Challenge 22: Fairy-Eyed Child
Sheena picked a flower, a beautiful butterfly perched on one of the pedals of the daisy. She carefully brought it closer to her and the butterfly flew on top of her nose, tickling the girl and making her giggle. Her parents watched her a few feet away, smiling at the young girl as she watched the butterfly crawl along her finger. The butterfly flew away, making Sheena wave good-bye to her new friend. She picked another flower, and then another, and even more, collecting a small bouquet of daisies. After gathering her flowers, she ran excitedly to her parents and gave the flowers to them.
"Mommy, Daddy, I found some flowers."
"Oh sweetie," purred her mother as she took the flowers, "they're so pretty."
"Almost as pretty as you are, honey," added her father with a kiss to her head. Sheena smiled at them and ran off to play some more in the flowers when she heard a cry. She turned her head and saw a little boy crying. She carefully approached behind him and patted his shoulder, making jump in surprise. He turned around and stared at Sheena, his crying stopped.
"Hi. I'm Sheena," said the little girl. She smiled at the boy, who wiped his face on his shirt. "Are you okay?"
The boy shyly nodded his head, shifting in the grass and flowers. Sheena's attention shifted to his body and saw his legs, covered in bandages from bruises and cuts. A red bruise was forming on his knee, but when the boy saw her notice it, he shifted again and covered it. Sheena knelt down and uncovered his hand, looking carefully at the bruise. She pulled out a bandage from her dress pocket, tore it open, and placed the band aid on the bruise. The boy stared in amazement at her.
"My aunt Shelley is a nurse, so she has me carry a few band aids around everywhere in case I get hurt." Sheena bent down and kissed the boys knee, making him blush darkly. "Does it feel better now?"
The boy nodded as he looked away from her. Sheena reached out her hand and pulled the boy up, making him smile.
"What's your name?" asked Sheena.
"Eugene," answered the boy. He looked at his hand still in Sheena's, and then pulled it out hastily.
"You're kind of cute, Eugene," said Sheena. Eugene blushed even more darkly, which only made him cuter to Sheena. She giggled and grabbed his hand again. Eugene looked into her eyes and saw a twinkle of fun in them, somehow making him feel brave. "Want to go play?"
Eugene nodded his head, "Okay. Thank you for the band aid."
Sheena giggled, "You're welcome. Come on, I know an awesome tree we could climb. You can see everything from the top of it."
Sheena didn't see Eugene gulp in fear, but the girl dragged him forward. Neither of the children saw Sheena's parents watch the whole scene, proud of Sheena for helping the boy and for playing with him.