Prince Sawyer's Adventure

        Prince Sawyer lived with his brothers, Princes Taylor and Preston, and the King and Queen in the snowy, windy mountains.

        Sawyer had many cousins, too. Sometimes, all the cousins had adventures together, which were his favorite times in the world. 

        What Sawyer liked about adventures is that you can never tell how they will end, and you must be very clever to look for the solutions hiding inside problems.

        One of his favorite adventures began when a friendly creature from another planet arrived in his royal bedroom one morning as he woke up.

        “Well, good morning,” said Sawyer.

        “Globbedy gook,” said the alien.

        “Do you want some breakfast?” Sawyer knew that even if he couldn’t speak our language, the alien might well be hungry after a long trip.

        “Globby gloo!” said the alien, with some enthusiasm.   Maybe he really was hungry.

        Calling to Taylor and Preston to join him, Sawyer took the alien’s hand, and led him down to the royal dining table, where the Queen had lovingly prepared a wonderful breakfast, as she does every day in her queenly way.

        The alien stepped onto the table, and started eating a bowl. The glass made a terrible crunching sound, but he looked happy.

        “Gloop,” he said.  The princes stared at each other. Obviously, this creature did not eat earth food. But he did seem to find what he needed on their table.

        “What shall we do with him?” Taylor asked Sawyer, as the alien walked across the table, and started eating a coffee mug. The coffee splashed all over him, but he didn’t mind at all.

        “I’ve been thinking about that,” said Sawyer.  “Why don’t we take him on a trip to visit all our cousins?  That way, he’ll see all sorts of earth things while he’s here.”

        Sawyer called Samuel, who came and picked them all up in his royal helicopter.  By then, everyone had started calling the alien Gloop, because that was what he said so often. The alien didn’t seem to mind.

        Samuel took them to visit John and Max at their royal zoo with the dinosaurs.   Gloop really seemed to like them. 

In fact, he tried to eat the guard rail, but it was too thick for his teeth!  He left a big dent in the side, though.  John thought a dent left by an alien would be a good thing for people to see. He put a sign next to it that proclaimed: This dent was made by Space Alien teeth!

        Max let him ride on the zoo train, which was a big treat for Gloop. I’m sure he would have thanked them, and perhaps he did in his own gobbeldy language.

        Next, Samuel took Gloop and Sawyer to meet Adrianna and Abel at their mountain fortress with the animals.  They were delighted to meet him, and Abel led Gloop to their barn, where many animals live.

         Of course, Gloop took a bite of the rake, leaning against the wall of barn.  A loud crunch told the cousins he enjoyed eating the wood.  Abel was glad he had extra rakes where Gloop could not see them!

        Sawyer decided they’d better leave before Gloop tried taking a bite out of anything else.  They loaded him back into the helicopter and took off for Samuel’s castle near the Rock.

        Madelene, Olivia, and Bennett were waiting for them at the royal heliport.   Madelene drew a coffee mug, three bowls, and a rake on her magic pad, so Gloop would have plenty to eat while they made plans. He chomped away happily.

        They decided it was time to send Gloop home.  Sawyer knew Samuel could design an excellent spaceship for him. Madelene could draw it on her magic paper to make it come to life. Olivia could choose some animals to send with Gloop to keep him company on his long trip.  Bennett could protect him from any dangers that came until he was ready to blast off safely.

        With his team of cousins, Sawyer prepared to send Gloop back to his home planet.   They did their work carefully, and soon they had a ready spaceship and a happy Gloop, globbedy-gooking his way home.

        After Gloop’s take-off, the cousins celebrated with strawberries and cream. The King and Queen flew along with them to Sawyer’s castle, where they had an even larger party, because it was Sawyer’s birthday.  That was the beginning of all sorts of new adventures.

I wrote this story in March, 2011  

Prince Abel the Kind

     Prince Abel lived in a far-off land with his sister, Princess Adrianna and the King and Queen. Their castle was a mountain fortress, with many animals nearby who lived under their protection.

        Abel and Adrianna took care of the animals every day, feeding them, and giving them all baths when they were dirty, and making sure they had warm places to stay if the weather became cold or wet.

        Abel was so kind to the animals!  They sometimes caused problems, and he had to work very hard to fix them.  But he did not complain. Not ever.

        One day, the baby dragon had a cold. Its nose was running and running. Suddenly, the little dragon sneezed a gigantic fiery sneeze, and fwoop!  The little dragon’s sneeze set the barn on fire! 

