Trying Again
The child's mother froze.
Then she nodded.
"Okay."
"If it rains tomorrow..."
"We'll come back tomorrow."
The child's behavior today had left the child's mother deeply troubled.
The child's problem...
might be more serious than they'd thought...
No.
The child's mother clenched her hands.
Until they had a clear answer...
she was willing to believe the child.
She believed that the shadow the child had talked about... was real.
She hoped the child...
wouldn't betray her trust.
Was today's attempt a success or a failure?
The success was...
the shadow had really appeared.
The failure was...
the man and the child's mother hadn't seen it.
There had been no progress in solving the child's problem.
If anything...
the problem had gotten worse.
They'd have to see what tomorrow brought...
She hoped tomorrow...
The child's mother paused.
For a moment, she wasn't sure... whether she wanted it to rain tomorrow...
or not.
The child's mother felt somewhat on edge.
And a little afraid.
She silently pushed those complicated feelings aside.
She didn't want the man or the child to notice.
The man noticed.
He reached out and took the child's mother's hand.
"Don't worry."
The man sighed inwardly.
He was worried too, and his thoughts were starting to run wild...
Yet he was telling the child's mother not to worry...
when he couldn't even manage it himself.
"Anna..."
It was as if he were reassuring the child's mother, and himself at the same time. "It's okay."
Maybe...
"Anna just has a vivid imagination..."
"She's a girl, after all."
"Girls always like playing house..."
So...
the child was just taking the game too seriously and had momentarily lost track of what was real and what was make-believe.
"Mm."
The child's mother's