"Little Girl" by Danielle D

There was a little girl who loved to prance around her grandfather's farm and sully the dress her mother bought her from an expensive store. Every afternoon her grandpa would take her down to the local cafe by the river, and she always had the greatest fun helping grind coffee beans. She loved to run up to the bridge above the river and feel it swing with the slightest touch of her foot (the bridge had been an old enemy she could never face, as it swung on old wires and swayed with the slightest breeze). She loved the rain that swept throughout the rural town and found the pitter patter of drops against the wooden shacks comforting. The clouds and mountains became canvases for her odd imagination.  The little girl loved being in the hands of nature and never tired of her days in mud.

Back in her parents' home in the city, she would pack away images of lush mountains and aromas of the cafe and slip into her neatly ironed uniform, ready for a day of school. At school, the little girl would chat her day away with friends, only ceasing during her teacher's lessons. With her friends, she would stare at the animals kept in the school zoo and tease the evil monkey by making strange faces at it. They’d run around endlessly playing school games without a care for the world.

Years later, the little girl told her friends she will comeback from a trip abroad in a few months and return with candies and Mickey Mouse and princess souvenirs for everyone. They cheered and she gave them hugs.

The candies, souvenirs, and little girl never made their way home. Her parents explained and the girl accepted. She grew up and dreamed of those days by the river. She went to school and went home. Her life became all bout school. She was grateful to her parents for the opportunities and new life. But she becomes stressed and grows resentful. Grades. Grades. GRADES. The girl wondered if that letter defined her (only one acceptable, the rest are forbidden). She grew to resent those letters, but the girl learned and matured. She turned to family, a lasting presence throughout her young life. She was happy and enjoying life. However, sometimes, she saw her childhood friends back in her hometown and she sees they'd grown a lot. They told her of wonderful stories of adventures and she felt jealousy.

The girl wondered. The girl lives her life grateful, but some days, she thinks what if I had never left? She thinks she might be happier. The girl imagines herself prancing through the farm again. She thinks of crossing that bridge and she thinks of that poor monkey. The girl thinks and thinks and when she stops, she feels something in her. But, she is getting old and she accepts and continues on. She is okay, she thinks. She is happy, she thinks.