Wednesday, May 14, 2014

things unexplainable

"Would you like a story?" I ask, clutching a little bundle of books.
My granddaughter pauses in her play to examine the goods.
"That one," she pronounces, pointing to a very tattered volumn.

"Once upon a time," I begin happily.
"You can be the wicked stepmother Gramma," my little granddaughter offers.
"Sure," I say, agreeably.
"Once upon a time there was a girl named Cinderella.... "
My granddaughter strikes a pose and the story unfolds.
Action...Take one...
She is such an earnest little Cinderella, dutifully and optimistically cleaning everything in sight.
I, the cold hearted stepmother and somehow, two nasty stepsisters at once.
I read on.
When I get to the part where the stepsisters tear Cinderella's dress, her little shoulders droop with dejection.
But the Fairy Godmother never fails to appear.
Hooray, I'm finally a good guy.
I'm magically transformed.
My face takes on the light of love.
A few waves of my wand and my granddaughter is transformed as well.
I am in the presence of joy.
And beauty.
And hope.

I find that I have become a prince
We dance and twirl and dip.

I am a clock, bonging the hours.
And she, no longer a princess-in-waiting, but a tattered girl, clutching a worn, pink, sparkly shoe.

I bet you know the ending of the story.
The matching shoe is produced and Cinderella is swept away to her happily ever after.
But, my granddaughter wants to know why the shoes didn't disappear like all the other borrowed finery.
Children are wise and logical.
The truth is very simple.
There are mysteries and miracles and things unexplainable.
Especially where hope and love reign.

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