Written by Judith Tipney-Hicks.

Love got to clifftop where Faith, her brother, and Hope, her sister, were waiting for her and flopped down onto the bench between them.  The bench looked out over the sea to where the suns last rays fell over the crisply defined horizon and darkness was now slipping a blanket over everything.

“So, what did you do today?” She said, looking at her sister first, with a smile and a loving twinkle in her eye.  

Hope smiled back and looked out into the farthest distance. “You know”, she said thoughtfully, “I was reminded today that we are not all in the same boat, but we do look at the same sky. I always have to look up. Up is a good place to look.  I looked up first, and then I looked out.” Then she said “Today I planted a seeds for next years harvest and trees for the next generation”.  

Love smiled at her,  “That’s really good,” she said.

She turned to Faith. “What about you? What have you been up to today?”  Faith said “Oh, I put one foot in front of the other most of the time,” he smiled. “And I told some people what things would be like, if we did what Hope was doing. And they came to help.  It was great!”.  

Faith and Hope looked at Love.  “So, what about you sis?”  “Oh,” said Love. “I sent the first-aid kit over.” 

“That did come in handy! There were quite a few cuts and bruises,” said Hope. “Some of the work wasn’t easy”.  

“Yes, I know” said Love genuinely.  

“And did you get lunch OK? It was hot out there today.” 

“Yes, we did thank you.  It came at just the right time to give everyone the strength to keep going.”  

“That’s great” said Love. “I hoped it would. Every day is full of surprises, you know”, she added, smiling.  

It was quiet for a few moments.  It was getting colder by now, and Love said: “Here, I brought some hot chocolate,” handing out cups full of the steaming hot drink, “and the food will be ready when we get back.”  

They looked at her gratefully. “What would we do without you?” Faith said.  “Nothing, I think”, Hope said wistfully. “How could we?” 

“Come on” said Love, “It’s been a long day.”

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✏️ Judith Tipney-Hicks

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