A soft breeze swiftly passes by a still lake, the faint moonlight giving it a welcoming glow as the water softly ripples and returns to stillness moments later. Fireflies dance and crickets sing their songs, a beautiful night. On the other side of the lake, over the water sits a small wooden dock. This dock is quite old, but well-build and sturdy. On the very edge of this dock sits a small child, her tiny feet barely dipping into the clear moonlit water. Her eyes, as blue as the lake she sits over, have a searching look as she gazes intently at the large mountains in the far distance. However, the mountains are not what she longs for. Rather, she looks beyond the snow-white caps of their peaks, looking for something different, something special. As she gazes with all her focus on the same spot, she feels a gentle touch to her shoulder. She slowly turns her head, as she meets the gentle eyes of her mother. "Why are you up so early?" She asks calmly. "The sun has not risen yet." The little girl replies, "I am scared, what if the sun does not rise today?" Her mother, knowing it is time for a lesson, sits down beside her and asks, "Why would you ever think of such a thing happening?" "Sometimes, things go away, don't they?" The little girl replies upsettingly. "Listen closely," her mother says quietly, "Sometimes, the world changes, things come and go, even the sun will leave us one day." The little girl gazes down at her feet, her mouth quivering a bit. "However," her mother continues, "Today is not that day, we will see the sun rise this morning, and many other mornings to come." "And when the sun does decide it is time to say goodbye one day, you will always have many other beautiful things in your life that you can treasure even more." Suddenly the daughter shouts with a bright glint in her eyes, "Mom, mom, look!" There, she spots a bright, golden circle slowly peeking through the mountain tops, glistening over the snowy peaks. They both smile as they watch the beautiful sun rising over the lake for that day. Many years later, another little girl sits on the still dock early in the morning, waiting for the sunrise. Her mother smiles as she quietly opens the door and steps out of the house, as her daughter is about to learn a lesson she will never forget.