        Animals were running everywhere to get away from the fire, of course. 

        Abel heard the royal fire alarm, and asked God to protect everyone, especially the animals.  Then he called all his cousins to come help fight the fire.

        “Princes, Princesses, come here right away, we need you!” he called to them.  They started arriving almost as soon as he spoke. Samuel picked up everyone but John and Max in his royal helicopter.  Max and John wanted to bring one of their dinosaurs to help, so they rode on its back.

        You can imagine what a mess they had to clean up. But with all those helpers—including a dinosaur and a giant, it went much faster.

But now they would have to build a new barn.  And while it was being built, they still had to find a place for all the animals to be safe and warm.  What would Abel do?

You can see, it was a very serious job Abel had, watching over the animals, with so many things to think about all at one time.  What he decided to do was to have the giant and the dinosaur lift the animals into a nearby cave, where they would be sheltered from the rain and wind until the barn was finished.  Princesses Adrianna, Madelene, and Olivia took care of the animals in the cave while the boy cousins worked on the barn.

Bennett used his sword to chop wood. Samuel and Taylor in the helicopter directed Sawyer and Preston on the backhoe and bulldozer.   John and Max supervised the dinosaur and the giant, which really took a lot of work, because all he really liked to do is pull out trees and smash things and make as much noise as possible.

The giant decided he liked helping so much that he finished the barn off in record time!  The dino carried the wood for him. 

         On the night the animals were back in the barn, all the cousins had a big party, with cake and ice cream, and fireworks. Abel’s whole family thanked God for him.  We love him so much.
I wrote this for Abel in March, 2011.

Prince Preston and the Engines

        There once was a wonderful prince named Preston, who lived with his two brothers, Princes Taylor and Sawyer.  The brothers lived with their parents, the King and Queen, up in the rainy, snowy, windy mountains.

        Preston was in charge of cars, trucks, tractors—in fact, anything in the kingdom that ran with an engine—and he made sure they all kept running properly.  This is a huge job, and he liked doing it.

        One day, the weather went crazy. Not only did the rain fall down in buckets, but then it became cold and windy, and a blizzard blew in, and the snow fell like a heavy blanket. The cold wind blew it around, so no one could see anything at all.

        Prince Preston thought about the problem, and he called his brother.  He said, “Taylor, I need you to ask your friend, Mr. South Wind, to make the cold wind to stop blowing.”   Taylor did.

That warmed things up immediately. Now, something needed to be done to clean up the snow.

        Prince Preston told Taylor and Sawyer that they could get the royal snowplow, the backhoe, and the bulldozer going to move the mess out of the way.  His brothers agreed to help Preston help their people.

        However, just as they went to the royal parking area, they discovered that the vehicles could not even be used.  The storm had tipped a tree onto the royal backhoe. The bulldozer was in a ditch, and the snowplow was completely upside down!    

        Preston decided to pray. “Dear God, please give me a brilliant idea.”  Then he had it!  A brilliant idea.  He looked up at God. “Thank you,” he said.
     He called his cousins Prince Samuel and Bennett in their kingdom, and he told them to come right away in their royal helicopter, bringing their giant.

They arrived without delay.  Their giant friend was happy to lift the tree off the backhoe.   After that, he lifted the bulldozer out of the ditch without any problem, and then he righted the snowplow.   Of course, they had to stop him from pulling up all the other trees while he was at it!

Preston led the parade of heavy equipment as the princes started moving the all the snow away that busy day. 

Of course, the giant helped.  He lifted trees that had fallen across roads, and rocks that had been pushed into the wrong place by snow.  He made as much noise as he could as he threw the rocks back into the mountains.  This made him happy.

When the big job was finished, Preston and the other princes had a big party for everybody who wanted to come celebrate.  The King and Queen let everyone stay up late and have strawberries. Yum!  How glad we are to have a person like Preston on our team.

I wrote this for Preston in March, 2011

Prince Max and the Zoo

   Prince Max and his brother, Prince John, ran the Royal Zoo, so they lived there to take care of the animals.  John took care of the Dinosaurs and the large animals, and Max took care of the small animals.

Max took care of the monkeys, and the raccoons, and the rabbits.  He also watched the squirrels, but they were always running through the trees.

Max threw fish to the seals.  They barked at him, and clapped their flippers.  They were funny.

At night, Max and John played with the Dinosaurs and the animals. 

