For my Emily Grace

In the heat of summer, a strange tiding brewed. Past the cottage, near the treeline where I camped, I heard a ghastly noise. The noise reminded me of a cross between a cat fight that was going wrong and a freight train, grinding its brakes to a screeching halt. At first, I was nervous and afraid of the noise. I tried to zoom my camera lens in on the area but all I could see was the outline of a face.

Becoming braver, I walked cautiously towards the face. Once there by it, I realized the face was instead a mask. But whose mask, I wondered? I decided to move my campsite to that area to see if anyone returned to claim the mask. Hours passed and I saw no one. I passed the time by catching a lone firefly in a bottle. This provided added light, along with the stars overhead, to help with seeing what may be lurking nearby. I ate a snack of porridge before exhaustion struck and I drifted off to sleep.

Suddenly, a short time later, I was awakened by a rustling in the trees. I leaped from my sleeping bag, armed at the ready with a stick. Lethargy still filled my veins, however, and I fell in a pile. When I recovered, I noticed a fairy sitting before me.

“Did you make all that noise?” I asked.
“No. My master did.” she replied. “He summoned me to tell you that a great enlightenment is coming to you.”
“A great enlightenment?” I ask.
“Yes. All you must do is stay awake for forty-eight straight hours and you’ll be granted whatever you wish.”
“Whatever I wish?” I ask.
“Yes. So what do you wish?” asked the fairy.

I had to think about this for a moment. World peace or domination was out of the question. I really wanted a fine house and big yard for my family but that seemed greedy. Instead, I told the fairy, “I just want my daughter to grow up happy for all of her days.”

“That is a beautiful wish.” The fairy said. “All you need to do now is to stay awake for forty-eight hours.”

This challenge could not be that hard, right? Well, by the twenty-four hour mark, with no coffee running through my veins, the struggle to stay awake was real. For my daughter, however, as any mother would, I dug my toes in and held on. I took walks. I sang to myself. I counted stars in the sky. I did anything I could to stay awake because I would do anything for her.

After forty-eight hours. the fairy returned and waved her magic wand. Golden fairy dust covered me and suddenly a proclamation appeared that said my daughter, Emily, even if not without hardship, would find something good within her that would allow her to be happy all her days.

“Thank you.” I said to the fairy. “Just out of curiosity, who is your master that rustled in the woods?”
She said “I call him the Almighty One. He makes all things possible.”
“Thank him for me.” I asked.
“You do every day by being Emily’s Mom.” The fairy said as she flew off.

From that day forward, my child never knew tremendous heartache that she could not handle. Within Emily’s heart, she was always able to find some reason to be happy.