Touch the Sky

Touch the Sky

There was a little girl, whose name was Kitty.Now you may think that is a very strange name for a girl.She did not look like a cat or even a kitten.Her parents called her Kitty because she loved cats, big cats, small cats, yellow cats or black cats.It didn’t really matter. But most of all Kitty loved kittens.They followed her every where she went. When she went to bed they would climb up and snuggle around her, purring their night-time lullabies.

So her parents named her Kitty.Her brother Jake called her Kit. Her sister Lizzy called her Kit. Even her best friend Emily called her Kit.

One day Kit went out to play carrying her favourite lunch, a peanut butter sandwich, a carton of milk and, of course, a Kit Kat chocolate bar for dessert.
She walked up the hill in her backyard and put down her lunch under the tall old oak tree.Kit stood on her tip toes stretched her hands up above her head as far as she could reach.

Thump! she flopped on the ground and began to cry.

'Hrumph!!' she heard a quiet voice and stopped crying to listen.

"Hrumph!" she heard it again. “I’m down here,” said the funny voice.

Looking down she saw an elf standing beside her.He wasn’t very tall. In fact, he was so short that he only stood as tall as her knees.He had big pointy ears and his shoes curled above his toes just as an elf’s shoes should.

“Why are you crying?” asked the elf.

“Because I want to touch the sky but I am too short.”

“Hmmm,” said the elf, “why do you want to touch the sky?”

“Well, what a silly question. "I want to know what it feels like, of course.”

The elf paced back and forth in his little elf shoes and then he looked at her with a big smile on his face; “You can touch the sky if you really want too.”

“Oh! What do you know; you are even shorter than me.”

The elf looked up at her and said in a very serious voice, “You have a closed mind. First you must open up your mind and believe that anything is possible and then you will be able to touch the sky.”

She sat down on the ground and cried even more.The elf began to feel very sorry for her. He came over to her and squeezed her hand,
“I can show you how to touch the sky if you really want too.”

Kit stopped crying. “You can?” She thought for a minute. Well after all he was an elf and elves were supposed to be magic. Maybe he could perform a magic trick for her so that she could touch the sky.

“Ok,” she said, “What do I have to do?”

He told her to look up into the tall old oak tree.Its branches reached way up high into the sky.As she stood there gazing up into the tree suddenly she saw the elf way up in the highest branch reaching out to touch the sky.Once again Kit began to cry.

The elf yelled down to her, “Why are you crying now?”

“I can’t climb up that big tall tree. I may fall. I am not an elf with magical powers like you.”

“Kit you have a closed mind. First, you must open up your mind and believe that anything is possible and then you will be able to climb up here where I am on the highest branch and touch the sky.

“Hmmmm! that is if you really want to touch the sky,” he said in clever elfish fashion.

Kit walked all around the tree and as she looked up she saw a squirrel scampering along the branches.If he can do it so can I, thought Kit.

Soon she found a branch and reaching up with both her hands she pulled as hard as she could and swung herself up onto the branch. Just like the squirrel she began to climb up the branches of the tree, one by one.She did not look down because she was very scared but she really wanted to touch the sky.

Soon she stood at the very top of the tree and she reached as far as she could way up into the sky.She stood there waving her hands back and forth and then she began to cry again.

The elf could not believe his eyes, “Why are you crying now?”

“I still can’t touch the sky. I am still too short.”

Once again the elf said,” You have a closed mind. First you must open up your mind and believe that anything is possible and then you can touch the sky. Now close your eyes.”

“But if I close my eyes I might fall,“she cried.

“Remember to open your mind and believe that anything is possible. You will not fall because I will be right here with you.”

Kit was very afraid but she slowly closed her eyes and reached up as high as she could. Soon she felt the air blow softly against her fingers and felt the softness of a bird’s wing.  She could even feel the coolness against her fingers as a cloud drifted by. A big smile spread across her face and she squealed with delight.“I can touch the sky. I can really touch the sky.”

When she grew tired of touching the sky she opened up her eyes. The elf had disappeared. Looking down she saw him back at the bottom of the tree. Having touched the sky, she now realized that she could do anything she put her mind to and slowly began climbing back down the tree, one branch at a time. When she reached the bottom of the tree she said, “Thank you elf for helping me to touch the sky.”

He bowed to her and said, “You are welcome Kit, but you could always touch the sky.”

“What do you mean?” she looked at the strange little man.

The elf smiled his elfish smile and said to her, “All you have to do is close your eyes and open up your mind and believe that anything is possible and you can touch the sky any time you want to.”

Kit closed her eyes and reached up her hands and soon she felt the air blow softly against her fingers and felt the softness of a bird’s wing. She could even feel the coolness against her fingers as a cloud drifted by.

“Yes now I understand. All I have to do is close my eyes and open my mind and believe that anything is possible.”

When she opened up her eyes the elf had disappeared in true elfish fashion. Kit wasn’t upset because she knew that all she had to do was close her eyes, open up her mind, believe that she could see him and he would be there once again. He would be just as short as ever with his big pointy ears and wearing curled up shoes just as an elf should.