My beautiful daughter. Everyone loved her, that sweet Mabel. Especially her father. As soon as Mabel could walk, he took her on hikes and to parks and did everything with her. They were so close, all the time. He told her everything about his life, and she told him about hers. They were practically best friends. It was delightful to watch their relationship mature as Mabel grew up.
Mabel made so many wonderful friends in school. They played games and stayed over at each others' houses after school. She was so popular and smart. The teachers thought she was extremely gifted and had wonderful insight for an elementary school child. In high school, she decided that she loved the arts more than standard academia. College did not make sense to her. Art schools were expensive and unnecessary with her level of talent. She completed high school easily, and was excited to move on to her adult life.
The day Mabel moved out was sad, but she wanted some room to live on her own. She found an adorable little house like one from a fairy tale. Mabel began to do art, and her work was very successful. She sold several pieces, and held a few exhibitions. She often had groups of neighbors come to her house to chat and have lunch. She worked as a receptionist at a small local business. Her coworkers thought she was charming. Mabel often wore a green, wide-brimmed hat with a flower decoration on the side. The townspeople complimented her on her forward and modern fashion sense. Everyone that met her fell in love. Mabel had a few boyfriends, but they didn't stay for long. The relationships were not the problem, it was Mabel's free spirit.
Mabel kept several lovely cats in her home. Her friends often came over just to visit with them. Mabel loved her cats as if they were people. She took in stray cats she found, and stayed out hunting for new cats on some nights. Mabel made it her top priority to make sure to take care of the cats to the best of her ability. She gave them the best food and bought them countless mouse toys and containers of catnip. She even drove out of town a few times to go to one of the large pet stores in the city, to pick up large cat climbing structures.
One day, as she was returning home from work, she saw a neighborhood boy, Donnie, playing with her oldest cat, Olive. The boy had a feather toy on the end of a string that he was swinging around for Olive to bat at. Mabel knew the boy and his mother well. She waved to Donnie's mother, who was next door on the porch. Mabel jokingly called out to Donnie.
"Get away from him!" Mabel laughed, and walked toward him.
Donnie smiled when he saw her walking, and he waved. Mabel was going to stay and play with Olive and Donnie, but his mother realized that it was time to eat.
"Come here, Donnie!"
He reluctantly slumped back to his porch. When he stepped up onto the main platform, he waved 'goodbye' to Mabel. However, she was too busy playing with Olive to see.
