Page 1 of Finding London

Loïc

Age Five

Seattle, Washington

Loïc: (low-ick) of French origin; meaning famed warrior.

“You named me Loïc because it means warrior, and warriors are strong.”

—Loïc Berkeley

“I spy with my little eye something blue but not just one shade, many beautiful tones…like the blues of an ocean changing with each wave, each ripple, each ray of sunshine.”

“Um, that book cover over there,” I guess.

Daddy smiles and shakes his head. “It’s round.”

I scan my bedroom.Blue and round?“A marble in my toy box?” I beam with excitement because that has to be it.

“Nope. One more clue.”

I jump up onto my knees, so I can listen very carefully, and my mattress bounces beneath me.

“You ready?” Daddy asks.

I nod my head.

“Sometimes, the blue goes away when you sleep”—he closes his eyes before quickly opening them again—“or blink.”

I giggle because I definitely know the answer. “My eyes, Daddy.”

“Blimey! You got it!” He pulls me into a hug.

As he tickles my sides, I laugh, and we fall onto my bed. I lay my head on his arm, and he hugs me into his chest.

“I love you, Loïc,” he says.

I know that means he’s getting ready to leave.

I’m not ready to go to bed just yet. “Daddy, can you tell me a story of London?”

He chuckles. “You sure are a cunning little devil, aren’t ya? You know you’ve heard all my stories a hundred times.”

“I want to hear them two hundred times then.”

“Well, tonight, let’s focus on one hundred and one,” he says with happiness in his voice. “What do you want to hear about?”

“Nan and Granddad, your favorites, everything!”

I love Daddy’s stories.

He came from a place called London that is super far away. It’s across the ocean, and we’d need to fly in an airplane to get there. Daddy came to this country for uni—or as my mom calls it, college. That’s where they met. Daddy said that the first time he saw Mommy, he knew that he would love her forever.

London is a magical place with a queen and princes and princesses. They have beautiful old buildings that tell stories. I can’t wait to see the buildings and hear all their stories. Daddy’s favorite food is fish and chips. He says that chips are fries but better. Also, it rains a lot in London, but the rain makes it foggy and mysterious, like in a movie. He says that a lot of people take a train to work instead of a car. I’ve never been on a train before.

Nan and Granddad come to visit us every year at Christmas. They always stay with us for lots of days.

Nan loves to play card games with me. She’s really good, but I always end up winning. I think she cheats, so I can win, but she says that I win by myself.

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