Dani-lion

”Mavis! We have to leave in 2 minutes! You have 120 seconds to finish getting ready!” I scramble around the kitchen putting away the milk, the orange juice, hastily rinsing dishes to put in the dishwasher before we run out the door. “You have like, 70 seconds Mavis! Are you hearing me?” I can hear little feet scrambling around the wood floors above me.

“I heard you Mommy, I’m coming!” I hear a squeak from a toy that’s kicked down the hallway as Mavis starts down the stairs. Her little fairy wings held to her back with elastic straps are askew, and she has on two different shoes, and pigtails that are at vastly different heights on her head.

“Wow… Mavvy, you look like eight million diamonds. Nice job standing out in the crowd today, my dude!” We give each other a high five as we reach for our shoes. “Good job kid, we’re going to be on time today.”

“Mommy, we should write this down in the colander. That’s what Mom always said.” My eyes burn as I look down at Mavis. She’s concentrating so hard that her little tongue sticks out between pursed lips as she tries to remember how to tie her shoe. “Mommy. The colander. You should do it now so you don’t forget.” Mavis points to the large calendar on the wall by the door. I look out the window, the leaves on the trees bright orange and yellow, fluttering down from the trees, and then I look back to the calendar. April 2019.

“It’s calendar, baby shark. A colander is used for cooking. But you’re right - Mom always did tell us to write down when we were on time because it was a cause for celebration since…”

“Time doesn’t seem to compute in your cute little brains.” Mavis and I say in unison, as she finished tying the second shoe.

“Mom did like to point out how awesome you and I both are. We’ll write it in the calendar when we get home, maybe. I don’t think I’m ready yet.” My eyes full with stinging tears.

“Mommy, I miss her too. And she did write in the colander,”

“Calendar,” I correct with a chuckle.

“She did write in the calendar how much she loves us on that page. I like seeing that everyday too. I know that’s what it says because there’s a little heart by it, and hearts mean love. Maybe we should make our own calendar for days we’re on time! Then when Mom comes back home, she can see how good we’re doing!” Mavis does her little excited wiggle, “it can have sparkles on it, and maybe a turtle. Mom likes turtles!”

“Mavvy, you and I have done a great job of being us, and we’re going to be late because we got distracted - let’s bounce away my little weeble.” I toss Mavis’s jacket at her, and grab my keys as I open the front door. I stop in surprise before stepping out the door - there’s a box on the welcome mat.

“Mavis, did you put this here?” Practical jokes had been Mavis’s favorite summer activity, I loved to see her laugh so I let them continue until she got bored with it and decided to throw all of her energy into becoming a fairy instead of a practical joker. Five was an age I wish I could freeze in time, because everything she did, she did with such conviction - and none of it made any sense.

“Nope-etty, nope. I did not do that.”, I turned to look at Mavis who was still struggling to get her jacket around her fairy wings, as she turned in circles trying to reach her little arm into the second sleeve. Anxiety rose in my chest because I was expecting her to respond the same it always was when she was playing a practical joke. She responded the exact same way, 100% of the time. Mavis would get a little grin and say, ‘Mayyybe. JUST KIDDING,’ and then run into her room. I could tell that this response meant she actually didn’t do it.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and pulled up the app that was used for our doorbell camera. Gretchen had wanted one installed when Mavis was born to be sure we only opened the door for people we actually wanted to see. Her explanation for why she wanted it made me so happy, because Gretchen was actually doing something for her introverted self that I went out the same day and bought one and installed it for her.

I opened the app and reviewed the video from the time Mavis and I had gotten home the night prior, until the present moment. I saw nothing. No one. One moment the box wasn’t there, and the next moment it was. I looked at the time stamp of the video and there was nothing missing, not even a millisecond - but somehow the box wasn’t there, and then it was there.

I looked down at my watch, and thought quickly, heart racing. I turned around, a fake grin on my face and look at my kid, jacket ballooning over her fairy wings, all ready to go.

“Mavvy Baby! Mommy is… so silly. I don’t know what I was thinking! We don’t have school and work today, it’s Saturday! Go get your comfy’s on, why don’t we watch a movie”

“Mommy, I don’t think it’s Saturday.” Mavis stood stationary in front of me.

