Sparkle Valley Philosophy: Emily

Emily is growing up and her imagination is beginning to fade

Abigail fights for Emily

Emily is at the center of it all. She is Sparkle Valley. Literally. Both the creator and the creation. Each aspect of Sparkle Valley (Abigail’s Courage, Ivana’s Pride, Gloria’s Empathy, Hank’s Control, Frank’s Chaos, etc.) is a part of her inner world. The Valley itself is her imagination inside-out. It’s the literal manifestation of her emotions.

As Emily begins to leave childhood she’s drifting. Her world is growing smaller. Imagination seems childish. The garden behind her home, once “magical,” loses its appeal. Belief feels embarrassing. As a result, her inner world – Sparkle Valley – starts to fade too.   

But Abigail doesn’t give up. She fights for Emily. She fights for Sparkle Valley. And each book is a step in that process.

Book 1 is disconnection - the gradual loss of wonder.

Book 2 is collapse - everything runs like a machine, but nothing feels alive.

Book 3 is the reckoning - the choice to believe again, even when it hurts.

In this sense, Emily represents a deeper idea – something similar to what Kierkegaard

called a “leap of faith” —the ability to continue to feel—continue to be open to joy and grief—even when everything is telling you to just shut it down. 

That’s Emily’s real courage. It’s not about her escaping Sparkle Valley, it’s her decision to go back even when she’s forgotten how.

Emily hugs Abigail and says goodbye

In Book 3, Emily is falling apart and Sparkle Valley is barren, but Abigail is the spark that brings her back — the part of her that still believes the world can be beautiful. She’s the Blue Flower, the yearning for something more that makes Emily human. 

Ivana, her pride;

The Smortzle, her fear; 

Frank, her joy;

Gloria, her empathy; 

Doris, her memory. 

The list goes on—Fluffy, Hank, Reggie, Major Bob, and all the others. Each one carries a different piece of who Emily is, and one by one, the pieces return to her, and the Valley begins to breathe again.

At the end, although the Beast may be defeated, it’s never gone. It feeds on forgetting—on numbness and distraction, on the quiet erosion of wonder—on "growing up." When Emily allows herself to imagine again, to feel again, the Beast has nothing left to feed on. But it still waits, patient as ever, for her to forget. 

That’s the heart of Sparkle Valley. Growing up isn’t about abandoning the child you were. It’s about keeping the part that still feels alive.

In the end, Emily learns the one truth that really matters:

Even if it hurts, choose to feel.

Continue Exploring

If you want to stay with the characters

→ Abigail — the part that keeps fighting

→ Ivana — pride, fracture, and disconnection

→ Grandma Doris — memory and emotional continuity

→ Hank & Frank — competing responses to pain and uncertainty

If you want to explore the forces working against Emily

→ The Beast — counterfeit meaning

→ Inzos  — fear with memory

If you want the real-world version of this idea

→ Blue Flower Power: Courage — choosing to stay emotionally open

→ Blue Flower Power: Joy — feeling deeply in a flattened world

→ Finding Your Own Sparkle Valley

Field Guide Notes (Quick Reference)

Character lens: Emily as the inner life from which Sparkle Valley emerges.

Philosophical thread: Kierkegaard and the courage to keep feeling.

Trilogy arc: Disconnection → Collapse → Reckoning.

Inner map: Abigail (hope), Ivana (pride), Frank (joy), Gloria (empathy), Doris (memory).

Counterforce: The Beast — distraction, numbness, forgetting.

Central claim: Growing up doesn't mean abandoning wonder.

Guiding line: Even if it hurts, choose to feel.