Sunshine

Song

Elsie Bailey peeks her dark haired head out into the hall and looks for any sign of activity. All was dark. All was still. Her Mom and her brother Jesse were sound asleep in their rooms and her big sister Fiona was still out. In just a thin pink cotton nightie she cautiously extends one bare foot in the hallway. She listens hard. All was quiet. Silently she pads across the hall to stand in front of her brother’s door. Her slender hands at her sides, her fingers rubbing nervously into damp palms, she pauses…then reaches out to turn the knob.

A moment later she had slipped into the room. On the bed before her is her best friend, her hero, her crush, her one true love. A splash of moonlight filters in around the edge of the wafting curtain to send a pale streak of illumination across his chest.

Carefully she sits at the edge of his bed to his left and gazes down on her secret soul mate with dark fathomless eyes. She smiles, a wistful little smile, and admires the calm beauty of her slumbering sibling. In a voice as soft as the summer breeze drifting in from the open window Elsie sings.

“The other night dear, as I lay sleeping, I dreamed I held you in my arms. When I awoke dear, I was mistaken. So I hung my head and I cried.” Closing her eyes Elsie takes a long breath in and lets it out on the edge of shuddering tears. She opens them again. “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray. You’ll never know dear, how much I love you. Please don’t take my sunshine away.”

Reaching out she tenderly brushes a bang from his forehead with a single finger.

“I’ll always love you and make you happy. And nothing else could come between. But if you leave me to love another…you’ll have shattered all of my dreams.” Pulling her hand back she folds it over the other on her lap. “You are my sunshine. My only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray. You’ll never know dear how much I love you. Please don’t take my sunshine away.”

Bringing her fingers to her lips she kisses them then blows it toward the sleeping Jesse.

“I love you big brother.” She whispers.

She sits a time wishing she could do more, wishing with all her soul that she could tell him of her true feelings, but eventually she sighs and shakes her head. Her heart bleeding Elsie stands and looks down at him one last time before turning and sneaking back out of his room.

As the door quietly closes behind her she cannot see her brother’s eyes open, nor the smile that follows.