Emma and Ava's day at the Museum

Fair warning: this story contains a child having a seizer, and could induce fear of the unknown. Please read with caution. 

Emma works weekends and holidays. 

It was something she agreed to do, along with all the other employees that work at The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, but she didn’t hand out cotton candy or push buttons to get rides going.

Emma organized privet events in the hall above Neptune’s Kingdom Arcade.

Her weekends were enjoyed on Mondays and Tuesdays, which is a perfect time to have off if you live in California. The beaches are nearly empty, and her favorite restaurant was never too busy for her. 

During the summer, Emma would often find healthy ways to entertain her daughter. She wanted Ava to get outside to expanding her mind, so this weekend Emma took Ava to The Local History Museum for an educational field trip. History was one of the many things Emma could get excited about, and Ava was happy to explore things that interest her Mom. 

It was Monday afternoon when Emma and Ava arrived at Museum. 

“Hello…” Emma called through the doorway with the door handle still in her palm. The door was unlocked. They must be open. This was the museum, right? It was clearly marked with a sign outside…

“Hello?”

Little Ava’s words and excitement had suddenly disappeared. She felt like all her energy was drained from her body. All she did was stand, stare, and wait on the porch.

“Hello,” a voice responded from above the stairway. “I’m sorry I wasn’t expecting anyone.” A woman walked down the steps to great the two.

“Oh, should we have called ahead? We don’t mean to bother. We could come back another time. My daughter and I wanted to learn a little about our home town,” Emma said.

“Yes, come on in,” the woman said, which they did. “We don’t usually get visitors on Mondays. Hello, little one. Are you ready to learn about the loggers and Ohlone Native Americans?”

Ava didn’t feel comfortable responding.

“Ava, did you hear? The Ohlone,” Emma wasn’t used to seeing her daughter so quiet. “You love Native Americans.”

Ava stepped next to her Mom and tucked herself under her arm, looking up at the woman without saying a word.

“She’s just shy,” the woman concluded; Emma was shaking her head. 

“Why don’t you two go on alone, then,” the woman continued. “You can follow this map. Each stop is marked on the pamphlet with all the juicy details you need right here.” 

She handed Emma the paperwork and looked at Ava, then back at Emma before saying, “Might be more comfortable just the two of you, anyway.” She turned to continued to her business at the top of the stairs while saying, “This will be free of change, of course. You two get the local’s deal, today.” 

Ava followed her Mom down the trail marked on the map, and listened while she read the paragraphs in the pamphlet at each stop, but stayed mostly quiet the whole time. Emma thought it was normal to be quiet in a museum, even though they were outside and no one else was around. They walked slowly and absorbed every thing they could about the space and what had happened there.

The little girl followed slowly behind, not walking nearly as fast as Emma’s eager pace hurriedly finding the next point of interest to read. 

They continued down the path when Emma heard her daughter scream.

“What?!” Emma turned to find her daughter staring at the ground with her hands around her mouth and eyes wide. “What is it?!”

“I saw something,” Ava said.

Fear emanated from both of them.

“What was it?” Emma tried calming her heart beat with reason. “What did you see?”

“I don’t know,” Ava said, confused, obviously scared, and now crying.

“It’s okay. Your okay?” Emma kneeled to comfort her daughter in her arms. 

She looked at her tearful eyes and said, “we don’t have to stay if you don’t want to. I think were more than half way through the loop here.” She stood and took Ava’s hand and began walking back to the building. 

The path was the most direct way back, so they followed it, but it was too narrow to walk side-by-side so Ava dropped her Mom’s hand and walked directly behind her, trying to keep up with her pace this time. They both felt unsettled by something, but couldn’t explain what exactly it was unsettling them. 

They walked past the next two markers without stopping or looking.

“Mama,” Ava asked curiously, before her tone turned desperate. “MAMA!”

Emma stopped to see as her daughter standing stiff. Not moving at all; Motionless, Ava’s face looked surprised and worried. The little girl stood while her shoulders lifted with stress and her eyebrows furrowed in fear and discomfort. Emma got to here knees to looking at her daughter at eye level, but Ava was absent.

“BABY?!” Emma, felt powerless. “Ava,” she said strictly. 

