Ilana is two years old and her favorite word is "No."
"Would you like some apple juice?"
"No!", but she screams and whacks her sippy cup against the table when Bethany puts the jug in the fridge.
...
"It's a nice day out. Let's go to the park!"
"No," and Illana runs down the hall to the nursery instead.
Five minutes later she comes back, gnawing on a plastic sand shovel and trailing her doggy blanket – a surprisingly innocent gift from Jay and Bob – behind her. Bethany smiles and goes to get the stroller from the back of the car.
Several hours later, Bethany asks as they're walking back, "You know, I betcha Rab and Mary would love a visit. Should we go see them before we go home?"
"Nooooo!" The scream is long and gleeful, and Illana is already running down the street toward The Candle in the Window.
...
They're only a half a block or so away from the house when a flash of crimson and a loud, sweet warbling song catches Bethany's attention.
"Bird!" Ilana cries, laughing as she points to the cardinal singing in a tree across the street. Her eyes are bright with child-like wonder, as if the bright colored bird singing sweetly in a tree only a few feet away is the most amazing thing in the world.
They watch a few minutes as the cardinal flutters around a bit from branch to branch, chirping cheerfully every now and then before finally settling on the tree's highest point. Then it lets out another loud, long warble, singing with all its heart. Illana laughs again, and Bethany knows that this will be a memory that she cherishes forever.
An SUV rolls around the corner ahead of them, and the moment passes. She takes her daughters hand and gives it a gentle tug. "Come on, shrimpkin, time to go." But Ilana stays rooted to the spot, watching as the cardinal – satisfied that it has sufficiently declared its happiness to the world – dives from its perch just as the SUV passes beneath the tree it was sitting in. Bethany gasps, but it is already done – a soft thump and a scatter of feathers, and a small red body lying beside the road.
Ilana is runs toward it before Bethany can stop her. "Illana!" she yells, but her daughter is already there, kneeling beside the fallen bird and lifting it into her lap. Bethany follows, knowing it is useless to yell or scold because, no matter her age, Illana is still her Father's daughter.
So she crouches beside her instead, wrapping her arm around her daughter as she sniffles and cries almost silent tears over the still, tiny body in her lap. "I'm sorry, sweetie."
"No," Illana looks up at her, and her eyes are far too old to be on a child's face. In that moment Bethany hates God, just a little, for making their daughter go through this; hates herself for the human half that causes her daughter pain.
"NO!" Illana yells, covering the bird with her tiny hands. Then there is a chirp and a flutter and a flash of crimson wings, and Illana's lap is empty and there is a cardinal at the top of the tree singing his joy to the world as if nothing ever happened. If it weren't for the tear tracks still on her daughters face, Bethany would almost believe nothing had.
"Look, Mama!" Illana laughs and points, care-free child once again. "Bird! It got better!"
Bethany scoops her daughter into her arms, holding her close. "Yeah, baby," she answers, torn between relief and terror, "it got better. And it just made things a lot more interesting."
...
Two weeks later, a baffled child care worker at Illana's day care wonders out loud why the water cooler is suddenly filled with grape juice, and Bethany makes a mental note to take Illana aside once they get home tell her why it is a bad idea to use her newly discovered super powers in public.
Another short one, sorry. At least it is kinda stretched out so it looks longer? Also, I totally wrote this story just so I could use that last line. Okay, so that last line and one particular "scene" that kinda inspired it all, but it is also the scene I am currently stuck on and it will be awhile before I get there anyway.
