the girl in yellow
The Girl in Yellow
The sun was just beginning to rise over the Pacific when Daisy Martin decided that, for once, she was going to be quiet.
She sat on her yellow surfboard with her legs dangling into the cool water, her wet hair sticking to her shoulders, and watched the sky slowly turn from lavender to peach.
For a girl who normally had approximately twelve thoughts at the same time, Daisy considered this an impressive accomplishment.
No talking.
No music.
No phone.
Just the ocean.
A dolphin surfaced several yards away.
Daisy smiled.
“Good morning.”
The dolphin disappeared.
“Okay. Rude.”
She laughed softly and turned her face toward the sunrise.
This was her favorite time of day.
Before the tourists arrived.
Before the boardwalk filled up.
Before her dad started reminding her about all the things she was supposed to do.
Before—
A wave lifted her board.
Daisy grinned.
“Okay, maybe one more.”
So much for being quiet.
She paddled toward the wave, stood, and flew down its face, laughing as the sunlight flashed across the water.
Twenty minutes later, she was racing home along the beach path on her skateboard.
She was wearing faded denim shorts, a yellow sweatshirt tied around her waist, and a string of seashells around her neck. Her backpack bounced against her shoulders, filled with a sketchbook, a half-eaten granola bar, three paintbrushes, sunscreen, and a seashell she had absolutely no reason to be carrying around.
Her skateboard was covered in daisies.
Naturally.
Daisy hopped off near the gate and pushed her board underneath one arm.
Then she stopped.
Her father was in the backyard.
He was kneeling in front of the old wooden crucifix hanging beneath the porch.
Daisy’s expression softened.
Her father prayed there every morning.
She didn’t interrupt.
Instead, she leaned against the fence and waited.
Her dad finished his prayer, crossed himself, and stood.
Only then did he notice her.
“You’re home early.”
“Technically, I’m home at the exact time I usually come home. I just woke up earlier, because the sunrise was really pretty, and then there was this dolphin, and then I saw this really cool wave, and then I thought about painting it, but then I realized I don’t have enough blue paint, except I probably do because I have that tube of cobalt, but I think it’s dried out, and—”
“Daisy.”
She stopped.
“Yeah?”
“Good morning.”
She smiled.
“Good morning.”
He glanced at her skateboard.
“You went surfing.”
“Yes.”
“And skating.”
“Yes.”
“You have work today.”
“I know.”
“And you promised me you’d help clean the garage.”
“I know.”
“And—”
“I know.”
Her father smiled despite himself.
Daisy dropped her skateboard against the porch.
“I’m going to shower.”
“Daisy.”
She turned.
“Yes?”
“I need you home tonight.”
She blinked.
“Why?”
“We’re having guests.”
“What kind of guests?”
“Important ones.”
She narrowed her eyes.
“That sounds suspicious.”
“It’s dinner.”
“That sounds even more suspicious.”
Her father laughed.
“Just be home by six.”
Daisy pointed toward him.
“Six. Got it. I will be here. Unless something happens.”
“What kind of something?”
“I don’t know. A shark. A celebrity. A sea turtle. An alien invasion.”
“Daisy.”
“Fine. Six.”
She grabbed her skateboard and disappeared toward the house.
Her father watched her go.
The smile faded from his face.
He looked back toward the crucifix.
For years, he had kept a promise.
A promise made long before Daisy was old enough to understand it.
He reached into his pocket and touched the small folded photograph he carried with him.
It was old.
Very old.
A young woman stood in the photograph beside a man in formal clothes. Behind them was a stone palace surrounded by snow-covered mountains.
His daughter knew nothing about it.
She knew nothing about the family in the photograph.
And she certainly knew nothing about the boy she was going to meet that evening.
His eyes moved toward the house.
Daisy’s voice could be heard from inside.
“DAD!”
He closed his eyes.
“What?”
“WHERE’S MY YELLOW SURF WAX?”
He smiled.
“On the porch!”
“THANK YOU!”
He shook his head.
Soon, Daisy would know everything.
And nothing about her life would ever be quite the same.
By six o’clock, Daisy had managed to shower, change, paint for an hour, accidentally spill yellow paint on her favorite jeans, clean the garage for approximately twelve minutes, eat an avocado toast dinner before her actual dinner, and lose one of her earrings.
She was halfway through searching beneath the couch when the doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it!”
Her father appeared from the hallway.
“No.”
Daisy looked up.
“No?”
“I’ll get it.”
She frowned.
“Why?”
“Because they’re my guests.”
“That is not an answer.”
“Daisy.”
“Fine.”
She stood.
Then she heard the front door open.
A woman’s voice floated into the house.
“It’s wonderful to see you again.”
Daisy froze.
Again?
Her father laughed.
“It’s been a long time.”
Daisy slowly stood.
She walked toward the hallway.
And then she saw them.
A tall, elegant woman stood beside her father.
She looked completely out of place in their little California beach house.
Beside her stood a young man.
Dark hair.
Serious expression.
Perfectly pressed shirt.
He looked as though he had never once fallen off a surfboard.
Daisy stared at him.
He stared back.
Neither smiled.
Her father cleared his throat.
“Daisy, I’d like you to meet—”
The young man looked at her.
Daisy looked at him.
She glanced down at her paint-stained jeans.
Then at his immaculate clothes.
Then back at her father.
“Oh, no.”
Her father sighed.
“You haven’t even met him yet.”
“I know.”
“Then why did you say no?”
“Because I can already tell.”
The young man’s eyebrow lifted.
“Tell what?”
Daisy pointed at him.
“You.”
A silence fell over the room.
Her father closed his eyes.
The young man looked almost amused.
Almost.
“I’m Dominic.”
“Daisy.”
“I know.”
She blinked.
“How do you know?”
Dominic’s mother smiled.
“Because, Daisy, we’ve known about you for a very long time.”
Daisy looked at her father.
Her father’s face suddenly became very serious.
And for the first time that evening, Daisy stopped talking.
Something was wrong.
Something was very, very wrong.
And somewhere far away, beyond the California coast and the warm Pacific sun, there was a kingdom covered in snow.
A kingdom that had been waiting for Dominic to come home.
And a promise that had been waiting even longer.
Daisy just didn’t know yet that the promise had her name on it.
