Happiness
"The best you can hope for, my darling Esme-" "Is to be happy."
Their words rung in her ears, each syllable pulling her smile wider and wider. She was 7 and the prospect of always being happy was fresh in her mind. She stroked the hair of her tattered doll - threadbare from all of her adventures.
"We're gonna be happy!" She whispered excitedly into the worn fabric. She pressed her rosy cheek into the doll. "Mommy and daddy say we're gonna be happy!"
Yet Esme didn't quite grasp the twist of the words.
You can hope
Happiness was not guaranteed. It could not be earned by labor and diligence as it was so often believed. It was not doled out by friends or by family. It was simply stumbled upon - a chance encounter.
And all Esme could do
was try
to hold onto it.