Being Mommy

When the music finally came to a soft soothing end, Cecilia looked over at Grandpa. He was smiling. It made her truly happy to see Grandpa enjoying himself.

Ty, who had been flying in front of her during most of the song, landed on her knee again. She reached down and stroked his soft white fur. He made no sound but she could tell by the look on his face that he liked it.

She picked Ty up and placed him on her shoulder, then got up off the puffball as Grandpa was getting up himself. As beautiful as the song had been, it also felt nice to stretch her legs a little.

Kelsey and Sonny returned from wherever they had been making their music.

“So what did you think?” Kelsey asked Cecilia.

“Oh my,” said Cecilia, “it was the most amazing song I’ve ever heard!”

Kelsey smiled and looked over at Sonny, who was also smiling.

“Then we have done our job for the night!” he said. Grandpa laughed at the little monkey’s statement.

“So tell us, how long have you been in Corsilon?” Kelsey asked.

“We just arrived, really, right before we met you,” Cecilia answered.

“That’s great! That means you haven’t been to the Chime Grove yet! Sonny, we get to show her the Chime Grove!” Kelsey cried in delight.

“Chime Grove?” Cecilia asked.

Grandpa cut in. “Sweetie, how would you like to be able to make music like that?” he said.

“Oh boy would I!” she answered.

“Good! The thing is, you can’t make music here – this is Sonny and Kelsey’s special spot. But you can do it in the Chime Grove.” Grandpa said.

Cecilia started jumping up a down, excited by this new idea! If she could make music like she had heard tonight from Sonny and Kelsey, she would be the happiest girl ever!

“Well, let’s go then!” Sonny said patting Grandpa on the back once and jumping over to the next tree. “Follow me!”

Sonny and Kelsey jumped from tree to tree while Grandpa and Cecilia walked along the platforms behind them, and Ty flew along. Cecilia hadn’t realized how many trees there were until she was walking through them on the walkway. It seemed like a never-ending maze of paths and she had no idea how the cute little monkeys could figure out which way to go!

But they knew all right. After about 10 minutes of walking along the treetops, including a stop to pick berries as Ty was hungry again, they came to the end of the forest of trees. The platform branched out into the sky and formed a big circle, like at the end of some streets she had seen that her mom called “cul-de-sacs”.

As everyone walked out to the big circle in the sky, she thought once more – as she had so many times since she’d been given Grandma’s magic shoes – how she supposed she should be scared, but she just wasn’t. It was wonderful feeling safe and happy all of the time!

She walked over to the edge of the circle and looked down over the railing. It was a long drop down to the puff balls below. But then she remembered Grandpa saying it would not hurt her to jump down there, that she would just bounce, and that it was fun. Suddenly she couldn’t wait to try it! She trusted Grandpa and knew that while she would NEVER do something like this in her normal life, these lands were different somehow. Magical.

“You remember what I said earlier?” Grandpa asked her.

“Yep! How do I do it?” she asked him.

Grandpa laughed. “Not scared, huh?”

“Not at all, though normally I would be!” she said.

Ty suddenly spoke up. “Don’t worry my dear. If I thought you were going to be harmed, I would save you!” he proclaimed proudly.

Cecilia was confused by his claim. “Ty, how would you be able to save me?” she asked him.

Grandpa laughed. Sonny and Kelsey looked curious. Ty smiled widely and said “Watch!”

Ty flew down below the railing and Cecilia peered down after him.

Right in front of her eyes, the most amazing thing happened. Ty grew!

And not just a little bit. Ty grew to the size of an actual dragon! As he gracefully flew around below them, back and forth, he got bigger and bigger until he was big enough that Cecilia could easily ride on him! He was so big, even Grandpa would fit on his back!

He flew back up to the platform’s height and hovered in front of them.

“Well?” he asked her, with a silly grin on his face.

“Ty! Why didn’t you tell me you could get bigger?!” she said, astonished.

He cocked his head to one side looking a little confused, like he was so good at doing. “You never asked,” he answered.

Cecilia started laughing and soon Grandpa and the two monkeys were laughing right along with her. Ty didn’t seem to understand why everyone was laughing, but he was still proud and smiling.

Quickly he swooped down below the platform again and before Cecilia had a chance to look down, he was back up and back to his normal tiny size. He landed softly on her shoulder and snuggled her neck.

She was ready. “Okay, Grandpa, how do I do it?” she asked him again.

“Silly girl!” Grandpa said. “Jump! Like this!”

