His Gift to Her (Mary Sue Series)

Side story 1: First Peak of A Dream

"Read me this story!" Little five-year-old Qui demanded, holding up a hefty book up to her father.

He paled and looked at the book title. "Uh, do you want me to read the first chapter or something...?"

"All of it!" Came the enthusiastic reply. He looked up and despairingly saw his wife send him a sly grin.

Her father reluctantly sank to the floor and opened up the book, noticing there weren't any pictures. Why his daughter wanted to read such a boring book, he didn't know.

He turned to the first page, noticing how short the first page was. Quickly, he formed a plan in his head.

"Late afternoon, the General Kalimo planned his descent from the Tea Mountains. It was time to fight back for all the prejudice he and his people faced and regain their rightful land—"

"What does prejudice mean?" The little girl asked, only to be interrupted by her mother exclaiming from the kitchen and distracting her.

Taking advantage of her distracted mind, her father flipped to the end of the book and continued. "'This war was only the end of the old General Kalimo era and the beginning of a new one—an era filled with more desperation.' And the end!"

Qui blinked. "I think you skipped a chapter, Daddy."

"Oh, look who's here! Say hi to Uncle!"

"Uncle Iggy!" She screeched, running to hug his legs, only to be hoisted up into his arms before she could reach him. "You're here!"

"It's good to see you, Cousin" her father said just as brightly, greeting Uncle Igo. "Are you well? I didn't think you'd make it after that massive storm last week in the bay area."

"Never been better! No storm can stop me from seeing my adorable niece!" the man exclaimed, giving the girl an upward bounce in his arms. "Hi Qui-chan!" 

"Hi!" she grinned. 

"And look, I've got a present for you!"

"Really?" 

"Of course! Wanna see it?" 

"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" 

"Right here!" 

He carried her to the kitchen. On the table sat a beautiful red jar with a quail. 

"Whoa..." Qui tried to pick it up, only to find it was way too heavy. 

"Guess what it is~!" 

"A pot!" 

"Yes! And guess what it can do!" 

"Hold stuff!" 

"And?" 

"Hold more stuff!" 

"And?" 

"Hold  more stuff? Wait, how much stuff is that now?" 

"Okay, I'll tell you: it can send letters!" 

"Letters?" The young child didn't know what he meant. 

Uncle Igo quickly amended his statement. 

"If you ever want to show me a picture you drew, you can put it in this jar and I'll get it!" 

"Whoa...I wanna try right now!" 

The little girl ran to her room and grabbed her finished drawing of her flower field and ran downstairs.

"So put it in this jar and then close the lid. That way, I'll know. I'll wait right out here." 

"Like this?" Qui  put the paper in the jar.

"Yup! I'll stand right out here, so close the lid!"

Qui slowly lowered the lid with her eyes staring at her drawing, hoping to see what would happen to it through the narrow crack of the jar and the lid. When nothing happened, she huffed and closed the lid all the way. 

Upon instantly opening the lid, she gasped in delight. Her drawing was gone! 

"Did you get it?" She asked. 

"Got it!" 

"Wow~!" She exclaimed, clapping her hands in delight. 

"Qui dear, I need the use the table," her mother said apologetically, placing her vegetables on the table. 

"Oops! We can do that later; for now, is there anything I can do to help?" Uncle Igo asked, just as her father entered the kitchen. 

"Oh yes!" Her father brightened instantly and seized the book Qui wanted to read to him. "Qui wants to read this."

"Shuriken of the Central People. Oh, golly gee, this looks so hard to read!" Uncle Igo exclaimed, holding the book up above his head. "You wanna read this?"

"Yeah!" She screamed, flinging her self excitedly. Thankfully, her uncle had a practiced hand at her excitement and held her safely along with the heavy book. Her father swiftly made his escape into his workroom.

"I don't see any pictures, though," he said, flipping through a couple pages.

"I'll draw them then!" She said, running off to get her sketch pad and coloring pencils.

They sat outside and with plenty of color, paper, and words, they began reading the book. Uncle Igo more than willing to read her sentence by sentence and explaining difficult words.

"Wow~! Our Qui-chan knows so many words!" He praised. "And you're such a good artist too!"

"I like Uncle Igo reading me stories!"

"This is a history book," he noted. At some point, he had gotten out the map for her to see.

"I like Uncle Igo reading me history books!

"Heehee! Read the next chapter!"

Tap, tap.

Qui looked up to see her mother at the doorway with an apologetic expression on her face. 

"I'm sorry, Honey, but Uncle Igo has to go."

"But we didn't even finish yet," the toddler protested.

"That's okay," Uncle Igo quickly exclaimed, picking her up in his arms. "And tell you what; I'll let you pick what candy or treat you want this time. Do you want hard candy or soft candy? I can also get some savory bean curd snacks..."

Instantly, the five-year-old thought hard about the decision. "Um...I want..." 

Uncle Igo chuckled, stroking her hair and tucking a stray piece from her face. "Or how about some of those peach jellies? I know you really like those or--oh! What about that apple candy stick! Those were really good, weren't they?" 

"Ummm...." Qui looked more overwhelmed with the choices. 

"How about you think about it and then let Uncle Igo know with the quail jar?" Her mother offered, while the child scrunched up her face, trying to make a decision. The red quail jar Uncle Igo had gifted to her sat on the table. 

"Mmm, okay."

"Say, bye to Uncle!"

"Bye-bye!"