"Morning, Liz!" I call to her as she walks into the bookstore.

I can't keep this huge, goofy grin off my face. It's been here since I woke up. Jacob looked at me like I was a psychopath, but let me go to work after he was finished questioning me. Sheryl keeps eyeing me and asking if I'm alright. My answer is, yes I'm terrific.

"Hey, Jordan!" Lizzie says before walking over to the shelves of books.

I bring my hair back behind my ears with my fingers and straighten out my shirt, sitting up straighter.

'Hello there.' -Ray

My heart skips a beat as I read the name. My fingers shake as I type.

'Hey.'

'How are you?' -Ray

Oh, being all casual now, are we? Two can play at that game.

'I'm great, and you?'

'Excellent, thanks for your concern.' -Ray

'Who said I was concerned?'

'Who said I asked for your opinion?' -Ray

'Touché, Ray.'

'That rhymes!' -Ray

I laugh out loud this time. 'I know!'

Somebody clears their throat in front of me. I quickly set my phone down and look up. A woman stands before me, holding a stack of children's books. I take them from her and check her out silently.

'I am so bored its not even funny.' -Ray

'Oh yeah?'

'Yeah. This is furreal.' -Ray

'If I weren't at work, I'd visit you.'

'Maybe I should just come to you.' -Ray

My heart basically stops as I reread the message. Then I frown when I realize something.

'Oh, I've actually got to close up the store in like five minutes.'

'Fine, I suppose I will just have to wait until later, then.' -Ray

"Hey Jordan?" Liz stands at the desk, only her eyes showing above the countertop.

"Yes, Liz?" I ask, placing my phone in my pocket.

"Gramma was wondering if you could babysit me today while she goes to the store."

I smile. "Of course. I'd love to."

**********************************

"Thank you so much, Jordan," Liz's grandma says, grabbing her purse. "I'll be back in about an hour."

She hurries out the door and into the cold.

Lizzie sits across from me at the table, holding a board game. I take the box and look it over.

"Candyland?" I ask.

"It's my favorite," Lizzie explains.

It was actually my favorite too, when I was younger. I haven't played it in years. In fact, I haven't played board games, period, in years. I suddenly feel really lame and decide I've wasted away enough of my life without board games.

"Sure, lets play."

The board is laid out in front of us, and I am given the yellow piece while Lizzie is the blue. We begin the game, both confident in our skills.

"I must warn you, Liz, I have proven to be pretty awesome at this game," I smirk at her. She doesn't seem to be the least bit phased.

"I'll have you know, Missy, that just because I am a young sapling of only nine years old does not mean I automatically am not as skilled at a game as you," Liz snaps. "That is a rude stereotype."

I blink once. Blink again. "Why, of course, Liz. I'm always in need of some real competition."

Throughout the game, the two of us are neck in neck. Didn't think Candyland could get competitive? Think again.

Lizzie places down a double blue and moves her piece in front of mine. On the inside, I am grumbling and rolling my eyes at the move. On the outside, I'm cool and collected.

I place down a single red card and move to the space behind her. Whoever gets the better card here wins the game. Lizzie takes a deep breath before grabbing the top card. And of course, she enters the winners area on the game board.

She stands up and laughs. "Haha! Who needs real competition now, huh?"

I sigh. "Apparently you do," I deadpan.

"Exactly," she smirks.

Not wanting to hear anymore gloating, mostly because I want to keep some dignity, I change the subject. "What do you want to do now?"

Lizzie places a finger to her chin and her eyes wander to the ceiling in thought. "Want to tell me a story? I haven't heard a good one in ages."

I nod, smiling. "Alright. Any suggestions on what it should be about?"

Lizzie shake her head. "Nope, just make it good."

"Not feeling pressure at all," I laugh. "Alright, once there was a little girl named Ella. Ella had a happy family: two smiling parents, an older sister who loved her very much, and a little kitten named Alfonzo.

"Christmas was coming up and Ella wanted to get her family the best presents possible. She searched the entire city, entered every shop she could think of-"

"Even, like, grocery stores?" Lizzie asks, eyebrows raised.

"-even grocery stores. She couldn't find anything that was worthy of her family. One day, Ella walked into a costume store. There was a little old lady sitting near the back, hiding in the shadows. Ella approached her slowly and the woman watched her carefully. Ella asked the woman if she worked at the store, so that the lady could tell her what would be the best present. Only, the lady replied, 'I do not work here, young child. But I can help you.' Ella listened intently to the woman, not wanting to miss a single word."

"What did she do to help?" Lizzie tilts her head, leaning back against the couch.

"The woman told Ella, 'Past the mountains and across the river you will find a waterfall. Cross through it, and you will know what you need to get them.' So Ella took the advice of the woman and that next morning, she left towards the mountains.

"She had to hunt her own food and eat nuts and berries found on the way, but after almost four days, she caught sight of the river. The river was far too wide for her to cross over on her own, and she was very tired. She dropped onto the ground and fell asleep under a tree."

Lizzie looks startled. "Is that the end? Did she give up?"

I shake my head. "Nope, she had a dream that night. The woman appeared in it. She told her not to give up, and to make it across. When Ella woke up, she found a newly built bridge in front of her to cross the river."

Lizzie gasps and puts a hand over her mouth, before telling me to continue.

"Ella crossed the bridge slowly, admiring the fast moving river below her. Once she was across, she spotted the waterfall. It was beautiful and tall and sparkled in the sunlight. Ella was walking towards it and remembered the words of the woman. She had to cross the waterfall to know the present to get."

Lizzie nods, listening intently.

"So, Ella crosses into the waterfall. The water flows over her and soaks her. In the midst of all this, she has a vision. A voice tells her, 'Some of the most appreciated things are the smallest. Take some of this fresh, sparkling water and bring it back to your family.' And that is how bottled water came to be," I conclude.

Lizzie laughs. "Wow, that was a very good story. Interesting."

"Your turn to tell one," I tell her, resting my hands behind my head.

Lizzie thinks for a moment before beginning. "Once there was a small soup can named Doug. This can had no friends and he was so sad. He tried so hard to be nice to the other cans, but was just too mean. He called Tommy Tomato Soup a liar. He told Misty Mushroom Soup that she did, in fact, look fat in her wrapper. And he told Chelsea Chicken Noodle that she was way too salty and didn't deserve to be eaten."

I raise my eyebrows. This is a very well thought out story.

"Doug once saw how lonely he was and decided he wanted to make a friend. When the new shipment of soups came to the store, Doug found just the right one. Her name was Candace Crab Stew.

"Doug introduced himself to her and told her he wanted to be her friend. All the other cans warned Candace not to be friends with Doug since he was so mean. Candace decided to give him a chance."

I smile. "Maybe he can change. I bet he will end up being really nice to her and the other cans will want to be his friend too!"

Lizzie holds up a finger. "Ah, ah, ah. Not finished yet. Doug was actually very kind to Candace for a long time. They played 'pretend we have arms' and 'name that soup flavor' every day. But then, one day he realized that he didn't want to be nice. He realized that he was so much happier insulting people. He told Candace, "I don't want to be your friend anymore. You're really dented and talk way too much. We're done.' And Doug never had friends again."

I open my mouth to speak, but no words come out. Wow.

"Gram will be home any minute now. We should clean up the game," Lizzie says, picking up her game piece. I nod, placing the cards together and tying them with a runner band. Once we are finished, we carry the box upstairs and place it into the closet.

"Thanks for coming over today, Jordan. I had a lot of fun," Lizzie hugs me.

I smile and run my fingers through her messy hair. "Me too, Liz. I loved your story. Super original."