They rode on the Royal Zoo train.  They had a lot of fun.  

I wrote this in 2007.

Prince John and the Dinosaurs

        Prince John lived with his brother, Prince Max, at the Royal Zoo.  John took care of the Dinosaurs and the large animals, while Max took care of the smaller animals.

     Every night, when the all the visitors went home, John let the Dinosaurs ride on the Zoo train, just for fun. 

The smaller Dinos liked to swim with the seals. 

The Pteradactyls flew over to visit with the eagles. 

They played and played until they were sleepy, then they went back to their cages, and went to bed.  On cold nights, John gave them warm blankets.

Prince John always read the animals bedtime stories, and hugged them good night. 

Then, John and Max climbed into their beds, and went right to sleep, because they were very tired after such a long day. 

In the morning, they would have to get up again to run the Royal Zoo.  It was a big job, but John liked it very much.

I wrote this for John in 2007.

Princess Adrianna and Her Dog

     The lovely Princess Adrianna lived in a wonderful castle fortress with the King and Queen. At the castle also lived two cats and a magic little dog, who could fly away whenever he wanted to.
  Now flying away might seem to be a great gift--and for the dog, it was.  The problem is, Princess Adrianna's dog would sometimes fly away to visit her Grandma and Grandpa's chickens and goats without telling her.
     One morning, Adrianna woke up, and her dear dog was gone--AGAIN.  She went to her Grandma and Grandpa's castle, and there he was: up in the tree.  He was trying to live with a bird in the bird's nest! Can you believe it?
           When her dog saw Adrianna was crying for him, though, he said, "I will come back to you, and live with you and the kitties. I'm sorry I flew away."

      The Princess was glad to have her dog back. That night he slept in her room, and he didn't fly away again for a very long time, which made Adrianna very pleased.    
     The King and Queen threw a party for all the royal animals, and had the dog's favorite biscuits at the table. The dog and cats invited the bird from Grandma and Grandpa's house, who flew over with its family for the evening. They all had a wonderful time!  Adrianna made many new friends.  You can never have too many of those, don't you think?
I wrote this for Adrianna in 2006.

Prince Taylor and the Farm

      Prince Taylor’s family had a wonderful farm near his castle.One day, it rained and rained and rained. The rain made the ground so wet that all the farm machines became stuck in the mud!
      The farmers came to Prince Taylor and asked if he could help them think of a way to un-stick the machines.
      Prince Taylor was very smart. He called his friend, Mr. South Wind, and asked him to help blow his warm wind on the wet ground. 
        He said, “Of course I’d be glad to come over and blow my warm wind. I’ll ask Mr. Sun to come and shine on the ground while I blow, so it will dry even faster.”
 Mr. South Wind brought Mr. Sun, and they warmed up all the wet ground, and soon all the machines could get back to work on the farm.    

      “Thank you, Prince Taylor, thank you for helping us!”
       That night, there was a big party for Prince Taylor. The King and Queen drove the tractor, filled with clowns and cookies!
I wrote this for Taylor in 2006.

Carpet Tale

            Once upon a time, there was a carpet who was tired of being a carpet. He was tired of being stepped on every day.  In the morning, the children of the family would jump out of bed upon him, and run up the stairs upon him, smashing him down before he was even awake!

            The parents would step out of bed upon him, and squash him, and slide their slippers across him on their way to get breakfast.  The baby would drool all over him, and everybody spilled food on him, especially the children.

            He was feeling very unappreciated and grouchy.  He wanted to roll up and take a vacation, because nobody ever noticed how nice it was to have him there on the floor for them.

            What he did like was when someone came with a vacuum, to give him a massage, and clean away the dust and dirt from his fibers.  That part was nice.  He’d like that every day, if he could have it.

            One night, he was talking to the couch.

            “Doesn’t it bother you to have the family spill on you and jump on your cushions?” he asked.

            “Well,” said the couch, comfortably, “If they want, they can always look for another couch.  Or they might move me to another house. I don’t want that. I like it the way it is now.”

            “You mean, they might look for a different carpet? Or they might move away?”

            “We are just furnishings. We are things. We are not people. People can choose what they do.  We cannot.  These people are actually really nice, normal people. Besides that, they’re the only people we have.  You can choose to be miserable, or you can choose to enjoy giving them comfort for their feet from the hard floor.  You can choose to make their lives better.”

            “I hadn't thought about that,” said the carpet.