“It is, it’s Saturday. What if that movie had popcorn with m&ms in it?” I raised my eyebrows in hope,

“You had me at ‘m’ Mommy, I’ll be back in a jiffy pop!” Mavis struggled to get her jacket off as she ran up the stairs. It was going to take her some time to get untangled from those wings.

I opened the front door once more staring at the little brown box on the doorstep. It had no postage, it had no description. It was a mystery box.

I looked around and slowly I picked it up. It was light, and when I turned it around I inhaled sharply. Written in Gretchen’s perfect, magical handwriting it said “Don’t be scared Dani-lion, you can open it.”

I began to tremble staring at the writing on the side of the box. Gretchen had gone to work in April, and had never returned home. If it weren’t for Mavis I never would have moved forward from that day. My wife, the most important adult in my life, just…disappeared. I had to figure out a way to be ok for Mavis. The first few months were bad for both of us, but we slowly came out of our sadness together because we had each other. Mavis started dressing in her goofy outfits again, and that’s when I began to smile.

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The first time that Gretchen and I met, we had been at a mutual friends BBQ. As I mingled, I made the mistake of being awkward, as I am. A group of us around the table were playing a word game to help remember each others names since many of us hadn’t met before. You had to say your name, and your favorite thing that started with the same letter as your first name.

I had been so distracted by Gretchen’s infectious smile, that when it got to be my turn, I hadn’t thought of a thing yet. The person next to me waved their hand to get my attention, as I sat, spaced out, staring at Gretchen.

“What? OH. I’m so sorry. I’m Dani and I love…. Dandelions?” Why did I say dandilions. Dani….lions. Such a missed opportunity.

Gretchen laughed, “Your favourite thing is a bright yellow, weed?” The lines around her eyes wrinkled as she laughed.

“Well. Yes.” I stated enthusiastically. “Don’t you remember being a kid? Being on the playground and all you could see were dandelions? As they died they turned into little fluff balls that you would pick out of the ground, and you would make a wish as you blew it away? Maybe it’s not the dandelion I love as much as it is the wishes it creates.” Somehow in that moment, I made sense out of my awkwardness. Gretchen and I were never apart after that day. In Gretchen’s words, it turns out that I was, “The Dani-lion she’d wished for all those years on the playground.”

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I set the box down on the counter and began to open it, when I heard a thud on the wood floor above me.

“Mavvy?…” I called out, my throat constricting.

“I’m ok, Mommy. Just got tumbled up in my wings! I…. Almost…. Got it….” I laughed to myself letting out a breath, and went back to opening the box.

On the top was a short note:

“I know your world has not made sense in months, and I’m so sorry that I couldn’t tell you about it before. Just follow the directions, ok? I trust that you’ll make the right wish, and we’ll be together again. I’ll explain when I get there. I love you, Dani-lion”

Slowly I lift up the note, and underneath is a single dandelion, in its wish form. The yellow had disappeared, and all that was left was white fluff, ready for a wish.

I lifted the dandelion in aww, and saw that underneath was a note card with directions.

Lift the dandelion, and close your eyes. Make your wish, it should be no surprise, when with a pure heart you wish, and next find what your heart longs for.

Without hesitation, I close my eyes and from the depths of my heart I wish -

I want my Gretchen home, and I want my family whole again

I keep my eyes shut, and I listen with intent. It’s silent.

I open my eyes, and stare in awe as the fluff of the dandelion swirls through the air faster and faster. Each fluff turns into a spark before sizzling out and suddenly the air feels light.

I look down at the notecard with the directions and they slowly fade from the page. I rub my eyes, and turn the card over - but there’s nothing there anymore.

I look outside and the trees are budding. A mist rises from the damp grass in the morning sun.

I grab my phone off the counter and look at the date - April 19, 2019

I hear footsteps on the stairs and scramble to get popcorn from the pantry before Mavis notices the look on my face, because I have no idea what’s happening. I dig through the pantry, and feel an arm around my waist pulling me back.

I turn around and Gretchen pulls me into an embrace. Tears spring to my eyes. Tears of surprise, of joy, of shock.

“I knew you’d make the right wish.” She whispered into my ear. She pulled back and looked into my eyes, “I have some explaining to do. Just know that you and I, Dani-lion, we’ve always been meant for each other. Thank you for embracing mystery, time may not compute in your cute little brain - but wishes do.”