Ellie never had a hard time sleeping. Her dreams were always full of hope and brightness. Even when she dreamt of her biological parents, it was as though she was watching movies of their life before she was born. She always saw them with such clarity. The clear picture of them was most likely due to the stories read to her from their journals. Ellie was the luckiest little pixie on Earth. She had two sets of parents that loved her. Through the journals written by Geralt and Azriel was Ellie's opportunity to know the parents she lost. It brought her closer to Kent and Audrey. The openness of where Ellie came from built trust between Ellie and her parents. She knew they would not keep anything from her, and in turn, she could tell them anything.
Over breakfast, Ellie asked her dad, "What makes people lose their happy?"
Kent recalled Ellie saying something about "her happy" when they had seen a gentleman a few days ago.
"You mentioned this before, Ellie. You weren't talking about happiness ..."
Ellie interrupted, "No, not happiness, my happy."
"Yes. That is what I was about to say. What exactly is 'your happy'?" Kent asked calmly.
"Well, it is that sparkle that lives inside everything. Some things have more than other things, but everything has at least a little. It seems to me that as people get older, they have a bit less than younger people. You and Mommie have more than most people your age." Ellie said with a twinkle in her eye.
"People our age, huh? We are pretty old, I guess." Kent tickled Ellie as he emphasized the word "old."
Ellie giggled while she said, "Well, you aren't young like me, are you?"
"Tell me, Ellie; you can see peoples happy?" Kent leaned in to absorb the information Ellie was about to bestow on him.
"People, animals, even things have sparkles!" Ellie smiled
Kent repeated, "Sparkles?"
"Yea. Sparkles. They kind of come from the inside, but they burst all around them. I can see the sparkles. Some things and people have lots of sparkles. Some hardly have any. That man we saw didn't have ANY sparkles, except it was even worse because he was stealing the sparkles from everything near him. EVEN ME!" Ellie was getting upset thinking about it, and Kent pulled her in for a hug.
"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, it's all right. No one is going to steal your sparkles."
Ellie pushed and looked up at her daddy, "But that's the point, he WAS! I didn't think it was possible. I mean, I have seen people lose them,"
Kent looked at her quizzically.
"Yea, like people, are walking, usually older people," Ellie giggled, "and the happy sparkles just kind of get left behind. Sometimes they are absorbed into the ground, or they latch on to passersby, typically little children! But he, that sad man, was actually sucking the sparkles from everything like a vacuum. It was scary and sad. He was so sad, not mean, really, just sad, and every time I think about it, I want to find him and help him. But I am also scared because I don't want him to steal my happy."
"Well, my little pixie, you don't need to worry about that. Chances are we will never see him again, and besides, your happy is strong. No sad will ever beat your happy!" Kent tickled his little Ellie, and her giggle sent sparkles all over the house. Although Kent could not see them, he now knew they were there.
How is Declan feeling about the little girl who ran from him? Does he know his "happy" is gone and he absorbs other's sparkles?
Check out Declan & Ellie's story the first Monday of every month.
Next week: Grammar Police Don't forget to send your questions to me for Wise Words from MommaHattie - write to me at MommaHattie.LLSO@gmail.com
Love Lots; Smile Often
MommaHattie