I kneel down to look into her tearful eyes. The face, a permafrost of a scowl. Tense and tired from all the crying, her face is red. I relax and smile as gently as I know how. I hold her gaze until her face opens up like a tiny bud on the first day of spring. Her eyes soften. Her smile is sweet and pure. She is surprised at her own marvel. The look of a frightened animal is gone. I open my arms, and she crashes in like a tsunami. Her heartbeat slows and the indominable force of reckoning breaks into gentle waves before returning to welcome shore. I hold her tight and squeeze her small body. Her breath slows. She closes her eyes and falls asleep. In the morning, she rises with the early sun and floats away with the rolling clouds. Before disappearing into the horizon, she turns her small body and smiles. I stand up and wave a familiar goodbye .