Girl took her time, walking slowly down the hillside, stopping often to look at a pretty butterfly or bird take flight as she approached or bending down to admire a merry little flower, its scent delicious to her keen nose and beautiful to her adoring large eyes.

She followed the stream, sometimes jumping into the water to rest her feet, enjoying the cool feel of water as it flowed over her skin.

At one point, something furry jumped across her path and she stumbled backwards in surprise landing on her bottom. Looking up with curiosity, she laughed out loud at her realization of the small rabbit looking up at her with questioning little eyes. Girl knelt over and patted his soft fur before the small creature jumped off into another bush and she continued on her way.

Upon reaching the village, Girl skipped along the dirt path, tightly clutching a few bellflowers she had picked, towards a small house right along the riverbank. This was Girl's house. Her mother would be waiting just inside as usual and her father would be coming home soon, as Girl could see the sun was just beginning to disappear; Girl always wondered why the earth swallowed up the sun but then give it back the next morning every time.

She walked up the steps to the doorway with some difficulty -her legs were short and the steps were quite steep to her- and pushed open the large wooden door. As expected, her mother sat at the table just inside the door with sewing in her hand as usual. Girl's mother made all their clothes and even sold some in the village to others to make a bit of money. Though it was mainly father who brought home the money they used to purchase food and other necessities.

"You're home finally. I'm glad," Girl's mother looked up as she entered. She had light blondish hair, with a few streaks of silver showing, and bright blue eyes like Girl's. Her skin was slightly pale and just beginning to show small creases. Her full red lips were curled into a kind, delicate smile and her eyes were warm and bright.

"Mommy, looky!" Girl held out the blue and pink flowers to her mother with a large, proud grin on her face. "Mommy's flowers!" She always called them that, for they were her mother's favorite kind. Her mother's eyes lit up upon seeing them.

"Oh, they're gorgeous. Thank you." Her mother laid down her sewing on the table and gentle took the flowers with a shaky hand. Getting to her feet, she slowly busied herself finding a jar to fill with water and put the flowers in. Having done that, she set them in the center of the table where they caught the fading golden sunlight from the window across the room.

As her mother sat back down again, Girl pushed the door shut and skipped off cheerfully to her room. It was a basic room with a single window and door in a basic house; a small bed, a fireplace to keep it warm in winter, a small table with her own vase of blue bellflowers in it, a worn old red rug and a box with a few dolls in it for her to play with.

She went over to the box of dolls and pulled one out; a crudely made and worn doll with yellow hair of string, black button eyes, a mouth sewn of red thread and a faded pink dress. It was Girl's favorite because of all her dolls; it looked most like her mother.

Sitting down on the rug, she held the doll on her lap and spoke to it in a hushed tone, "Mommy's getting worse, Gili… I saw her hand shaking a lot when I gave mommy her flowers… Daddy says not to worry because she will be fine… but I can tell they are hiding something from me. Mommy promised to take me to the kingdom sometime though when I am older." Girl smiled to herself and then added, "Mommy promised to make sure I even get to see one of those fish-people too. Even though they are hard to find, she says she will find a way just for me."

Hearing the front door open and close, Girl quickly put Gili away and hurried back into the main room. "Daddy!" She ran to him quickly. Her father was a tall, strong-built man with dark brown hair and beard. He lifted her up with ease into his arms, planting a big kiss on her cheek.

"How's my Girl today?" He asked her.

Girl giggled. "Me found Mommy's flower today!" She said proudly pointing to the vase on the table. Her father looked over and nodded.

"So you did. Good girl," he said gruffly, setting her down and patting her head gently. Girl beamed. Her father walked over to where her mother was and sat down beside her with a yawn. "Stifling hot out there," he commented with a sigh of contentment at being home.

Her mother nodded. "It is. Moria has always been complaining about the heat as well. She says it ruins their crops and…" Girl didn't like these kinds of conversations. She could barely understand what they talked about, so she returned to her room to play with her dolls again.

Bending over her toy box, she pulled out Gili again and sat on the bed with the doll again. "Daddy's home now, Gili. He and Mommy are talking. Big people make no sense when they talk."