Saying Goodbye ( Continued)

“Wake up, Angel,” whispered Mother. Mother had always called her Angel. “We are here at the new house.”

Angelica sleepily raised her head and peered out the window. There was a beautiful two-story white house with a very large front porch. There is a swing on the porch! “Oh, Jasmine, come on. Let’s go see the swing!” Angelica jumped anxiously out of the car with Jasmine following close behind. Angelica was running up the stairs to the porch when she glanced back to see Jasmine stretching her legs as she slowly began to amble up the stairs. “Hurry, Jasmine! Jump on the swing!” Jasmine jumped onto the swing next to Angelica and they began to swing.

“Look at the fireflies! Why, there are millions of them! They light up the entire meadow. Do you suppose they are welcoming us?” Jasmine only yawned and lay down in the swing paying no attention to the fireflies. Angelica was completely mesmerized by the flickering of their small lights. “I wonder if they are talking to each other”, she thought as she continued to rock the swing back and forth.

“Angelica.” She heard Father’s voice.

“Jasmine, wake up, Father is here.” Jasmine jumped up, ears perked as she scampered toward the door. Her tail wagged faster and faster as Angelica began to open the door. Then, before Angelica could take a step Jasmine hurried past her and ran to Father. Father reached down and patted Jasmine’s head gently. Angelica cried, “Oh Father, it is beautiful here!” He gave her a big hug and said, “ I am happy you like it. Now why don’t you go upstairs and checkout your room? It is the one to the right as you get to the top of the stairs.”

Angelica ran up the stairs so quickly as if she had wings. She didn’t stop until she was at the door. Very slowly she began to open the door, leaned her head inside and peeked. She never made a sound. She just stood there - frozen. In the room were all her favorite toys, her books on the shelves, Jasmine’s bed and the soft coverlet that grandma had made. Why it looked just like her room at the old house! It looked like she had never left. With a big smile she yelled, “Mother, Father come see! My room-it looks just like my room at the old house.”

Her mother and father smiled at her joy. “We wanted you to feel at home, Angel. We know it is difficult to move to a new place. We hope you will love it here. Tomorrow you will be able to see the outdoors. There is a beautiful willow tree down by the brook. And the meadow is full of wildflowers.”

“I have prepared dinner for you and Mother so lets go eat before it gets too late.” They all went to the dinning room to eat the meal Father had prepared. He even had Jasmine’s food ready. They all sat down to eat.

After they finished Angelica carried her dishes to the kitchen then went to her room. She wanted to check everything to be sure nothing had been lost. She looked in the closet and each drawer. Everything seemed to be in its place. Even Jasmine’s toys were in her bed. Angelica brushed her teeth and slipped into her pajama’s then climbed onto the window seat and looked out the window to watch the fireflies. “Come, Jasmine, and watch the fireflies with me.” Jasmine sat beside her on the window seat.



As it grew darker the sparkles of the fireflies’ lights grew brighter. Angelica watched intently as they flew randomly about. Then as she grew sleepy the sparkles of light seemed to form the word “Welcome”. Angelica rubbed her eyes in disbelieve - there was her name written in the tiny sparkles- “Angelica.” The fireflies were welcoming her to the new home. Angelica smiled as she climbed into her bed and pulled the soft coverlet over her. Jasmine snuggled beside her. Angelica drifted off to a peaceful asleep as she thought about tomorrow.