her heart

Jordan carefully lays her blankets out on the living room floor. She pulls the edges and corners tight so that there are no wrinkles. She pesters me for a pillow, so I fetch her mine. Hers is in the bedroom, and Tennyson is sleeping. She lays for a while, watching tv, and then she gets up and starts running. She runs in circles around the blankets on the floor. I tell her to calm down, she responds by informing me that she has to run because the monsters are chasing her. I go back to my book. Eventually she comes to stand beside me. I put my arm around her in a hug. Her cheeks are flushed, her breathing quick. I can feel her heart beating in her chest. I take her hand and lay it over her heart. "Do you feel that?" She nods, eyes wide. I don't think it's occurred to her that there are things going on inside her. "That's your heart." Her big blue eyes widen more, a smile plays at her lips. "My heart?" I nod. "It goes faster when you run around like that." She leaves me then, and begins running. Two laps, then she stops to feel her heart for a minute. She runs again, and stops again, feeling her little heart beating under her hands. Life is amazing.

Comments

Heather said…
They are so amazing at that age!!
November 8, 2008 at 5:33 PM
Q&L said…
I can just picture her running - stopping - running - stopping...she makes me laugh!
November 10, 2008 at 8:19 AM
Ange said…
That's such a great story. I can picture it too! So incredibly cute!
November 10, 2008 at 2:27 PM
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