“I thought you hated my stories,” I said as I snuggled next to her in my story seat.
“You promised to have a good one made up when you got back. You’re back now and Bear wants a story. You owe me, and it had better be good!” She crossed her arms in a mock pout and I couldn’t help but laugh at her. I reached over and tickled her. She was a balm to my frayed existence. I decided I’d try to tell her about soul mates.
“All right, settle down. Ready?” At her eager nod, I smiled and curled up next to her. I snuggled her protectively under my arm while I talked and stroked her hair. She closed her eyes and listened. It was our tradition, and one I was glad to resume.
“Once upon a time, there was a soul. It was happy and content to play in the spray of water from a fountain, reflecting light into rainbows. It had never known pain, or sadness, only joy and contentment. This soul was pure, innocent, and full of love. One day an evil wizard came by and watched the soul. He was so jealous of its happiness that he contrived a spell that tore the soul in half. The wizard thought that the soul should know the pain of the loneliness that he felt, and it would amuse him to place the two pieces of soul into two separate beings.
“One piece was placed into a beautiful young princess, and the other was put into a handsome farmer on a magical island. Years went by, and the soul learned sadness. The princess felt like she was missing something, but didn’t know what it was. She was very sad and lonely, despite being surrounded by people who loved and cherished her. She’d heard stories about soul mates, and how if you find yours, you’re whole again, and she wished for that on the evening star every night. Her father had arranged for her to marry a duke, so she knew time was running out to find her soul’s other half.
“The night before the wedding was supposed to take place, the princess was making her wish. So intent was she in wishing to find her soul mate, she didn’t hear the intruder until it was too late. She was captured and taken to a magical hidden island by a very bad man. He was an evil prince who wanted the beautiful princess all to himself. He’d heard of her beauty and thought he deserved to have the most beautiful princess as his bride. He was a very selfish man.
“The princess was very cunning, a trait that she hid behind her beauty. She outsmarted the evil prince and managed to escape his castle. She found her way to a small farm, deciding to hide herself in the hayfield until the evil prince passed by. The farmer was tending to his flock when he saw the girl trying to hide in his field. The moment their eyes met, their souls recognized each other and melded to become one again. The broken soul was happy for the first time since the evil wizard played his horrible trick.
“Alas, in a cruel twist of fate, the princess was not allowed to stay on the island. For if she was found, the selfish prince would kill her and her mate. Her mate couldn’t return with her to her lands because there was powerful magic that prevented people who were born on the island from ever leaving. Because she was not born there, she could leave, knowing that her soul mate was safe and protected.
“With a heavy heart, she made the decision to leave and made her way back to her land. She married the duke that her father wanted her to, thereby destroying the hopes of the selfish prince. She lived out her days as happy as she was able to be, hoping that someday it would be safe for her to return to her soul mate.” I kissed Ashlyn on the forehead as I finished the story. I hadn’t really meant to tell her that story. I’d wanted it to be happy so that she’d want to find her mate. She’d been quiet for quite a while, and I hoped that she had fallen asleep. I started to slide out of her room when she spoke.
“Aunt Tash?”
“Yeah, sugar?”
“That story still sucked. It wasn’t a very happy story at all. Fairy tales are supposed to have happy endings. You must miss Reef really bad.”
“Who?” My heart skipped a beat. How on earth did she know about him? I hadn’t been able to talk about him to anyone since I’d gotten back. I barely heard her response over the thudding in my chest.
“You know, Reef, that name you said when you were taking a nap. He has a weird name. You said lots of weird words when you were asleep, but mostly Reef. Who is he?”
“He’s just a person I dream about. It is getting late Ash, and you have school tomorrow. Sleep now. I love you,” I said through the pain crushing my chest.
“What does meow axo mamada mean?” Her face scrunched up as she said it, and she completely butchered the language, but I understood what she was asking me. She couldn’t know how she was tearing me apart. I’d been feeling off all day, but her questions were destroying all the control I’d built up. I clenched my hands into fists to control the tremors and the pain wracking through my body. I wanted to share him with someone, but she was too young and I still wasn’t able to talk about it.
“It means my beloved angel. Now, please, go to sleep, Ash. Goodnight.” My voice was quiet and rough with emotion as I kissed her forehead again.
“Aunt Tash, I’m sorry you lost your angel,” she said with a yawn when I reached the door.
“Me too, Ashlyn, me too,” I whispered past the
