“A fairy came down to me and touched her lips to mine, so lightly, so softly. Did you know there were fairies in Our Square, Dominie?”
“Always.”
“I think her name is Happiness. Is there such a fairy in this world, Dominie?”
“There has been.”
“Then there will always be. I think it was Happiness because she went away so quickly.”
“Happiness does. Did you try to hold her?”
“So hard! But I was clumsy and rough. She slipped through my arms.”
“Did she leave nothing?”
“Nothing.”
“Then what is this?” I lifted from the ground at his feet a single petal of pink rose, fragrant, unwithered, and placed it in his hand.