And with that, Grandpa sat on the railing, spun around so his legs were hanging over the edge, and dropped off the edge. Cecilia quickly looked down over the railing and watched as Grandpa seemed to fall quite slowly downward, until after a few moments he landed on a puff ball below, bounced a few times, and finally stopped and stood, looking up at her with a wide smile.

“Wow!” she said, excited to try it herself.

“Your turn sweetie, and then we’ll be right behind you,” Sonny said to her.

Ty flew off her shoulder and into the air.

“Here we go!” she thought to herself as she looked around the platform. There was one spot where there was no railing, and she decided that she wanted to leap off from there instead of just dropping down. She walked to the edge, looked down at the puff balls, put her arms up like a diver, and dove into the air!

The first thing she noticed was that she was not falling fast. She was almost floating down toward the ground! She could feel the gentle breeze on her cheeks, and she could see Ty flying next to her, making sure she was safe. At that moment Grandpa must have stepped on a pink puff ball, because she heard that familiar twinkling sound fill the air around her.

As she reached the bottom, she landed softly on a pink puff ball. As she bounced gently upward, the twinkling sound came again. She loved the bouncing feeling! It was like bouncing off a soft and squishy cloud!

The twinkling sound came once more as she finally came to rest. She got up and headed over to where Grandpa was waiting for her. As she reached him, the two monkeys landed nearby. They also came to where Grandpa was standing and smiled at Cecilia.

“That was incredible!” she said, laughing. The monkeys were happy that she had enjoyed the fall.

“Okay, sweetie,” Grandpa said, “follow me!”

She followed Grandpa and the monkeys for a bit, bouncing off the puff balls as they made their way around the edge of the huge forest. They made one final turn, and she saw a grove of smaller trees just up ahead.

As they entered the grove, Cecilia looked at the new trees. Besides being smaller than the others, were different in other ways too. For one thing, they were completely silver! They looked like the most magical trees that could ever be imagined!

Secondly, they had little silver things hanging from them instead of leaves or flowers. They looked sort of like little icicles. The pink sun had started coming back up into the sky, and she could see the pink reflection in each icicle.

“Okay now Cecilia, pick a spot and lay down,” Sonny instructed. She looked around and found a spot that looked good and laid down, looking up at the trees above her. Grandpa laid down next to her, and the monkeys sat above her head. Ty landed on Grandpa’s chest and settled in.

“Now,” Sonny continued, “close your eyes and imagine a soft breeze running across your face.”

She closed her eyes, and thought about the breeze she had just felt when she was falling from the tall trees onto the puff balls. As she did so, the entire grove lit up with twinkling sounds!

She opened her eyes, and saw that the icicles were glowing a beautiful pink, shimmering and swaying gently.

“Perfect!” Kelsey said. “You’re doing great! Now, I know it’s pretty, but close your eyes again and keep imagining that breeze, moving over the land, over the hills, through the trees and up into the leaves. Just keep imagining the path that the breeze is taking as it moves through the land.”

Cecilia closed her eyes again. She imagined the breeze flowing up and down hills, bouncing gently off of the puff balls, circling the trunks of the trees upward until they reached the top and then floating across the platforms and spiraling down the next tree back to the ground.

As she thought all this in her head, lovely music was coming from the icicles. It was all twinkling sounds, like the pink puff balls made, but there were different notes that made a melody, a song. As she imagined the breeze going up the trees, the notes got higher and sweeter. As she thought of the breeze going back down, the notes got lower and smoother. At times the song was fast and peppy, and then it would slow down and flow with her thoughts.

She sat there, eyes closed, making music for everyone to hear, for about 20 minutes. Then she opened her eyes and watched as the bright glowing of the icicles and the lovely notes she had created gently faded into the sky.

“You are really good at that!” Kelsey exclaimed. Cecilia sat up just as Kelsey jumped over to give her a big hug. “If you ever need a job, you can be our helper!”

Everyone laughed, including Cecilia. She imagined it must be one of the most rewarding jobs a person could have!

Grandpa and Ty took turns making music in the Chime Grove too, and Cecilia got to look at the beautiful pink glow of the icicles while their music played. It was a wonderful way to spend time, and the thought of all the happiness they were creating for all the lands of Rettel filled her heart with joy.

After that, Kelsey and Sonny gave Grandpa and Cecilia each long hugs and wished them well on their continued trips, and jumped back into the forest of huge yellow and blue trees.

The three of them, Grandpa, Cecilia, and Ty, then laid down again in the Chime Grove, and listened to the music Grandpa was making until they all fell fast asleep.