“Tell Hani a story.”
Yuuki, a girl of about fifteen or sixteen with long, dark brown hair and quiet brown eyes, looked up at the little girl who stood before her—six year old Hani. Hani rubbed her eyes with her bandaged right hand, than climbed onto Yuuki’s lap. “Tell Hani a story, please.” Hani repeated in, with what Yuuki had come to get used to, third person. “Hani’s tired…Hani always has a story before her nap.”
Yuuki sighed contently, hugging Hani’s warm body. “She rocked the tiny tot for a moment before starting her story. “Once upon a time…there was a little girl who owned a bird.”
“What was the girl’s name?” Hani asked, squirming into a more comfortable position.
“Her name was…Hani.” Yuuki said after a pause, stroking Hani’s rough, light brown hair.
“Anyway, Hani loved her little bird. She played with him and fed him and loved him every single day.” Yuuki paused again. “But one day, she noticed that her bird was sad. When Hani asked the bird why, the bird told her it was because he couldn’t fly like all the other birds outside.”
Hani rubbed her eyes and rested her head onto Yuuki’s warm chest.
Yuuki continued, “ ‘I wish I could fly free, outside this cage.’ The bird told her wistfully one day as she went to sleep.
“As Hani lay in bed, she thought about her precious bird. She knew if she let the bird go outside, it would never come back, because that was the nature of birds. But she loved her bird, and she wanted the bird to be happy.
“So the next morning, Hani opened the cage and let the bird fly away.”
“That’s a sad story.” Hani murmured quietly, her eyes half closed.
“That’s not the end.” Yuuki replied, a twinkle in her eye. “The next day, the bird came back. When Hani asked why the bird hadn’t gone with his new bird friends, the bird told her ‘I missed you. I want to stay with you forever.’ So Hani and the bird lived together happily ever after.”
Yuuki looked down at Hani to catch the adorably soft smile on Hani’s sleepy face. “That’s nice.” Hani said contently as she closed her eyes. “They lived happily...ever...after.”
