In the Moment

I'm editing today, a short film called "Infinite Tree." Annie is drinking hot chocolate and doing her homework. She stood up to show me a picture she drew in her notebook, a picture of a mermaid, and she read the words she wrote below it:

"I want to draw a picture of a mermaid."

It's a short sentence, a simple one, but the way she said it, with a big smile on her face, her eyes looking so tired but still bright, she's too little to be at school all day, working, behaving, holding it all together.

It made me want to run away with her, to a place like Costa Rica, and let her grow up on the beach, collecting shells and studying the birds.