Decemberland

Chapter 33: Hero

Her little cape made of sheets fluttered in the wind, tied tightly around her neck. She stood her little body out of the rock hill in front of her house, posing victoriously as she just finished another imaginary battle against her mortal nemesis, the evil Darkness. Her pointy ears flopped delicately with the breeze, but her eyes stayed open, bright with the fire of her youthfulness.

Of course, she could only hold them open for so long before she involuntarily blinked and rubbed them. Her father came out of the house not a moment later to greet her from behind.

“Clarity, honey, what are you doing with daddies freshly cleaned sheets?” he asked her. Despite the irritation in his tone he couldn’t help but hold back a smile. It charmed her and she folded her hands together shyly.

“It’s my cape, dad!” she said.

“Don’t you think it’s a bit big to be a cape?” he laughed. He stared at her with his bright green eyes. No matter what she did, they were always full of pride looking at her. He rustled her hair, making it messy. Then he crouched down to her height and planted a light kiss on her forehead.

“Dad!” she complained, “Mom’s gonna have to do my hair again!”

He laughed. “Whoops,” he said, “I guess you’ll just have to take another hair brushing lesson again, won’t you? So you can finally learn how to do it yourself. You’re ten years old already you know!”

She giggled. “But I like it when mommy does my hair.”

“I know you do,” he said with a smile. She giggled again, messing up his hair and planting a kiss on his forehead. Then she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him, and he hugged her back. When they let go, he had her ‘cape’ in his hands.

“Hey!” she cried. He folded the sheets up in his hands sloppily and slung them over his shoulder.

“I’ll give you a much better cape after dinner, okay?” he said with a smile. “Your mother made us a delicious roast, let’s not keep her waiting!”

Clarity rocked back and forth, pouting. “Okay,” she said, “But I better get it right after dinner! Promise!”

“I promise,” he said with a wink, and she followed him inside to the hypnotizing smell that led to the kitchen.

“Meredith, I smell something absolutely tantalizing, and I’m loving it!” her father declared. Inside the brightly lit home, a dinner table set up for three, and a succulent juicy looking pot roast right in the center of the table.

“Have you been playing super-hero again, little Claire?” said a voice. Her mother walked over from the kitchen to bend over and pinch her cheeks. Her long, gorgeous, blonde braided hair fell over her shoulder, a style that Clarity always adored. It complimented her emerald green eyes as well as her blue and white skirt that she always wore beneath her apron when cooking. Above all, thought, the way her hair fell over her long and pointy ears simply made her smitten. Clarity wished her ears were as long and pointy as her mother’s. But she would always say that her ears were even more beautiful; that they were the most beautiful she had ever seen.

“I’m being a hero like on the radio!” she said, pointing to the copper plated receiver on the counter next to the dinner table. “I’m gonna be the first elf hero!”

Her mother laughed, “You goof. Come eat your dinner so you can grow big and strong like a hero, okay? And be sure to eat all of it this time!”

Clarity huffed. “Okay, fine!”

They sat down to eat and their mother served them. In the middle of supper, a thought occurred to Clarity that she didn’t filter through her mind at all before it came out of her mouth.