Cuuuuuuuuuuute!!
She swam around in little circles in the bucket--she didn't care that it used to be an elephant-watering bucket. It had been hers as long as she could remember. All of maybe two or three years... but it didn't matter. Her little five-year-old world was complete with just her bucket of warm soapy water and the sights, sounds, and smells of the circus all around.
Nearby sat Margali...watching the small blue creature swim lazily in her makeshift bathtub. A smile flickered across Margali's face. Bath bucket, more like it. Not that the adorable little elf knew any differently... from the day she'd found the infant in the river, the unusual child had been raised in this world of clowns, trapezes, elephants, and lion tamers. The unusual was the commonplace here.
"I think your bath's just about done, Katja..."
The five-year-old girl, who for all practical purposes looked like a little blue demon with a perfectly angelic face, stuck out her lip in a pout. "Already? I'm not done!"
Margali smiled and picked up a soft piece of cloth--her adopted daughter's bath towel-- and started for the sudsy bucket.
"You've been in there for almost half an hour, liebling...the water can't be very warm anymore..."
Sighing, the little blue elf raised herself half out of the water, allowing Margali to scoop her up in the fuzzy towel. Her little tail stuck out of the towel, its spade-tip dripping. Gently, Margali set the elf child on a box and proceeded to dry her off.
"Momma?"
"Ja, love?"
Katja turned her head to look at her adopted mother. "Do I have to go to bed now? I don't want to go to bed."
Finishing drying the little furry body, Margali wrapped her up in the fuzzy towel until she was no longer damp. "You know it's bed time after bath time, dear...what's the matter?"
The little girl looked disappointed for a moment. "I...I want to watch Stefan and Jimaine."
Margali smiled. Her children--her natural children-- Stefan and Jimaine, were both older than Katja, and were both starting to learn acrobatics, preparing for a role in the circus which was their home. They always started their routines after Margali had put Katja to bed for the night.
"Has some little elf been watching her brother and sister instead of sleeping?" she said, teasing. The indigo face twisted into a shy "I've-been-caught" smile.
"A little..."
Margali ruffled Katja's hair. "Silly elf...How about I let you stay up and watch a little bit of their practice?"
A huge grin flashed its way across the mischievous little face. "Okay!"
"But..." Margali held up a finger in caution. "You have to promise not to fuss when I say it's time for bed."
The smile faded back into a cute little smirk. "Okay."
Margali smiled back, then went to a trunk to fetch pajamas for her little elf. "Well, let's at least get you some night clothes first."
The little elf hopped off of the box and followed her mother to the trunk, watching as she rummaged through the few articles of clothing the little girl owned.
"No no...those..."
"The fuzzy yellow one?"
Another huge grin. "Ja!"
Before long, the small child had wriggled into her favorite, fuzziest pair of pajamas--really nothing more than long underwear. Margali could hardly keep from smiling...the little elf was so cute in them...
"Come on, let's go watch Stefan and Jimaine."
"Okay!"
Smiling to herself, Margali scooped up the indigo child and slipped into the main tent where her two older children were just stretching and warming up.
