“Dear Mr. Diary, how are you? I’m doing wonderfully great, thank you! Today is a sunny day at home in my Mommy’s library, enjoying a good book. After Mommy walks me to school, I watch the other kids with both Mommys AND Daddys. It made me wonder, do I have both too?”
*****
Morning arises behind the mountain of a small valley in Human Territory. Its shine pierces through the clouds, revealing its gradient majesty to this tired little town. It cues the rooster to crow, and the town bustles with greetings from neighbors.
It’s the start of a new day.
It begins at the town’s humble library. A young woman steps out. She has light blue eyes and dark brown hair with a subtle shimmer of crimson red when set foot under the sun, with her smile just as warm and bright. She wears a village dress with long puffy sleeves and ties a cloth around her hair.
That young woman’s name is 'Ina Hopeget', the Librarian of the Hopeget Library.
Ina cups one hand to the side of her face as she calls audibly,
“Sweetie, breakfast! Come inside before it gets cold!”
But no response. How strange, she usually comes running when called for breakfast, especially after making her favorite pancakes. Ina inspects the situation.
She visits her child's favorite spot, under the shade of a large tree.
“How odd. I thought she’d be here.” Ina’s confused, but not worried.
The town she grew up in has always been a safe place and she knows her neighbors very well. A responsible and trustworthy community. Her child even plays and visits the neighborhood children.
Above Ina’s head, she hears rustling and leaves fall on top of her. She looks up and places her hands to her hips while smiling. She should’ve known she’d be up there.
Meanwhile, up on top of a tall tree sits a small 6-year-old little girl with long bright red hair who is so into her book that she doesn’t heed her mother’s call.
Ina calls again to her daughter. The little girl looks up from her book and finally hears her mother. She follows the source of her voice and sees her.
“HOPE! Come down, it’s time for breakfast!” Ina calls, hopefully audible enough to get her attention ‘til her daughter responds back,
“Hold on, Mommy! I’m at the best part!”
Ina lets out a lighthearted sigh. Her child revolves around that book like the moon revolves around the world. She knows that once her daughter reads her favorite book, almost nothing will split her.
Ina goes into serious parent mode. She places her hands on her hips and says with authority, but with a warm, firm tone,
“Hope! I have to take you to school before I open the library! You can read the book there, okay?”
Mommy has a point. She always has a point. The little one never wins an argument against her Mommy. She closes the cover of her book, “McBride Journal”.
“McBride Journal” is a precious relic. Its cover has old leather. Pages with faded writing, and the pages themselves tear easily if one is not careful. It holds entries of an adventurer’s journey around the world of Size-Terra.
The little girl, Hope, gingerly places the book in her bag and replies to her Mommy,
“Ooookaaay. Be right down!”
She reaches into her bag and pulls out an odd contraption. Time to use the trusty tool that brought her up this tree in the first place. Hope’s an excellent climber, but if she wants down the fastest way, she uses her favorite toy. With the push of its button, it uncoils itself and becomes,
A grappling hook.
Hope puts on her bag and gets up on her feet. She spins her grappling hook and throws it at a branch. Her hook successfully clings to it, ready and steady, and leaps off as she shouts,
“CANNONBALL!!!” with a whoosh of leaves behind her, Hope grips the rope and is in total control on where she swings. Wind rushes through her bright red hair.
Hope spots her Mommy, she reaches in her bag and pulls out a wooden toy sword.
“Halt, villain! I’ve come to take back the treasure!” Hope shouts in a childishly exaggerate tone,
Oh my, there she goes again. Ina remains unphased and just giggles a little from her child's act.
--- MOMENTS LATER ---
Ina strolls her daughter to her school hand-in-hand. Ina looks at Hope,
“Having fun with my grappling hook, Dear?”
“AH HA! I just love climbing high places!” Hope perks.
“And you’ve been reenacting from the book, again?”
Hope’s blue eyes widen and have that spark in her eyes as she answers her Mommy. Always happy to share what she reads on their walks while her Mommy listens warmly.
What Hope loves to share most of all is about her hero, ‘Diana McBride’.
She tells her Mommy how Diana fought pirates in Goblin Territory. How she stops the meanies and returns the Goblin’s stolen treasure. Ina giggles and smiles with her daughter,
“One thing’s for sure, you’re becoming like your hero everyday, Dear.”
“Really!? Thanks, Mommy!” she responds with enthusiasm.
Ina loves it when Hope reenacts scenes from her hero’s book. Best part is that her child learns moral values from Diana McBride, like kindness, acceptance, love, prayer, and family.