            The next morning, when the children jumped out of bed, the carpet softened their steps as they ran up the stairs.

            As the parents slid across the carpet in their slippers, he welcomed their coming, and made sure they did not slip.  Later that day, he didn’t even mind when the baby drooled on him, and the children spilled.  And he especially enjoyed when the mother ran the vacuum over him!

            He understands he cannot change anything or anyone around him but himself. But he can change only how he thinks about the world.  He knows now that he likes the people he is with, and things are better than he'd realized.  
      That makes him as happy as any carpet can be.  Which is pretty good, don't you think?

Prince Bennett the Knight

      Prince Bennett lived with Princesses Madelene and Olivia and Prince Samuel, along with the King and Queen, in their castle near the Rock.

     Whenever someone in their kingdom needed protection, they called on Bennett. He was their Knight in Shining Armor. He was always ready to help, and nothing frightened him.

     Do you have a dragon trying to burn down your house?  Call on Bennett!  He and Prince Samuel were an excellent team. Samuel drove Bennett to the fight in one of his trucks. Bennett battled the dragon, and Samuel brought the right equipment to clean up the mess.

     One day, a giant wandered into their kingdom from the north. He stepped onto houses and trees, smashing everything in his path to smithereens with his gigantic boots.   The fastest runner raced to the castle to tell Bennett he must come to help them, “NOW!”

     Without hesitation, Bennett put on his armor, and called for Samuel to get the royal helicopter.  Together, they had some ideas for defeating the giant. Before they left the castle, they gathered a few items from the royal toy chest and the kitchen.  Then they climbed into the helicopter, and headed toward the giant.

     Very quickly, they spotted him.  They could see the trees falling one by one in the forest. It was a terrible sight.  They knew they must stop him quickly.

     “Are you ready?” said Bennett.

     “Yes. Are you?” said Samuel.

      “Let’s do it.”  said Bennett.  And so they began their plan. As the helicopter flew exactly above the giant, they pulled out the water balloons.  They had filled them with orange juice.  Bennett and Samuel dropped these on the giant’s head.  Immediately, he was rubbing his eyes. His eyelids stuck together.

     As the giant was distracted, Bennett parachuted out of the helicopter.  As soon as he landed and removed his chute, he ran to the giant, who was hopping around and waving his arms while howling wildly.  Bennett quickly tied his ankles together, and tipped him over, then tied his arms by his side.  The giant cried and whined. 

     “Why are you crying?” asked Bennett.

      “I like squishing things.  It makes me happy,” said the giant.

       Bennett had an idea.  He and Prince Samuel tied the giant under the helicopter and flew away.  They landed at a surprising place.  It was a recycling center. 

     “Here is a place where you can crush things all day long without hurting anyone,” said Bennett. “You will actually help people.”
     The giant smiled as he sat down on a pile of empty cans. He started smashing to his heart's content, making a huge racket as he kicked his boots and swung his arms.

    As they flew away, Samuel said, “You know, Bennett, sometimes you really are a knight in shining armor.”   

     We all know that when your own brother says those words, it is high praise indeed. I think Samuel is right.

This is a new story I've written for Bennett, because he was just a few weeks old when I began writing for the other children.  It's about time.

Princess Olivia and the Animals

     The lovely Princess Olivia lived in a wonderful castle with her brothers, Samuel and Bennett, and Princess Madelene.  Her parents, the King and Queen, had many animals, especially after Princess Madelene started drawing the Royal Zoo. [see Princess Madelene Story]
     Princess Olivia's job was to take care of all the animals who were born at the castle and at the zoo.  Olivia just loved baby animals!  Her favorites were the kittens and the ponies, but she also liked butterflies.
     Her job kept the princess very busy every day.  Babies don't ever stop being babies!  She sometimes was tired from all the cleaning and feeding and washing up that babies need.  But she loved helping them.
      Princess Madelene helped with the work.  She also fed the big and little animals, and cleaned up their stalls. Both sisters enjoyed drawing pictures of the animals when they had time.
      Their brother, Samuel, used his truck to bring the hay for the animals to eat.  For special occasions, he would take the girls and the animals on his trains for a ride into the mountains.  How the animals loved to stick their heads out the windows!
     Prince Bennett rode with them, although he was too young to drive the train or the trucks yet.  But his brother and sisters loved him so much! They just wanted him to come along and pet the animals.  They all knew he would do more when he was older.
      One day, Princess Olivia woke up, and she knew that something wasn't quite right with one of her ponies. She ran down to the zoo for a look.
     Oh no!  The pony's gate was unlocked.  It had been left open all night, and the pony had gotten lost!  The kitties were meowing, the butterflies were flitting around in the empty pen, but the pony was not there.
     Olivia called to the King and Queen, and to her brothers and sister.  She said, "We must sing the song I always sing to my pony. She knows this song, and when she hears it, she will come back home to us."
     This is Olivia's song:
      I love my pony, 
      Do you love her, too?
      When my pony goes away,
      I am very sad,
      But when she comes home to me
      I will be so glad.
    Everyone went out onto the hills around the castle, singing Princess Olivia's song.  Before long, the princess heard the faint whinnying of a horse.  Olivia called to Prince Samuel to bring his truck to take her to the place there the pony was stuck in a far-off valley.

