Portrait of the Toddler Standing in the Library

Your father is attempting to read to you

and you won’t listen.

Your unkempt blonde hair waving

every which way

as you push around a bright blue stroller

that holds your dark blue winter coat.

Pink hair clips being the only thing

keeping it all together.

I look at your tiny hands

and tiny brown eyes full of wonder

at all the sparkly pins on my backpack.

Like they are the stars in the night sky,

glowing against the green fabric they rest upon.

I see your light blue sweater

contrasting the dark blue of the tiny jeans

you wear.

I see your tiny nose resting amoungst the wonder in your brown eyes

and the smile your mouth formulates.

I see you running amoungst the red shelves of books

pushing your little stroller along

as your father lets out a sigh of annoyance.

You still aren’t listening to his stories.

One day, you will learn

that stories are the foundation

of our lives.

We live amoungst stories everywhere we go.

They glow amoung us

like Christmas lights.

When one goes out,

the rest go with it.

One day, you will learn

how to treasure stories.

How to lock them inside your heart

that beats to the rhythm

you created.

How to hold them there,

embrace them with every inch of your body

and then let them go,

share them with the world.

One day, you will learn

that you yourself have a story.

You’re currently on the first couple chapters

but one day,

you will have a whole novel.

One day, you will learn that

whether you tell yours or not,

we are all wandering stories.

Stories that shift and bend through time.

Stories that build into mountains

or stay as flat as plains.

Stories that move us to tears

or laugher

or confused looks

or “maybe you shouldn’t have done that”

looks.

Stories that keep us alive,

glowing through time

like the wonder in your tiny brown eyes.

You are in the first couple chapters

but one day,

one day you will have a whole novel

and be able to see

the glowing stories that live inside your heart

just like I do.