Colors

(This picture is unrelated.)

Today was a regular day at work. I was running a free-play time. Generally, it's an easy 45 minutes of light work. Just being around the children, being there in case there's an accident. But the parents are also present, so my job is made that much easier. I greet the parents and tickle a child here and there.
 I recall I was thinking of something completely generic, along the lines of what it was I would be eating, when I feel a light tug on my hand. I look down.
 It's a little girl I know quite well. She has the cutest laugh. Her entire face lifts when she smiles. She's not quite 2-years old yet, but she's quite vocal. Her whole hand is wrapped around two of my fingers.
 "Hey there!" I beam at her. She giggles and pulls me along. "Where are we going?" It's not like I expect an answer. I have to bend down for her to hold me by the hand. Although she's running, I cover her tiny steps in just a few of my own strides.
 We arrive at the base of a folded gymnastics mattress. It's just about one foot high. She climbs up and beckons me to step on top as well. And then she jumps off with her stubby little legs. Landing, she looks at me.
 "Jump!" she says -- one of the English words she picked up. I do as told. Her shrill laughter can probably be heard from across the room. Satisfied, she grabs the two fingers of my left hand again, and runs to the next point of interest.
 This one happens to be a small tunnel, intended for children to crawl through. Its diameter is probably the same as that of my shoulders. Of course, she fits inside like a jellybean in a roll of toilet paper. To her, the tunnel is huge, and me, I'm the smallest of her "big friends." She's convinced I can fit inside. I awkwardly try. My shoulders get stuck inside, but I manage to crawl through, much to the girl's delight. I'm not even standing up yet, that she grabs my hand again and starts running, letting go half-way. But she's right to assume I'll follow her. I'm curious as to what she wants to have me do next.
 She looks at me as she jumps into the ball pit. As I stand nearby, she fishes out two larger soft balls, and hands those to me. She then picks two smaller ones out for herself. Then, taking the two balls she's holding in her tiny hands, she presses them to her head.
 "Minnie Mouse," she says.
 I get it. I press the two larger balls against my own head. "Mickey Mouse," I reply.
 "Minnie Mouse," she repeats.
 "Mickey Mouse."
 "Minnie Mouse."
 This goes on for a few minutes. At this point I'm smiling so wide my face hurts. And I just can't help it. It felt like when I was laughing the whole world was laughing with me.
  Slowly but surely, I'm rediscovering colors to my life I never noticed I had forgotten about. Everything else fades away when I'm given a chance at being a child one more time.