The Father turned His loving face to the little girl, shining with warmth.
"My daughter," He said, "I've been waiting."
The little girl looked up at Him, her eyes filled with tears. Tears of fear, fear of the unknown, dread of what the future might bring. At the same time she was afraid the Father might scold her for taking the gem before He had given it to her, punish her by taking her Treasure away, the unknown Treasure everybody had been telling her about since she was born. But there were also tears of joy... tears of obedience, for she knew that this choosing to give the gem back would show her Father that she loved and respected Him and gave Him full authority in her life. She stood there, trembling, wondering what would happen next.
The Father reached out... and hugged His little girl.
Over the Father's shoulder, the little girl saw a glass cupboard that hadn't been in the room before. In it was a velvet pillow that looked like it was meant to hold... could it be...?
The little girl looked at the Father questioningly, and He nodded gently at her. Then He took her hand and slowly, step by step, they crossed the floor to the glass cupboard. He opened the little glass door and looked again at His little girl with eyes of love. The little girl knew what she had to do.
She reached out and placed the gem carefully upon the velvet pillow. Then she watched as the Father closed the little glass door. And then the Father reached down and picked the little girl up into His arms... and together they watched the gem shine in the brilliance of the Father's light.
In the following days, the little girl would come often to her Father's room to look at the gem on its velvet pillow in the glass cupboard. She came to see her Father, of course, but the gem was an added motivation that drew her daily down that corridor to her Father's presence. Sometimes she watched the Father as He gently chiselled the gem or polished it... sometimes the Father let her have a hand too. But the little girl knew how clumsy her little fingers were, not like the Father's deft and skilful ones, so more often she gave it back to the Father to shape as He saw fit. Most of the time, though, she just sat and stared at the gem... watching it sparkle in the Father's light and watching her Father through the glass cupboard as He went about His work. She thought there was nothing so beautiful as these quiet periods of watching.
There were moments of great joy for the little girl... times when the Father would allow her to open the little glass door and touch the gem on its velvet pillow. "You cannot hold it yet," said the Father, "but that is only because you are such a very little girl still. When you have grown up, you will be given more freedom with the gem. So be patient and learn well, my little girl." The Father always ended this speech with a smile... and the little girl always clung on to that smile and held its warmth in her heart for the times when she was not directly in the Father's presence.
The little glass door of the glass cupboard was not kept locked... but the little girl knew she would never be so disobedient as to take the gem without asking, even though she could easily have the opportunity to do so, because she knew that such disobedience would break her Father's heart, and she would never want to do that. She also tried to prevent herself from opening the glass door too many times, even though the Father allowed her to, in order to look at the gem or touch it... because she knew that if she did, she might be tempted to take it and run away. Sometimes she was glad for the people that the Father had set to watch over her, like the Tutor and the Guardian and the Nanny, because they knew her well and could prevent her from going too close to the gem in case she got tempted. Although she often got angry at these people, she was grateful for them afterwards because she knew that they were carrying out the Father's will and helping her to do the same.
And so life carried on for the little girl, but her days seemed more coloured now because she met up daily with her Father and the gem was always in the glass cupboard for her to peek at, even if she had no time to sit and look at it everyday. Her tasks were as arduous and tiring as before, but now she strove at them with the added motivation of growing more in the Father's eyes, in order to be worthy of the gem. She had her falls and discouragements (after all, she was only a little girl), but the Father was always watching over her... and the thought of the gem waiting for her in its little glass cupboard was always sufficient to spur her on. And so the little girl carried on with her life, passing her days with hope and prayer. :)
Don't know if you would consider this an ending yet? :) There isn't a "happily-ever-after" or anything. But I felt I had to finish the story in some way :) And not cruelly leave people hanging on the cliff-hanger :P
Next up: The Race! :P