Time passes quickly as they talk 'til finally make it to Hope’s school. As Hope and her Mommy stroll down a hill path, a crowd of parents are seen dropping off their children to school. They all see Ina and Hope come their way. The grown-ups and their kids loudly greet and are excited to wave to their favorite neighbor of the whole town.
“Ina! Hope! Good morning!”
“Morning, Ina and Hope!”
“Hey! Morning you two!”
Ina’s well-known in town as a kind woman with extraordinary knowledge and wisdom, but is humble about it, and is happy to answer her neighbors. While her daughter, Hope, well-known to the other kids as someone fun, supportive, and says is quite a handful.
Hope greets everyone who said hi 'til she hears,
“Bye, Dad, thanks for bringing me!”
Hope looks at the source, shr sees a man with his son. He ruffles his boy’s hair and says cheerfully,
“Anytime, Son. See you after school.”
Hope looks on and hears another little girl happily laughing,
“Higher! Lift me up higher, Daddy!”
“Hah! Any higher and you’ll end up on the moon.” A man chuckles to his daughter.
Ina finish her greets to every neighbor and then glances down to her daughter with a warm smile,
“Okay, Sweetie, have fun at school.”
But Hope looks unsure, too deep in her thoughts to reply. Ina notices her young one being unusually quiet, but why? Soon Ina gets her answer when her child looks up with curious eyes,
“Mommy…? Do I have…a Daddy?”
Ina is surprised, her daughter never asked this kind of question before. Where this come from? She loves to answer any curious, usually cute, questions her child asks her, but this one completely caught her off guard.
“What?” Ina asks.
“Um! It’s just…I-if I…you know…!” Hope stutters.
“N-never mind, it’s nothing…nothing at all.” Hope was ashamed, she feels she asked the wrong question.
Ina softens, she looks directly on where her daughter is looking at. Right away, Ina understands. She watches a mother and father drop off their child then lovingly hug and kiss each other and say ‘I love you’ as they bid farewell. Ina feels so nostalgic and answers with a tear formed in her eye,
“Of course you do, Sweetheart…You have a Daddy too.”
Hope’s mouth is agape. She’s ecstatic on the inside. A Daddy, she actually has a Daddy?! It’s been just her and her Mommy. She’s happy about it, yes, but Hope never once thought she had a Daddy to begin with. It sparks her interest. She wants to know more,
“REALLY!? What’s he like!? Where is he!? Can I see him!? Tell me! Tell me!”
Despite the excitement, Ina sadly answers,
“I’m so sorry, Hope, I can’t tell you about him yet.”
Hope is shocked. That’s not the answer she wants to hear from her Mommy. Her Mommy never denies her an answer. Her Mommy can answer difficult questions, like ‘Why's the sky blue?’ Or ‘Why does the rooster crow in the morning?’, but why can’t she answer about her Daddy?
“What!? Why not!?” Hope yells.
“It’s a promise I made with your father.” Ina answers calmly.
“What promise!? Why won’t you tell me!?”
Hope is upset, almost at a tantrum level. Ina understands how her child feels. Hope never likes secrets, especially when she so badly wants to know more about something. Ina kneels to her daughter’s level and holds her hands tenderly,
“Please understand, Dear. He asked me not to tell anyone about him. ‘Not even to our own child’, he said. If people knew who he is, he’s worried that it would put us in danger. He’s only protecting us.”
Hope doesn’t understand at all. Why must her Mommy make a promise to keep her Daddy a secret? Frustrating as it may be, she understands this fact…A promise is a promise.
“I…understand.” Hope answers a little hesitantly,
“Can I see a picture of him instead?”
But Ina looks down sadly and replies,
“I’m afraid I lost the only picture I had of him during a storm after you were born.”
It’s hard to see her child like this. She wants to answer Hope, but can’t due to the last time Ina talked to her husband before he left for his mission. He never came back after Hope was born, but Ina completely understands the intentions her beloved husband tries to do.
“But…I want to see him now…I want to see my Daddy…” Hope says sadly.
Suddenly, her Mommy embraces her. Ina hugs her child’s petite frame ever so firmly. Her daughter longs see her Daddy, which is a proud moment for Ina, because she was concerned her child would push him away like a complete stranger, but the moment her child asks about him, she’s at ease, but Ina longs for him too.
“You will…I promise you will see him…I want to see him too…I miss him so much that I can’t wait.” Ina trembles at the anticipation.
Hope notices tears flowing down her Mommy's face. Hope regrets to have ever asked such a dumb question. She wishes she could take that back and forget about it, but can’t. What’s done is done. She made her Mommy cry and feels at fault. Best she can do is hug her Mommy back.