      Then, they called to Princess Madelene to draw a large magic animal that would fly into the valley to pick up the pony for them.  Once the creature had gently lifted up and and placed the pony into Prince Samuel's truck, the creature disappeared!

     Princess Olivia threw her arms around the pony, and sang her song again into the pony's ear.  The little horse felt better immediately.  Madelene and Olivia put warm blankets around her.

  

     When the pony was well again, the kittens and the butterflies had a party for her in the garden, and all the princes and princesses were invited.  The King and Queen brought cupcakes!
This is a story I wrote for my grand-daughter, Olivia, the Christmas when she was 3.

Princess Madelene

     Once upon a time, a beautiful princess named Madelene lived with her brothers, Prince Samuel and young Prince Bennett, and her lovely sister, Princess Olivia.  They lived with the King and the Queen in a wonderful castle near a large Rock.
      Of course it's nice to be beautiful on the outside, but Princess Madelene's heart was beautiful, so she was kind and loving and gentle to everyone she met.
     Princess Madelene was an artist.  She loved to draw and paint pictures. Whenever she had a chance, she would go into the royal painting room to do art projects. Her pictures were so enchanting that everyone who saw them wanted to have one. People all around the countryside came to see her work, and then took one of them home to hang on their walls.
      If someone saw a picture by Princess Madelene for the first time, that person might say, "This must have been drawn by a fairy, or an angel!"  That's how special they were.
      The princess loved her castle, and her royal family, but sometimes she wished she could draw magical creatures who could fly her away to a quiet place. There she could draw and paint all the time, with no interruptions to stop her art.  She thought that sounded perfect!
     One day, Princess Madelene's rooster woke her up much too early!  She was still sleeping, and she was very tired, but she couldn't go back to sleep. Her brothers and sister were already playing and making noise. She was feeling grumpy.    She thought, "Maybe I could draw a baby dragon to fly me to a quiet place where I could take a nap."

      She tried it. She drew a baby dragon. It turned out really well.  The little wings were very strong. She made a wish, and the baby dragon flew off the paper and into her room!
           She was sleepy and tired, and she thought, "Well, I'll only be gone long enough to finish my sleep. Then I'll come right back. No one will miss me."
        She flew away to a quiet island with a big, fluffy bed on it. She went right to sleep. After awhile, though, she woke up and heard the sound of crying, from very far away.
     "Where's our Madelene?  We miss our Madelene! Madelene, come back!"  It was the King, the Queen, the princes, and the princess.  Even the silly old rooster was crying.  

      She looked around, but the baby dragon had left her alone.   

     Quickly, Princess Madelene pulled out her drawing paper, and drew a pretty picture of a large bird to fly her back to her castle. The bird flew off the paper, and bowed down before her, letting her climb onto its back.  Its powerful wings carried her home.
    Back she flew, over the water, back to her own country and her family who missed her, and back to that rooster who woke her up.
     The entire country celebrated her return that night.  The King and Queen let her stay up late to watch the fireworks.
     The baby dragon flew from the island to visit the bird. Princess Madelene decided to draw more creatures, so there could be a Royal Zoo, right at the Castle.
     Princesses Madelene and Olivia would take care of them, and the animals would play with her and their brothers, Samuel and Bennett.

I wrote this for my grand-daughter, Madelene for Christmas 2006 just before her 5th birthday.

