Wednesday

You know what they say about little girls and their daddies: that they think that daddy hung the moon? Well, QQ has plenty of evidence to back up this "illusion". She may not have seen him - not with her own eyes - hang the moon. Not yet, anyway.
But she has seen plenty else that is wondrous.

On some mornings, Daddy brings her the still-warm milk of twelve virgin yaks that roam the flower-strewn fields of the highest mountain in the world.
On some afternoons, she wakes from the drowsy slumber of a summer nap to find him hammering together the wings of 132 platinum-winged butterflies, crafting a most delicate fan to cool her heat-dampened brow on the hottest of days.
On a chill evening, she sometimes hears a clackety-clack, and peeks round the corner to find him working the shuttle that spins the wool of 12 cashmere goats, each fed on a pure diet of creme fraiche and wild strawberries, in order to weave a fragrant blanket that will keep her warm and dry on even the most blustery of nights.

Q has seen her daddy wrestle an angry bullock for her. She has watched him catch a bonefish in the salt flats of the Bahamas with only his bare hands and a pair of cheap sunglasses, just to hear the rusty tinkle of her laugh. She has seen him swordfight with a pirate king on the high seas to defend her honour, and riddle the Sphinx in the Egyptian desert to ensure her safe passage.

Her daddy has carried her through the darkest corridors of a stormy night on his broad shoulders, singing the whole way. He has swum through tunnels of obsidian to find her an ounce of fresh water from a subterranean well. He has charmed the sirens themselves with his confounding lyrics, and turned the tide back on itself so that she might walk without fear on dry sand.
And then, the other night, he hung - well, not the moon - but the earth and stars and the four corners of the compass for her. He hung them himself, with his bare hands (in spite of the searing heat) and now it hangs high above her head when she lies in her bed, twinkling and generating sweet, fragrant breezes to caress her skin as she sleeps.

So, maybe he didn't hang the moon...not yet. But that could happen any day now.

10 comments:

Patsy said...

Oh dear..... I just wrote a plebeian post on intestinal gas and then I read this lovely post with the delicate little girl's face brushing against the loving daddy's face.

I feel almost unclean.


~Lorna

Charlie said...

I certainly hope that this blog will one day be a book. And please, do backup your blog every day just in case. This, she will want to read when she is older. I wonder what my children would do if they had something as wonderful as this to read. My 12 year old still wants to hear the stories of the night he was born. Q is a lucky girl. Hugs to you all!

Evelyne said...

Tout à fait de l'avis de Charlie, tes écris sont d'une grande sensibilité, je te lis chaque jour avec joie, merci Maïa.

Geisslein said...

ah Maia, your posts really often bring me to tears....SO BEAUTIFUL!!!! thanks again for sharing such lovely lyrics and pictures! sunny greetings from me to you and your lovely family

Yoli said...

I love this post so much. I do hope it makes it to an illustrated book for children. Maia, you have so many talents my friend. This is a post I have shared with so many people and they are all equally enchanted.

Anne said...

what a beautiful post ! I love the picture of daddy&daughter. My daughter worships her father so much. Her feelings are reciprocated ;-)

Lonnie Hanzon said...

I guess Yoli said before I did, but you have the wonderful makings of a series of books - the Adventures of QQ Flynn. Your illustrations combined with the magical moments of Yaks milk and heavens parting -
Many great children's books, including Dr. Doolittle, - were inspired by the author's children or loved ones -
I know that it is an impossible category, children's books, but if you stay to the magic and giggling - who could resist! L

Palmer and Co said...

Oh, could this be any sweeter?!! She's going to love reading this when she's older! Darling!

Jen Laceda | Milk Guides said...

Beautiful!

Maia said...

I'm so glad that many people responded to these little stories. And yes, now that I've started, I think that the stories, at least, will become books at some point (when I finish a couple of large jobs I'm working on, and...oh, please...find a part-time babysitter!) I'll keep you posted ;)