Ava’s stiff posture jolted out of rhythm, unexpectedly.

Instinct kicked in and Mama knew what needed to happen. All of her love for her daughter expanded through the depths of her big heart. She never lost hope, and never felt doubt. 

Not once. 

She knew it was her daughter standing infront of her. 

She knew everything was going to be okay. 

She knew everything had to be okay.

“Ava, “ she said gently, “look at me.” 

Hopeful encouragement resounded from her voice even though Ava’s eyes weren’t focused on hers. Tears fell from her face while the softest smile radiated from her.

These were her daughter’s shoulders in her hands, 

This is her daughter’s face in front of her, 

This are her daughter’s brown eyes she is looking into. 

She drew out the vowels of her name, “Ava,” searching deep into her daughters eyes, keeping the kindest tone in her voice, and perseverance in her heart.

The girl didn’t respond, but Emma didn’t loose sight of hope. 

She never gave up. 

“Ava?” Emma called to her,

 as if she was in the next room, about to find a surprise cake waiting on the dining table. 

“Where is my daughter?” Emma smiled wider as more tears fell from her cheeks.

Hope shined everlastingly from her.

“Where is my Ava,” she asked again, almost laughing.

The girl’s body released it’s tension, but didn’t fall. Emma watched her expression and color return to normal. Her natural posture suggested she was unfazed.

They wrapped their arms around each other. 

The intensity of their relieved love, and touching hearts expanded like a burst nebula, stretching across and beyond the property lines. Peace effortlessly resided. 

Emma was looking at her daughter again. 

It was really her. 

It was Ava.

The woman working at the museum knew something terrible had happened and went barreling down the hill as fast as her feet could follow her. 

Emma was looking at her daughter again.

It was really her. 

“Are you okay,” she asked, beaming with relief.

“Yeah,” Ava said. Her mother continued to hold her in resolve. 

She never gave up hope. Not once.

Holding Ava to her chest as she stood, wrapping her daughter’s legs under her free arm, and stepping off the trail, Emma b-lined through the brush to the front building.

The museum worker saw Emma trail blazing through the shrubs with daughter in arms. 

“Is everything alright?” The woman said. She wanted to help in any way she could. 

“What happened. Is she okay?”

“She’s alright,” Emma calmed the frantic woman. “Just tell me how to get out of here.”

The two walked back to the museum in long strides. 

Emma felt more than anything else, incredibly grateful for her daughter’s presence.

Emma never lost sight of the goodness that resides within her.

Keeping her heart filled with the divine love for her child is the only thing that kept them from falling into fear.

Emma stopped by the beach on their way to Ava’s doctor’s office, just incase this was something other than natural that happened to them, and she always keeps two clean bathing suits and fresh towels in a beach bag in the car, just for this reason.

Ava’s Mom always knows how to help the day feel better.

Wrapping the towels under their arms to cover themselves completely, they shimmy their suits on under the towels, and walked down to the sand where they laid the towels flat.

“You doing alright, Baby,” Emma asked.

“Yeah,” Ava said smiling, trying to forget what just happened.

“Good. Now lets get in the water!” Emma started to race towards the ebbing tide.

Ava ran with full force to reach the water before her Mom did. They lifted their knees high to run through the recently crashed wave, and barged into the frigid water. Ava’s known all her life how to safely swim in the ocean. She trusts herself in the all mighty forces of the tide. 

Hands overlapped over head while she gasped a breath of air, and dived into the middle of the curl before it crashed over head, pushing Ava through the back of the wave and into the water as it passed by. 

The cold and violent water focusses all of Ava’s attention to the present moment, surfacing all that doesn't belong within her, and cleansing her with the love and protection of Mother Earth.

The Pacific Ocean will always be here for Emma’s daughter to cleanse herself from whatever unseen forces awaken from the Earth. This is how she can deal with these unpredictable and uncontrollable circumstances. All she needs to do is get in the water, all the way in, and dunk her head under the surf. 

P.S. If this gives you the hibigibi’s or if you have a fear of the unseen, listen to buddhists chanting the word Humuh for 10 minutes. Sing along with it if you have to, it always works!

This is the one I use…

https://www.humuh.org/prayers-chants/#HUM-Chants