John and I.

" Mom look I made it myself ! It's beautiful right ? " I showed her proudly my bookmark wrapped in tape to protect it

" Yeah it's really beautiful sweetheart. " she smiles widely " Did you make it yourself ? " she asked while drawing me closer to her to depose a gentle kiss on my forehead.

" Hmmm... " I turned back and gave a guilty glance to my dad who was laying against the door frame. He ended up laughing and came to sit next to my mother

" Why don't you answer to the question ? " he asks with a malicious grin. So I stood up and went to him

" But she doesn't know that you helped me and I told her that I did it myself. What should I do ? " I whispered quite loudly in his ear, pretty concerned about the current situation.

" Well you should tell her that I helped you just a tiny little bit but you made 99.9% of it." he whispered as loudly as me. I nodded and sat in front of her

" Ok so I almost made it myself but Daddy helped me this tiny bit " I gestured

" Oh so you lied to me uh ? " she put her hands on her hips, faking her anger with a hint amusement on her face

" Hmm no I didn't... " I said with a tiny voice

" Oh yes you did, you little naughty girl ! " she exclaimed and started to tickle me. I was laughing uncontrollably...

This bookmark, carrying this beautiful memory with it travelled through the tons of books I read, from the fairytales of my precious childhood, to the romance books that fills my lonely moments during which I would hope that one day my life would be similar to what I read.

Many years later

" Hey Tess look what I found in the box with all your books " my husband calls me from the hall of our new house cluttered with many piles of boxes

" Hey it's John ! " I exclaim and rush to take it

" John ? You gave a name to bookmark " he laughs

" Yeah, because it's more than a bookmark to me... " I sit and stare at John for a moment.

It became old, a bit damaged, but I didn't care about it because the beautiful memories it contained were intact.