Trust dreams. Trust your heart, and trust your story.

[smallestopener]

Ingress had a brilliant birthday. She’s eleven. Eleven is nearly grown up! It’s also the year when children in the stories she’s read come into their own. Adventures begin, schooling starts, worlds are saved… she can hardly wait to see what will happen next.

Her party earlier was such fun. Door was almost nice to Puck; Ingress had worried a little about that after she invited him. But he was very nice and charming, and Tom was nice, too, and Puck helped Ingress steal lots of roses off the cake while Havelock talked to Tom and Door, and it was brilliant.

She ate far too much icing sugar, but Tom had the peppermint potion waiting for her when the party was over. She feels much better now. And she’s eleven!

It sounds so good in her head. Eleven, eleven, eleven.

She should have asked Mary to stay the night with her, she thinks, as she tosses and turns. She’s never going to fall asleep, even with staying up past her bedtime. Tom and Door insisted she go to bed after she started yawning. They can be so silly sometimes.

She tosses one more time, and she thinks, again, how impossible it will be to go to sleep tonight. Her eyelids flutter and close. It is not long before she’s deep in dreams.

Comments

Re: There once was a little girl who came to Milliways

[a1enzo]

"Thanks!" Enzo does not seem surprised by her colour. "With your help, I'll win for sure!"

Apparently you can win at stacking blocks. Who knew?

Re: There once was a little girl who came to Milliways

[smallestopener]

It's not long until the stack of blocks is taller than Enzo is.

The fish have swum out to help stack, picking up small blocks with their pixellated mouths and dropping them on top of the blocks Ingress and Enzo stack.

"I bet we could go as high as the moon!"

Or at least the rafters.

Re: There once was a little girl who came to Milliways

[a1enzo]

Enzo has gotten larger, too; he's almost as old as Ingress.

"I've never been there before!" he says, delighted by the idea. "It'll be a long climb. We'd better bring snacks."

Re: There once was a little girl who came to Milliways

[smallestopener]

"Cheese," she says, nodding. "Come on."

She stands and places her feet on the first stair steps (which have become a part of the tower now spiraling up past the rafters.)

Re: There once was a little girl who came to Milliways

[a1enzo]

Enzo follows her, carrying a large picnic basket and happily humming something Russian-sounding.

Re: There once was a little girl who came to Milliways

[smallestopener]

The moon looks surprisingly like the lakeside, only with more rocks. She bounces around in the low gravity.

"Follow me!"

They'll play follow-the-leader until Ingress finds Megwyn. Or until she spots the purple butterfly again.

Re: There once was a little girl who came to Milliways

[a1enzo]

Enzo bounds after her, gaining a little height every time he... gains height.

"Look!" he cries, pointing into the sky. "There's another one!"

Re: There once was a little girl who came to Milliways

[smallestopener]

She looks up.

"Oh, it's my butterfly. He's helping me find someone."

She waves at the butterfly and it flutters toward them, curly eyelashes blinking.

"Do you want a ride back, or can you get down the ladder yourself?"

Re: There once was a little girl who came to Milliways

[a1enzo]

"No, not that, that," he chides, although it is a very nice butterfly. "There's another moon above this one!"

Re: There once was a little girl who came to Milliways

[smallestopener]

Ingress points to the ladder they used to come up to the moon upon which they stand. The butterfly picks it up with his gloved hands and brings it over.

"Here you go," Ingress says. "You can keep exploring."

She takes the butterfly's hand and prepares to depart.

"I'll see you later, okay?"

Re: There once was a little girl who came to Milliways

[a1enzo]

"Okay! I'm going to see how high it goes."

The green man, already climbing, grins down at her.

"You will, too."