channeling peter pan.

today, after church, while i was waiting in the parking lot for the rest of my party to emerge, i was watching ellie play. i figured there was no reason to buckle her in until everyone else showed up, and it was warm and sunny and downright pleasant outside. 

for awhile, she was doing her version of hopscotch, which involves some pretty hysterical hopping on one foot and a lot of counting. chalk hopscotch board optional, mind you. she was bouncing along when, all of a sudden, she discovered her shadow.

"no! go away shadow!" she shouted, giggling, as she started to run.

heading toward the sun, she thought she'd managed an escape. but a quick stop-and-turn revealed that her shadow still followed.

"no, no, shadow!" she said, sternly, stamping her foot on the ellie-shaped absence of light on the pavement. "leave me alone!"

she started running again until she figured out to huddle on the side of the car with me where her shadow was lost in the shade cast by the vehicle. slowly she crept out, hiding until the last minute in my shadow before flinging her arms out into the sun.

"she found me!" she hollered, giggling and running off into the sunlight once more.

peace filled my heart as i witnessed a scene of such pure childhood innocence, and i wondered if there are shadows in heaven.