Catherine rolled her wheelchair over to the pond. Lily immediately reached into her bag and pulled out more breadcrumbs.
“Here,”
Lily said, pouring some breadcrumbs into Catherine’s hand.
“The ducks are really hungry today.”
For the next hour, Catherine found herself doing something she hadn’t done in years. She played, she fed the ducks, listened to Lily’s stories, and even laughed.
“Judge Catherine,”
Lily said as they watched the ducks.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Of course, sweetie.”
“Before your accident, what was your favorite thing to do?”
Catherine thought for a moment.
“I used to love dancing,”
she said quietly.
“I took ballet lessons when I was little, and even as an adult, I would dance around my house when I was happy.”
“Dancing?”
Lily said, clapping her hands.
“I love dancing, too! Do you miss it?”
Catherine felt tears coming to her eyes.
“Yes, I miss it very much.”
Lily stood up and held out her hand.
“Would you like to dance with me right now?”
Catherine looked at the little girl’s outstretched hand.
“Lily, I can’t dance. I can’t stand up.”
“You don’t have to stand up to dance,”
Lily said with a smile.
“Your arms can dance. Your head can dance. Your heart can dance. Come on, I’ll show you!”
Lily began to move her arms gracefully. She moved her head from side to side and spun around slowly.
“See? I’m dancing with my whole body, but my feet are barely moving.”
Catherine watched this child dance, and something amazing happened. She found herself moving her arms in rhythm with Lily’s movements. She moved her shoulders and tilted her head. And for the first time in three years, she felt like she was dancing again.
“You’re dancing, Judge Catherine!”
Lily said joyfully.
Catherine looked down at her arms and realized that Lily was right. Tears of joy rolled down Catherine’s face. She felt lighter than she had in years, as if something heavy had been lifted from her heart.
“How do you feel?”
Lily asked.
“I feel,”
Catherine paused.
“I feel alive.”
After their dance, Lily walked over and gently placed her small hands on Catherine’s knees.
“Judge Catherine, your legs are sleeping, but they’re not broken. They’re just waiting for your heart to wake up completely.”
“What do you mean?”
Catherine asked.
“When you got hurt in the car accident, your body got hurt, but your spirit got hurt, too,”
Lily explained.
“Your spirit got so scared and sad that it kind of went to sleep. When your spirit is asleep, sometimes your body doesn’t work right, either.”
“And you think you can wake up my spirit?”
Lily smiled.
“I think your spirit is already starting to wake up. Didn’t you feel it when we were dancing?”
“Yes,”
she whispered.
“Yes, I did feel it.”
“That’s the first step,”
Lily said.
“Tomorrow, can you come back? We can feed the ducks again, and maybe we can dance some more, and I’ll tell you stories about all the beautiful things in the world that are waiting for you to discover them again.”
Catherine nodded.
“Yes, Lily, I’ll come back tomorrow.”
But that very evening, something happened. Robert was making dinner when his phone rang. It was Mrs. Henderson and she sounded frantic.
“Robert, you need to come quickly,”
she said.
“There’s been an accident at the park. It’s about Judge Catherine.”
Robert’s blood turned cold.
“What happened? Is she okay?”
“I don’t know all the details, but someone saw her wheelchair tip over near the pond. They think she might have hit her head. The ambulance is taking her to the hospital right now.”
Robert looked at Lily, who was coloring at the kitchen table. She looked up at him with those knowing green eyes.
“Daddy,”
she said calmly,
“Judge Catherine is going to be okay. But this is the test. This is when we find out if miracles are really real.”
Robert grabbed his keys with shaking hands. If something serious had happened to Judge Catherine, their deal would be over.
“Come on, Lily,”
he said.
“We need to go to the hospital.”
“I know, Daddy,”
Lily said.
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