The Things in the Air. Carmen Gil

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      To the elves on the children’s hospital wards,

       the ones who fill the air with wonderful things that

       nobody can see, but which are there all the same.

       - Carmen Gil -

      To my beloved mother Naciza Lavinia,

       who, despite the distance between us,

       is always in my air.

       - Turcios -

       The Things in the Air

      Text © Carmen Gil

       Illustrations © Turcios

       This edition © 2013 Cuento de Luz SL

       Calle Claveles 10 | Urb Monteclaro | Pozuelo de Alarcón | 28223 | Madrid | Spain

       www.cuentodeluz.com Title in Spanish: Las Cosas del Aire English translation by Jon Brokenbrow

      ISBN: 978-84-15784-04-3

      Printed by Shanghai Chenxi Printing Co., Ltd. xxxx 2013, print number xxx

      All rights reserved

      The Sparkling Elves loved the Things in the Air,

       those things that nobody can see, but which are

       there all the same. With their suits in dazzling

       colors and their huge glittering grins, the elves

       spent entire days fluttering from place to place

       in the Forest of Light, looking for flying surprises.

      Early one morning, when the whole countryside looked as if a child had

       painted it, a lemon-green elf trapped a kiss that was flapping around an

       oak tree, a kiss that the Rainbow Fairy had blown to the frog living in the

       lake. It was a small peck of a kiss, sweet and full of life.

      Another time, an elf wearing overalls chased a lovely aroma for three days.

       It was the delicious smell of Grandma Sarah’s cinnamon cake! Everyone

       who’d ever tried this cake claimed that just one bite would make you walk

       on air.

      The elf followed it

       along the winding

       paths, through the

       mountains, and along

       the banks of the river, until he finally

       found it tucked under a woodpecker’s wing.

      Just a few days ago, a purple elf discovered how words crashed into each

       other high up in the sky, close to the stars, and new ones were born. He