Into town, one day, came a new boy. His name was Jasper.
Laura saw right away that Jasper was not like anyone else she’d ever met.
“He’s not like anyone else I’ve ever met,” said Laura. “He lives inside a happy bubble.”
Jasper’s happy bubble kept him safe.
Outside, all of the badness of the world swirled around.
But inside the bubble, none of the badness of the world could touch Jasper.
Jasper’s happiness was infectious.
Laura found herself swept up and unable to resist his charms. She wanted to be his friend, to absorb all his positivity and intensity.
She wanted to be around him even when he wasn’t quite so bubbled, for there were such times (though he kept his bubble close by).
Aunt Jodi, who until now had been sitting in the corner quiety watching and listening to Laura’s ravings about Jasper, finally looked up from her knitting.
She stood and walked to the cabinet and took out a plastic bottle of soap bubbles. Gestering to Laura, they went out onto the back porch.
With the soapy bubble stick poised at her mouth, Aunt Jodi said, “Laura, what happens to a bubble when you blow it out onto the wind?” Aunt Jodi blew, and a stream of bubbles emerged, lifting up and out into the blue sky.
“It floats away!” said Laura excitedly.
Then the realization of what this meant dawned on her.
“It floats away,” Laura said again, soberly this time.
Laura was silent for a long, long while.
“Maybe the happy bubble will pop,” said Laura, hopefully, and meanly. (What a horrible thing for Laura to wish for, or even to say!)
“If it does,” said Aunt Jodi, “Jasper will have drifted far away by then.”
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Tags: bear, bubble, craftcornerdeathmatch, happy
Glorious.