The Heartsmith Far away, in a land across the sea, lies the Heartsmith’s country. Every child born in that land is given a necklace with a heart-shaped charm. Each of these Hearts, as they are known, is unique, bearing the hopes, fears, and longings of one’s soul.   Ronen shoved Tova to the ground. “Leave me alone,” he lisped. “No girlth allowed here.” Tova’s brown eyes blinked back tears. “But I thought we were friends.” “’Course not.” Ronen crossed his arms. “I’m a big boy now.” “Ronen, it’s time for dinner,” a voice called. Ronen scowled, but stormed off towards his house. Tova fingered the amethyst Heart dangling in the hollow of her neck. The smooth gem was marred by a tiny rough patch. She tried to sniff back tears. “Tova, what’s wrong?” Her older sister Amaris knelt in the dirt. “What is it?” Tova’s lip quivered. “Ronen pushed me down.” “I have an idea.” Amaris smiled encouragingly. “Why don’t you come and visit Shaddai with me?” “The Hearthsmith?” Tova whispered. “Want a piggy-back ride?” Amaris suggested. Tova nodded and scrambled onto her sister’s back. Amaris strolled down the path to a small cottage. She knocked on the door. “Shaddai, it’s me.” The Heartsmith opened the door. Brown eyes peered out beneath thinning eyebrows, above a sharp-edged nose and soft mouth. “Amaris, welcome. And who’s this?” Shaddai peered at Tova. “My sister, Tova.” “Well, welcome, Tova, I’m glad to meet you.” Tova slid off Amari’s back and held out her Heart. “Can you fix it?” “Of course Shaddai can fix it,” Amaris laughed. “He made it, after all.” “He did?” Tova stared at him. “Really?” “I make every Heart,” The Heartsmith sighed. “Even the ones that never come back to me. Even the ones that walk around broken because they’re too proud to admit they need help.” Tova blinked in confusion. “How do you fix it?” “Give to me.” Amaris carefully unhooked the chain from Tova’s neck and handed it to Shaddai. He ran his fingers over the rough patch. “What happened?” “Ronen knocked me down. He said I wasn’t his friend anymore?” “And what hurt more? Getting knocked down or his words?” Tova thought for a moment. “Both.” “What do you want to do to Ronen?” “Push him down too.” “In the end, that won’t help.” Shaddai knelt by Tova. “You need to forgive him.” “What!” “If you hold on to anger, it will ruin you.” Shaddai pointed to her Heart. Tiny lines ran from the rough patch. “You have to decide to let it go.” Tova swallowed hard. “How do I do that?” “You need to go to Ronen and say, ‘I forgive you for knocking me down. I’m not going to be mad at you anymore.’” Tova licked her lips. Silence hung in the air. “If that’s what you want…” “It’s also what is right.” “Then…I’ll do it.” Tova answered. Shaddai handed back Tova’s Heart. The rough patch had been polished out, and the dust was wiped clean. Amaris fastened it around her sister’s neck. “We should go home for supper now. I’ll come back tomorrow, Shaddai.” “And you?” The Heartsmith asks Tova. “Me too.”     *** The summer sun beat down on a crying woman. Tova knelt on the ground, as quiet and confused as the child she had once been,  plucking the amethyst shards of her Heart from the dust. Tears dripped down her face, disappearing in the heat. She staggered to her feet, cradling the pieces in her hands. Unable to see her way, Tova sank to the ground against a wall. A door swung open behind her. “Tova?” She had run to Shaddai. Tova opened her hand and showed Shaddai her Heart. He clasped her hand and helped her inside. Pieces of Heart spilled onto an oak table. Shaddai caressed each shard. Tova winced. “Stop it, stop, please, it hurts too much.” Shaddai wrapped his arms around Tova. “Shh, my daughter, shhh..” He hummed an old lullaby as Tova wept. Slowly her tears broke into quiet sobs, and eventually turned to hiccups. “What happened, Tova?” “Hershel.” Tova shook like a dying beetle. “I loved him.” “But he didn’t love you,” Shaddai replied. “How could he do that to me? I loved him. Maybe if I’d done something more…” “It wasn’t your fault.” Shaddai’s voice was quiet but firm. “It’s not your fault.” Tova stared at the table. “I don’t think even you can fix my Heart this time.” She gingerly touched a shard. “I made it,” he reminded her. “Then make me a new one,” Tova closed her eyes. “I don’t want to remember.” “Listen to me, Tova.” Shaddai placed his hands on her shoulders. “I made your Heart the way I did for a reason. I gave it to you for reason.” “But it’s broken.” “I knew it would break.” Tova blinked. Had she heard correctly? “I knew it would break, because they all break eventually, Tova. Some people try to stop it by closing up their Hearts, but that only makes them dull and brittle. Some people don’t come to me and try to fix it on their own.” The Heartsmith closed his eyes. “That only makes it worse. You have to give me all of the pieces.”             ‘Will it be as beautiful as before?”             “It will still be beautiful, but not in the same way. And it will still be fragile for a time. If it breaks again, bring it back to me.”             Tova opened her eyes, which now sparkled. “I’ll come back often. But I’ll leave my Heart with you. I know you’ll give it back when the time comes.”       *** The bell over the Heartsmith’s door tingled, its ringing mixing with the cooing of a mother to her baby. Shaddai rose from his workbench, a new Heart dangling from a silver chain. “Tova! How good to see you. And this must be Niriel.”             The girl sucked on her mother’s heart, the amethyst wrapped in a band of her father’s ruby. Tova grinned. “She keeps me up all night, but I love her anyway.”             “It’s amazing how much love a Heart can hold.” Shaddai glanced at the long-healed, nearly invisible cracks. “I thought my Heart would burst with love when I married Eli, but it just keeps on growing.” Tova laughed. “How do you do it, Shaddai?” Shaddai smiled and fastened the chain around Niriel’s neck. “Here you are, my daughter.” The Heart was made of pearl, gleaming in the afternoon light streaming through the windows. Niriel peered up at his smiling face, and reached up to touch his chin. “Niriel, meet the Heartsmith,” Tova sang. “Meet Shaddai.”   The End