“Hey, Val.” Val turned around. She saw her father standing in the back door, looking out at her in the garden. “I’ve got something for you.”

Val ran over to her father and grabbed onto his jeans, “What is it, papa? What’d you get?”

“Well, I wonder what I got? Hmm… Maybe it’s a nice dress? Or a toy?”

“Ooh, a toy! A dress! What is it?”

“Open it and find out.” Val’s father handed her a box. Val teared into it and pulled out a big, thick, red piece of cloth. “Ta-da! What do you think?”

“What is it?” Val held out the cloth, trying to get a full view of it, but it was too big to easily do so.

“It’s a scarf, silly. Here, let’s put it on.” Val’s father took the scarf and wrapped it around Val. It was quite big for her, and it nearly covered the tip of her nose.

“Ooh! It’s warm!”

“Haha! Scarves are quite warm, aren’t they?” her father said, “Do you like it?”

Val reached for the front of her scarf and pulled it down so her father could see her smile. “Yeah! I love it!”

“I’m happy to hear it, Val.” Val gave her father a big hug. It was warm. “Val, let’s pretend this scarf is like a shield.”

“A shield?”

“Yes, a shield. It will protect you in tough times. Whenever you feel uncomfortable or unsafe, wrap this scarf around you. Then you’ll feel warm again.” Val’s father reached into his pocket and pulled something out, “Oh, and as an extra gift,” he placed his thumb against the scarf and sewed something on. It was a petal.

“Is that from the iris?”

“Yes dear, but don’t worry. I didn’t pluck it off. Now the scarf and the iris can protect you.”