morning hugs

As she sometimes does, early this morning my jewel woke up at the crack of dawn when she heard me rustling through the kitchen, trying desperately not to wake up anyone. Her whimper, which would soon become a wail, needed to be stayed, I thought. So I entered her room and saw her staring back at me. I tried to get her to settle down, but instead she reached out and grabbed my neck. Every time I tried to pull away, she squeezed tighter. A thousand years could have passed in that moment and I still would have thought, when I finally pulled myself away, that it wasn't long enough. Not by at least a thousand years more.