Ina releases her hold on her daughter. She gently places her hand on her child’s back. While her other hand wipes the tears off her eyes. Ina is a little embarrassed to cry in front of her daughter. Her feelings really got to her, she needs to stay strong and bring back her composure.
“Sorry, Dear. I got a bit emotional back there.”
“That’s okay. You miss him, that’s all…I’m sorry for making you cry, Mommy. I just wanted to know what having a Daddy is like.”
Ina took note of her daughter’s face, it’s full of guilt. Her child’s face tells her that she might have asked something that hurt her feelings. Hope has a quirky nature. A rambunctious child who loves to learn, but is also considerate of other’s feelings. Ina warmly answers,
“I understand. A Daddy is just like a Mommy, but a man. Actually, it’s a male parent that’s strong, but gentle. Also warm and caring enough to teach you, protect you, and more importantly, loves you dearly no matter what.”
Hope is amazed, this is what having a Daddy is like?! Ina is able to bring back the spark in her daughter’s eyes that she is all too familiar with. For her child being sad doesn’t fit her. When Hope feels sad, Ina reminds her child to never forget her own name, it’s also a reminder that keeps her and Ina strong everyday,
‘Never lose yourself, never lose hope.’
“Wow! A Daddy sounds amazing, just like Mommy!”
Ina giggles happily from her adorable spark and replies with a warm smile,
“Thank you, but hurry, bell’s gonna ring.”
“Bye, Mommy, I love you!” Hope then rushes towards the entrance of her school.
“I love you too, Sweetheart!”
Ina warmly smiles at her daughter, oh how she’s grown. Ina switches to a melancholy smile as she gazes up at the sky. Words slowly come out of her mouth,
“…Mi Love…” She reflects back at that moment.
---FLASH BACK (6 AND A HALF YEARS AGO)---
Young Ina cradles her pregnant belly while she smiles warmly and blushes as she rubs it tenderly with love and care.
She appears to be in a vague empty space, nothing but sky, clouds, and wind blowing in the background, and she appears to be completely alone. Not until Ina glances up from her baby to the vague face of her husband. Ina sadly smiles and says,
“Mi Love…In four months our, child will be born. I know you wanted to be there for me and our baby, but I completely understand your mission is more--.”
“...” Ina’s husband speaks in speechless silence. Ina replies to him,
“I know we’re actually more important to you than the mission, but I mean it, it’s okay, it’s crucial…Your home and your family, are my home and my family too.” Ina says to him with sincerity.
Ina wants her husband to stay with her when their first child is born. It’s a precious moment for any newfound family. She’s afraid to handle this alone, but Ina knows she can’t prevent her husband from doing his duty. It be the most selfish thing to do.
Her husband must protect the forbidden knowledge of Size-Terra or else let peace fall into evil hands.
A young, hooded man suddenly appears and approaches Ina from behind. He kneels and bows his head down to her and speaks with formality,
“Pardon me, my Lady, but I’m sorry. We must hurry before Master seals the exit.”
“Yes…I…we must go…Thank you, Oliver.” Ina says, continuing to tenderly rub her pregnant belly. Tears flow down her cheeks and under her chin, it’s the time to say goodbye.
At that moment, the entire space shifts from the cloudy sky to descent back to the ground.
Ina is carefully escorted off the platform thanks to this hooded young man, Oliver’s help. The platform then moves back on the sky, not before a large shadow looms over in front of them.
“...” Ina’s husband says. Ina replies with a smile in her eyes,
“I love you too, and I’ll miss you. When your mission’s done, I’ll welcome you back with open arms. I’ll even let our child hug you first.”
The looming shadow stretches as a gigantic silhouetted man came down to Ina’s level, Ina approaches this man’s large lips and she kisses his bottom lip. While he softly kisses back and then gently places a kiss to Ina’s womb.
It’s the last time Ina ever saw her beloved husband.
Ina is also entrusted the duty to keep the forgotten history of Size-Terra alive while he’s gone. Ever since then, Ina raises Hope alone. She gives Hope her maiden name to avoid any information of her husband, all to keep the peace for Size-Terra.
---END OF FLASH BACK---
Ina wipes her tears, anticipating the day he’ll come back and they’ll be a whole family. Ina is still deep in her thoughts for she remembers the last conversation she had with her husband.
“...?” Ina’s husband asked.
“I was thinking about our child’s name. Did you know a robin lead me to find you? The beautiful creature brought us together and blesses us with happiness. I’m sure our baby will do the same. I want our child to be, our little Robin.”
Hope was next in line, her teacher said checking on her clipboard,
“Check! Robin Hopeget, present! You’re right on time, Hope.”
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