Chapter One

Stamina Building

and the Pretty Lights

No Pants Day

November 26th -

The first rays of sunlight rose up from the horizons and danced across the rooftops of the city, giving a silhouetted effect to the buildings as they escaped from their nighttime shapes. There was crispness to the air and the city greeted the new day. Dawn had arrived in Lancaster City.

The warmer mornings of summer and milder mornings of autumn had given way to the downright chilly mornings of late November. It was Friday, the day after Thanksgiving and the turkey-induced sleeping had not fully worn off yet. The city was quiet, but soon enough, the hustle of a very busy day would begin.

Lily lied peacefully in her crib as those first rays touched her window and brightened her nursery. The fetal position she went to sleep in had shifted into a sprawl. She lied flat on her back, but was still covered completely by her baby blanket due to a very attentive Daddy who checked on her several times throughout the night and re-tucked her under the blanket when she inadvertently kicked it off.

The sunlight first touched her forehead and she smiled behind her pacifier, knowing that the day would soon begin. A few minutes later, the sunlight reached her eyelids and she squeezed them in response before shrinking her body up into an early morning stretch.