"That's beautiful, Maya... Now, grab them up and let's go!!" I knew that was a mistaken thing to say when she began daintily choosing which to pick up first. I waited two, maybe three seconds and then reached down, scooped up the lot, grabbed her around the waist and ran for the car. The rain caught up to us just as I snatched my camera from the grass. Luckily the car was very close and we jumped inside just in time. Instantly, the air around us turned dark and clammy. The windows fogged from the inside and the rain pounded on the tin can roof of my VW. I was a little freaked out thinking about how quickly this storm came up and knowing we were out in the middle of nowhere especially when the unmistaken popping of tiny hail stones joined in the percussive chorus on our roof. Any veteran Mid-Westerner knows that hail means there is nasty shit somewhere nearby. In my youth I would have been reeling, tearing off in my car to find the highest hill, hoping to catch a glimpse of Mother Nature at her worst. But, I'm a Dad now and the only thing Dad's do well in a crisis is panic! I hurriedly pushed Maya into her seat, fumbling for her seat-belt thinking we have to get to shelter. It was then I realized I still had a handful of dirt and cottonwood seeds. I looked at Maya whose face was rather pale and eyes as big as walnuts, not knowing what to think of this man's irrational behavior. One minute she's playing in the sun and the next she's being strapped into a seat while the world goes dark and crazy around her. I stopped and opened my hand to her. She smiled and carefully gathered the fairies into her own. She examined them with her finger. "Daddy, I think you squished some of them".