TENET: 1
It is a common misconception that children of different galactic species require different care.
- Dr. H.VynFleet, 132 Tenets of Childcare & Maintenance
YASMINE
Yasmine sat on the bed beside Pia.
The child was sobbing so hard that her little shoulders were heaving, making the cape of her ThunderBear costume flutter slightly.
“Do you want to tell me what’s going on, Pia?” Yasmine asked, placing her hand on Pia’s back.
“My haaaaaaaaaat,” Pia wailed, flinging herself into Yasmine’s arms.
“The, uh, one you wore yesterday?” Yasmine asked. “With the flowers?”
“It’s lost,” Pia said. “I can’t find it, and I need it.”
“Well, let’s stop and think about it like a detective,” Yasmine said. “You were wearing it yesterday at play group, and I’m pretty sure you were still wearing it when we got home.”
Pia sniffled and sat up, looking expectantly at Yasmine.
“Do you remember wearing it when your daddy swung you up in his arms?” Yasmine asked.
Pia frowned in thought.
“Yes,” she said. “It almost fell off. I had to hold onto it with my hand.”
“That’s great news,” Yasmine told her. “Now we know you didn’t leave it at play group, or in the park, or in the hover car.”
“Oh,” Pia said, her eyes lighting up.
“That means it has to be in the house,” Yasmine went on. “We still want to find it, but we don’t have to worry so much if we can’t find it right away, because we know it’s right here, in your house somewhere, just waiting to be found.”
Pia brightened a little.
“Now let’s check your room,” Yasmine said, getting up briskly. “Can I look in all your drawers and under your bed?”
“Sure,” Pia said. “But I already looked.”
“Sometimes a second set of eyes sees something the first set didn’t,” Yasmine told her.
They both went silent as Yasmine checked every drawer, under the bed, and even in the closet. The only thing close to a hat she saw was a sort of headpiece with a feather and some rhinestones all by itself on the top shelf of the closet. Unfortunately, it was definitely adult-sized, and too big for Pia’s little head.
“Well, I’m stumped,” she said. “And it’s just about time to get going. But we can totally check the rest of the house this afternoon, as soon as we get home.”
“Nooooo,” Pia howled. “I need my hat.”
“Are you sure?” Yasmine asked calmly. “I can give you a very fancy braid if you want, just like ThunderBear.”
Pia flung herself on the bed and began crying again.
Yasmine noticed that her little hands went to the circlet on her forehead. Maybe this wasn’t really about the hat at all.
She sat gently on the bed beside Pia.
“When I was a girl,” she said softly, “we didn’t have lots of extra credits. So I wore my big brother’s old clothes a lot. Sometimes it made me feel a little embarrassed that I was the only girl wearing boy’s clothes at school.”