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The merriment in the water was somehow untouched by the serious answers she held in her mind to Colche's innocent questions. The young woman ducked the splash, but only narrowly, and laughed as she returned the spray of water with a quick, downward scoop of her hands

"The village is nice," she agreed, "But I like living out here, more. And besides- now you can hear a story in the sand- we could even have a picnic. ...Do you know what a picnic is, Colche?"

"You are," Emelyn said, pausing for the brunt of the watery attack to hit her square in the front, "quite the little reader these days, Colche. You know what that makes you? Something called an avid reader. It means you like to read, and you do it a lot."

"You got it," Em said, coming out of the water to sit on the sand. She lay, splayed out on her side, her elbow dug into the sand and her knuckles pressed against her head to hold her up, and probed her memory for those kernels that were the story 'A Little Princess'.

"Okay... well... the story starts a long time ago, back when all ladies wore dresses, and men were called gentlemen. One of these gentlemen was a Captain in the army. He led troops out to battle and every once and a while, he would have to leave his beloved daughter Sara in the care of others while he went away... for she had no mother, and he had no wife. Instead, he would leave her at a boarding school for girls- a place where the girls not only went to school and learned and read books like you, Colche- but they also lived there, all in one building.

Once, when he knew he was going to be away for a long time with the army to a place called India... the Captain left Sara at the boarding house- and he told the woman who ran the house- called a headmistress that she was to have everything she wanted. He was a very rich Captain, you see- and he left her beautiful dresses in all the colors of the rainbow- a china doll with a perfectly painted face... and all the toys and books she could hope for. Of all the things Sara had from her father, she loved the books the most. For Sara loved to tell stories, and imagine things inside her head. So although she was so terribly sad to see her father go away... she was comforted by the fact that all the other girls seemed to like her, and she had so many books to read.

Soon, it was Sara's birthday, and she had so many gifts and presents and toys that the headmistres had bought for her, since the Captain had told her she would be given plenty of money for it when he returned. But in the middle of cutting her cake, news arrived... that the Captain had lost all his money in India- and also... he had been killed in the war.

Sara was heartbroken. She was an orphan, all alone. But to make things even worse- the headmistress turned very mean and cruel, and took all of Sara's things away because she could no longer pay. She was taken out of her beautiful room, and away from her many books and colorful dresses- and given servant clothes to wear- and made to live in the attic. Like Cinderella," Emelyn explained.

((XD *laugh* You wrote Emer instead of Em ^_~ There's no r in Em's name. ^__^))

"Don't worry," Em said, taking a brief pause from the story when she saw how Colche's hopes seemed to be falling, "it gets better. ...So Sara get put up in the attic, and she is forced to cook and clean and work with the servants in the boarding school to pay off all the money that her father couldn't pay anymore, and to pay for all the beautiful things she'd had- that the headmistress took away. She wasn't allowed to go to school anymore, all she did was clean and work.

But in all her cleaning, Sara made a friend. A little girl named Ellie who was also a servant- lived in the room next to Sara's, up in the attic," Emelyn pulled the name out of a hypothetical hat- since, for the life of her, she couldn't remember a name for the girl in any of the incarnations of the story she recalled.

"And even though they were locked in every night, Sara and Ellie found a board that they could slide out of the wall, and squeeze through to spend time together. They would sit in the windows and laugh... and Sara would make up stories in her head, and tell them to Ellie. She told her of a princess who lived in a castle of thorns, and of a prince with a thousand arms who rescued her. Sara had a wonderful imagination, and loved to make up stories. Soon- Ellie would tell all the other servant girls the stories... and then the students would hear them, too- and let Sara out of her room at night to sneak down to theirs and tell them stories. Sara almost forgot that she lived like she did. ...She and Ellie would imagine that they lived in a beautiful room, with silk pillows and dolls and red lamps and carpeted floors.

Then... one night, when Sara and Ellie went up to their rooms, they discovered... what do you think it was, Colche? A room full of beautiful things! All the things that they had imagined- red lamps and beautiful furniture and china dolls and dresses. It was beautiful, and they sat around in amazement, wondering if it had all come from their imagination. But then, they saw a little monkey sitting on the windowsill! And before they could come closer to it, it ran across the wide beam that connected the boarding school to the house next door. And so, Sara and Ellie followed the monkey into the open window of the next house. There, they found furniture and beautiful things- just like there were in their room. Then- the monkey ran downstairs, and to an Indian man with a long, black mustache and a very, very kind face. Sara and Ellie weren't afraid of him- not at all.

He said that he had been sitting up in his upper room, looking out the window and thinking one day- when he heard the two girls in their open window next door, telling stories. They had been so joyous and so wonderful that he had listened every night. Then, he discovered that they were servants- and had given them all those gifts. But he asked them if they would like more- to come and live with him, and always tell stories and have wonderful things, and never be hungry or servants again.

And so, Sara and Ellie had all they ever wanted. They stayed together, they were friends and were taken care of... they had escaped the headmistress, and told stories. They had been saved by the power of their imaginations... and the power of their hearts," Emelyn finished, easing up into a sitting position.

"Did you like the story, Colche? Was there anything you didn't understand?"

"Well," Emelyn said, starting from the beginning, "a monkey is a little animal- it looks a little bit like a person- it has hands, and feet, but a loooong tail and they have fur on them. Have you ever read any of the Curious George books? The main character in that is a monkey. Or... in Aladdin? Abu is a monkey. Also, Rafiki in Lion King- but he's a big, different kind of monkey called a baboon. Not like the little pet monkey in the story."

For Colche's next question, Emelyn drew a very rough map of the continents into the sand with her claw, then pointed to it. "This is a map. It's what you would see the world looked like if you went way, way up into the sky and looked down on it. We are about here... on the island..." she said, circling a point somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle with her claw. She didn't know if she was correct in this guess- but it was as far as she could approximate where her boat had capsized. "And India is a country here, way on the other side of the world. People there have darker skin, and they speak a different language than we do, and have a different culture and way of living."

"And you can be like Sara," Emelyn said, smiling, "all you have to do is use your imagination. Make up stories and tell them to other people- or just keep them inside your head. I love telling stories. ...I'm glad you liked this one. But I didn't write this one. It was written a long time ago by a woman named Frances Hodgson Burnett- and I'm sure if you told Aubrey you wanted the book she'd help you find it."

"I have many, many stories in my imagination," Emelyn said, the writer in her coming to the surface in her soft, happy tones. "And so do you. Anyone's imaginations has hundreds and thousands- countless stories that they can put together in their head. It's the joy of having some humanity in us," she said, putting her hands together over her heart in a gesture of joy. Somehow- being near this innocent soul- a child, really, threw any of Emelyn's self-consciousness to the winds. Why be worried that a gesture may seem.. frivolous or strange- when you're with the most uninhibited, happy creature ever born?

"You can make up stories, too."

"I would love to hear a story you make up. That would be wonderful." She smiled at the compliment, and nodded in agreement to Colche's request. "Any time you want to hear a story, Colche, all you have to do is find me, and I'll be happy to."

"No thank you, Colche. I already ate. I keep lots of food up in my cave," she said. "Besides, I don't like to go in the village anymore. It's more important for me to stay out here." She tried to keep it simple, not wanting to confuse her.