      

Prince Samuel's Rescue

      Once upon a time, there was a good prince named Samuel. All of his people loved him, including his sisters, Princesses Madelene and Olivia, and his young brother, Prince Bennett.
      Prince Samuel's job was making sure that all the trains in the kingdom ran smoothly and on time.  He also was the boss of all large equipment: bulldozers, big trucks, cranes, and such things.

     Every time a child in the country had a birthday, a special train came over the mountains, bringing clowns and cakes and goodies to help the child celebrate.  Prince Samuel took care of the train tracks,  so the cakes came in time for the children on their special day.
      One day, however, a gigantic snow storm came to the country.  For days and days, the snow blew so hard and so fast that nobody could go outside of their houses.
      The streets were covered with snow, which piled up higher than the cars. Prince Samuel decided to call on his best helpers. He called the man who drove the royal snow plow.
      "Will you come and help us?"  he asked the snow plow driver.
      "Of course I will. The people must drive. The children must get to school. People need to go outside. I will begin plowing right away," he said. He was a very special man.  We need men like him, who are willing to go out in the cold to help the rest of us.
      "Thank you for working so hard for all the people of our country," said the prince. He new what a big difference the Driver would make.
      Then Prince Samuel remembered that the train tracks would also be covered with snow from this storm, and the trains would not be able to run.  The birthday cakes and clowns wouldn't be able to come over the mountains to help the children celebrate their birthdays!

     Prince Samuel decided that he himself must go to do the big job of clearing the tracks for all the trains, by using the royal backhoe. He started the engine, and drove it into the mountains. 
     When he came back that night, he was very tired.  He had worked hard all day, clearing snow and pushing fallen trees off the tracks.  It was dark when he returned to the castle.
     The King and Queen met him at the door.  His royal sisters and brother were there with them, and there was a great party.  Many of his friends had come to thank him for all his hard work clearing the snow.

     The next day, the trains arrived, bringing a special treat: it was his birthday! He and his twin sister, Princess Madelene, celebrated with cake and clowns, while his family and friends told him how glad they all are to have him in their country.  They all thank God for a boy just like him.  

I wrote this for my grandson, Samuel in 2006

Princess Elizabeth and the Valentines

      There was once a beautiful Princess named Elizabeth. She lived in a beautiful house in the woods with Prince Donald. 
      Princess Elizabeth made the most beautiful Valentines in the entire world. Every year, she would create them for her friends and loved ones.  People around the country and around the whole world would open their mailboxes to find her gorgeous Valentines.
     They would pull out their envelopes, and they would unfold them, gasping with joy, "This is exquisite! How did the Princess know I would love this? She looked into my heart, and sent what I've been needing."

     Yet every Valentine's Day, the Princess would go to her own mailbox, looking for Valentines.  Sometimes, there would be one or two or three.  She knew that other people loved her.  She really did.  She was thankful for the Valentines she opened, and she put them on her table, to see when she ate her royal breakfast and lunch.
     She also knew that, even when others didn't send her cards, people did love her. They were busy with their own lives. She just missed them. She tried not to feel sad inside in her quiet moments.
      But there was a place in her heart that wished for something more, something she could not even put into words.
      She remembered all the Valentines she had sent out over the years, all the times in her life when she had waited for a mailbox filled with Valentines from the people who had never really recognized how special she is, who she hoped would finally see the magic inside her.

     One night, Princess Elizabeth had a dream. In the dream, an angel took the Princes by her hand.  They went to a far-off place, somewhere very crowded.  There were lines and lines of men, women, and children, waiting patiently for something important.
      "Do I need to get in this line?" the Princess asked the angel.
      "Oh, no,"  laughed the angel.  "They are waiting for YOU! These are all the people whose lives have been made better by you.  You have loved them, or encouraged them, or prayed for them.  They may not have told you before, but they are here to tell you what you have meant to them and to the world."
      "But there are so many of them!" said the Princess.
      "Go through this door.  You'll need to squeeze around the line over to the side," the angel told her.
      It took her awhile, but they finally made their way through the doorway and outside, where they could see the hills, covered by the lines and lines of people, all waiting to tell her how much her life had made their lives more beautiful.
      When she woke up, Princess Elizabeth had tears on her cheek.  She knows that God understands what is in her heart, and God sees her needs and her motives when she gives to others. 
      Every now and then, she gets a glimmer that others just may see her heart, and the magic that's inside, too.  And when she gets to heaven, I bet the hills will be covered with crowds, waiting to say to her, "Thank you for your life."


[This is a story I wrote for my mother a few years ago on Valentine's Day.]