Little Girl

A Little Girl

A little girl saw a world rich with possibilities, but the people around her did not.

When it rained at bedtime, she got up to dance to the steady rhythm the drops made against her window. They frowned and told her that good girls stay in bed.

When there was nothing much to talk about, she made up stories to make them imagine and smile. They frowned at her for lying. Good girls do not lie.

Sometimes it was painfully quiet, so she sang songs to make their hearts dance. They frowned and told her to stop making noise. Good girls do not make too much noise.

To cover the empty white walls, the little girl drew pictures for them to remind them that the world is beautiful and colorful. They smiled for a moment, and then they frowned at all the clutter and threw them away. Good girls do not make clutter.

Whenever they went somewhere, she tried to go slowly to smile at the ladybugs and wave at the wildflowers. They frowned and told her they were in a hurry. Good girls do not waste time.

Every time she dared to imagine, they told her no. And every “no” was a stone dropped at her feet. Soon the frowns and the “no’s” had left so many stones that the little girl started piling them up. She crafted a lovely stone wall built entirely of stones cast by the people who loved her most. They were beautiful, smooth stones that were meant to keep her safe, and obedient and good. She smiled at the stones, and happily put them in place. The wall got so high that it was hard to see anything in the world at all. All around her, as high as she could reach and as low as the meekest insect were the “no-stones” and “frown-stones”. She didn't mean to, but the little girl frowned now too. She told herself no before anyone else had to.

Then one day, when the little girl was not quite so little, her teacher saw a drawing she had made on the back of a math paper. The teacher marveled at her talent, and asked for more drawings. She even wanted some to display! This made the little girl smile, and just then, a stone fell out of the wall. It surprised the little girl to hear the stone fall, and as she bent to pick it up, the little girl peeked through the hole it had left behind. She saw the world as she had once seen it, before the frowns of love and the no’s of good intentions had trapped her. It was a world where anything was possible. She decided that it was a better world.

And because the little girl was brave, as all little girls are, it was on that day that she broke down the walls she built sky high. She turned the pieces into roads leading her to never ending possibilities of what life has to offer.