?\u201d<\/p>\n
The biker\u2019s jaw tightened slightly.<\/p>\n
Not angry.<\/p>\n
Just remembering.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026yeah,\u201d he said after a moment.<\/p>\n
The three men in the background didn\u2019t move.<\/p>\n
They didn\u2019t interrupt.<\/p>\n
They just watched.<\/p>\n
The woman near the wall lowered her eyes slightly, like she understood more than she showed.<\/p>\n
The girl looked at the Harley again.<\/p>\n
Then back at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt still looks like your daddy,\u201d she said softly.<\/p>\n
A faint, almost invisible smile crossed the biker\u2019s face.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah,\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n
\u201cMachines don\u2019t forget who built them.\u201d<\/p>\n
He gently adjusted the sunflower in his pocket so it wouldn\u2019t fall.<\/p>\n
Careful.<\/p>\n
Like it mattered.<\/p>\n
The girl took a small step closer again.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about you?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n
The question hung in the air.<\/p>\n
Simple.<\/p>\n
Heavy.<\/p>\n
The biker didn\u2019t answer right away.<\/p>\n
Instead, he reached out and lightly tapped the side of the Harley.<\/p>\n
Metal echoed softly through the garage.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis one remembers me,\u201d he said at last.<\/p>\n
A pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I remember her.\u201d<\/p>\n
The girl nodded slowly, as if that made sense to her in a way adults wouldn\u2019t understand.<\/p>\n
Then she stepped back.<\/p>\n
Looking at him one last time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen don\u2019t let the flower die,\u201d she said softly.<\/p>\n
The biker looked down at it again.<\/p>\n
Held there by something he couldn\u2019t name.<\/p>\n
Outside, the wind moved gently past the open garage door.<\/p>\n
Inside, nothing changed\u2014<\/p>\n
but something in him quietly did.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The biker didn\u2019t answer immediately. The sunflower sat in his vest pocket, slightly tilted, bright against the dark leather. The garage felt quieter than before. Even the distant hum of the engine seemed softer now. The little girl stood close, waiting. Patient. Not afraid. The biker finally looked down at her. Then at the flower. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":6830,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storytimes.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}