title: The Lavender Llama
author: Tandy Braid
description: Tandy Braid lives in rural Luray, Virginia, with her husband, Doug, where she is an Elementary School Counselor. She has four children ranging in age from seventeen to one year. She obtained her Bachelors degree and teaching certification at Buffalo State College, and her Master's Degree from Canisius College.
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  O N E
  
  
  
  
  
  T H E  S E C R E T
  
  
  
  
  
  Arriane looked out at the thyme-scented Tuscan morning and sighed.
  
  
  
  
  
  She was sprawled on green-velvet grass, propped on her elbows with her chin in
  her palms, relishing the un-seasonable warmth and the sensation of soft fi
  ngers running through her long dark hair.
  
  
  
  
  
  This was how Arriane and Tess spent their rare afternoons together: One girl
  braided, the other spun stories.
  
  
  
  
  
  Then they switched roles.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  “Once there was an extraordinary angel,” Arriane began, turning her head to
  the side so Tess could sweep the hair up from her neck.
  
  
  
  
  
  Tess was better at braiding than Arriane. She would sit beside Arriane with a
  basket of forest wildfl owers in her lap. She’d lean over Arriane’s narrow
  back and weave tight plaits into the angel’s thick hair. She’d pin the braids
  so they zigzagged across Arriane’s scalp, until she looked like Medusa, which
  was Arriane’s favorite style.
  
  
  
  
  
  Arriane, on the other hand, was lucky 