Portrait Of An Apology

At the expression on her face, though to most very non- worrisome, one young boy 's facial features scrunched up closer together in response. He squeezed his eyes shut firmly, too quick to see the brief potentially negative expression on his mother's face had evaporated into a smile, before he turned and wandered wordlessly away.

She stood looking after her son, seemingly frozen in place with her mouth slightly agape. "J..." was the last sound to escape her lips before he had gone from hearing distance. She always tried, but somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew that once he had an idea in his head, her son was set. He could be a very driven little boy when he wanted to be, and when he set his mind to something, it sometimes seemed his sole focus right up until the task's completion.

Sure enough, as she had come to expect, her son returned to her hours later, his hands clasped behind his back, a sorrow filled, regretful expression filling his small features. "Mummy," he said in a whisper. "I'm sorry if I made you sad."
"Jessie," she said, her soft tone matching his to an extent. "It's ok Sweetie. You don 't have to apologise for every little mistake you make. Especially not with me. Just keep them in mind so you don't make the same mistakes next time."
Solemnly, her little boy nodded, his expression turning serious as his eyes remained fixed on hers.
"Yes Mummy," he said, holding a piece of paper out toward her. "I made you this, to say sorry." As soon as she took the paper from him, his hands were once again behind his back as he turned and walked away, presumably back to his room.

After his little figure was no longer visible down the hall, she turned her attention to the paper she held in her hand, one of many...  'Portraits of Apologies' as she liked to call them. In this, it showed a sun with a beaming smile (labelled 'Mummy') hidden by grey clouds that had raindrops falling from them. Below the small drawing, he'd tried to write, and the apparent improvement in his penmanship caused her smile to return as she read the words;
Mummy is my sunshine,
And when I do something that makes her sad, 
It's like a rain loud covers her sun and starts to let the raindrops fall, 
That makes me sad too, and I'm sorry to make you sad, Mummy
Because suns shouldn't be hidden by rain clouds. 
They should be there, all the time, 
Shining bright and making everyone who sees them smile too. 

She sighed as she wandered down the hall to her room, adding Jessie's latest artwork to the collection of 'apology portraits' she had already. "Another one for the collection," she said with a smile. "Such a beautiful little boy I have."