Curiosity is the wick
Lifting her head from the overlarge scarf, she brandishes a bright smile, basking in the approval like the warmth of a candle illuminating the answer she's found to a complicated puzzle. A seed of inquisitive bravery is planted deep in her chest, cultivated and nurtured by the affirming and encouraging environment her mom creates with a simple smile and squeeze of her hand. It gives her curious nature room to grow and blossom like a field of flowers, rising to absorb the new information like sunlight from the sky.
The words process in her mind, unfamiliar but labeled as truth simply because of the woman who says them. Knell tilts her head up to look at her mom more fully, brows pinching as she tries to understand the complexity of it all. She's not sure she quite grasps the concepts, puzzling over how choices could have teeth or why she would try on shoes when hers fit perfectly well, but if her mom says it's important, she's determined to remember it. Nodding her head, she subconsciously tightens her hold on her mom's hand as if she can grasp the words tighter in her mind. "Sharp, hungry, shoes," she confirms, repeating them in her head so she won't forget.
Then the conversation moves to plans and action, and Knell perks up. Her eyes shimmer at the mention of a 'really big' shift, an excited grin spreading across her face as she pulls in a breath, the answer poised on the tip of her tongue before she even hears the other choices. After all, what could be more fun than watching her mom wreak havoc for her to chase after? Certainly not walking through the brambles aimlessly looking for more clues.
But with an intentional display of drama that she marvels at, the third option is laid out and Knell pauses, wonder pressing her eyes wide as she feels something stir beneath her skin. For a moment, she's breathless, unable to explain the sensation rushing through her veins. Awe colors her voice, the corners of her mouth barely tilting up as she realizes "I wanna shift." She doesn't know the shape of it or how she knows that it's a shift, but the thought resonates like when the outer edges of a puzzle have fallen into place, framing the final picture without giving it away, a step towards understanding, just enough of an idea to hook her in.
The words process in her mind, unfamiliar but labeled as truth simply because of the woman who says them. Knell tilts her head up to look at her mom more fully, brows pinching as she tries to understand the complexity of it all. She's not sure she quite grasps the concepts, puzzling over how choices could have teeth or why she would try on shoes when hers fit perfectly well, but if her mom says it's important, she's determined to remember it. Nodding her head, she subconsciously tightens her hold on her mom's hand as if she can grasp the words tighter in her mind. "Sharp, hungry, shoes," she confirms, repeating them in her head so she won't forget.
Then the conversation moves to plans and action, and Knell perks up. Her eyes shimmer at the mention of a 'really big' shift, an excited grin spreading across her face as she pulls in a breath, the answer poised on the tip of her tongue before she even hears the other choices. After all, what could be more fun than watching her mom wreak havoc for her to chase after? Certainly not walking through the brambles aimlessly looking for more clues.
But with an intentional display of drama that she marvels at, the third option is laid out and Knell pauses, wonder pressing her eyes wide as she feels something stir beneath her skin. For a moment, she's breathless, unable to explain the sensation rushing through her veins. Awe colors her voice, the corners of her mouth barely tilting up as she realizes "I wanna shift." She doesn't know the shape of it or how she knows that it's a shift, but the thought resonates like when the outer edges of a puzzle have fallen into place, framing the final picture without giving it away, a step towards understanding, just enough of an idea to hook her in.
Knell
in the candle of learning.
