A quote: “Summer afternoon, summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” ~~ Henry James

I’ll start with a story …

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Doesn’t she look happy?

Last couple of weeks had been bad. As summer was ending, I started talking about back-to-school, waiting for her usual excitement about getting a new backpack, notebooks and brand-new set of colored pencils and markers.

But she looked slightly – be honest now – terrified.

At first, I chalked it up to jitters about 6th grade and the last year before the leap into middle school. But after watching her slip through the house like a ghost, I finally stopped her, “For heaven’s sake, Cassie, what’s going on?”

Her dad came up behind me as she hunched her shoulders, looking from side to side.

“Oh, mom. I SAW! I really SAW!”

I could feel my husband place his hands on my shoulders to steady me.

Then she flung herself into my arms, sobbing. “Why me? Why me?”

This early? Oh my poor girl. The talent had been strong in her grandmother, not so much in me so I had hoped she would be spared.

The Sight placed a burden on your soul, mostly because Seeings were rarely happy. Sometimes the mere act of sharing changed things and the See never happened. That alone could drive you crazy.

Grandma had been accurate enough she worked for the government. Even after she had been institutionalized, they still came to her.

Me? I got a special phone. And after the terrifying “First day of school” event little Cassie Saw, I pulled it out for the first time in five years. It was answered on the first ring.

“No, not me,” I said and relayed Cassie’s Sight.

No mocking tone, no snorts of disbelief. Just a polite acknowledgement.

And a pointed “we’re making arrangements, be ready tonight.”

And here we are, in green woods and Cassie spending days being a kid again with no second thoughts.

Doesn’t she look happy? I hope to make it last.

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Now, it’s your turn.
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. featured image, modified, Adobe Stock standard license