One wish, she had one wish. It would last a day, and then it would be gone forever. Katherine knew exactly what she wanted, and it was granted in the blink of an eye.
Rosy cheeks, a cherub smile, tiny hands grappling to hold on to her mother's finger, long, lustrous, perfect ringlets, bouncing around her giggling face. A petite frame adorned in a beautiful, pristine, carnation pink dress. Feet bare, laughter chiming and enchanting as she runs through a meadow of sunflowers. Bright rays of beaming sunlight cascading down from the heavens, reflecting from her magnificent veridian colored eyes, that look up like pools of perfection at the elder woman.
"Momma come play with me!" She calls out, giggling as she pounces off in the opposite direction, the full and blooming leaves of the surrounding greenery, tickling her skin as she runs through the soft pillows of dirt. Stopping to greet a perched butterfly, nose to nose, red iridescent wings, fluttering in a gentle motion, as if it's saying hello back to the small girl.
"Momma whats that?" She asks, her curiosity innate, harboring knowledge, eager to learn, her world invigorating, open to knew experiences.
"That's a butterfly my love." Katherine replies, crouching down, her own hair hanging down in neat curls, her face a setting it's never been played on before. It's relaxed, happy, natural, as she gazes upon her daughter, pulling her hair from her neck to place a kiss on the threshold of the slope. Hoping it'll linger, as if in some ulterior universe, she'll reach up, an older version of herself, and feel the tickle, knowing her mother is out there somewhere, wishing her the best, still loving her from afar.
"It's so pretty!" She chirps excitedly, her high octave frightening the creature as it flies away.
"Oh no, Momma, why'd it leave?" She asks, a forlorn look on her face, as if she's lost a dear friend.
Katherine glows at her small child, scooping her up in her arms and holding her aloft so the sun escapes through the windows in her hair, "It was intimidated by your beauty." She beams, holding her nose to nose, unable to stop, the drop of saline that forms in the crease of her eyes, tip-toeing down her cheek, her daughter captureing it with her fingertip.
"Why are you sad Momma?" She asks, worry etched in her features, an emotion wise beyond her years.
"I'm not sad dear, I just love you Isabella. Sometimes when someone has so much love to bear, they can't help but be overwhelmed by it." She replies, running her fingers through her hair.
Her daughter smiles, taking a step forward, a smile just like her mother's painted on her face as she leans in. "Then I'd be crying all the time silly." She states sincerely, her eyes alight and soulful, knowledgable, perfect. She turns to run, "Chase me, Momma!" She calls back.
"Always." Katherine chokes on it, as the world around her begins to fade, and she struggles to grasp onto the wisps of a wish
She ran her hand almost instantly over a small jewelry box in her room. It sat on her dresser, the one possession she'd taken with her from her home. Her mother had given it to her, it had a lock of hair from when she was a child, and it was beautifully crafted from cherrywood, Bulgarian inscriptions on the side. She ran her fingers over the silken lock as she'd opened it. It was empty except for that and a small golden angel charm. She pressed her lips to the box, not noticing the small tear that had gathered in the corner of her eye, one she'd hastily wiped away, that was all she had left. All she had of her family.
The golden angel lay to the side, a tiny inscription on the back of it, the charm itself just large enough to fit on a bracelet…made for a child, it read, Isabella.