The Girl and the Child

There was a girl
And there was child

The girl dreamed of loss
And the child played until the late hours of the morning

The girl was sad and lonely
And the child still clung to everything she had

The girl was tired and done
And the child was afraid to grow up

The girl missed the child
And the child missed the girl

One day the girl left her heart on the child's doorstep
And then retreated into the shadows
The child held it in her hands
And cried

The child searched for years and years
But she found nothing
She finally fell to her knees never to get up again

The girl came out of the shadows
And saw the child on the floor
And she wept until she had no more tears
And once she cried her eyes, she laid there beside the child
And stared into the dark that now consumed her

The girl nodded for mother and laughed for father
Did for brother and worked for grandfather
But she cried for herself
Until no more light shined
And she was just another lump on the bed

The girl did not know how unhappy she was
She never did for a long time
But when she thinks of it now
She can see how sad she has become
For she had lost so much that she had always needed

The girl was not okay
She no longer made wonderful grades
Or did everything right
Or remembered how to pretend

The girl just sat there and let life run by
Day after day
Smile after smile

And then She took the girl's hand
And led her away from the dark
To a place of light
Where everything is simple
And there
Is no more
Sadness

In the light
The girl clung to Her afraid that if she let go
the girl would be back in the dark once again

She led the girl through the light
And to a shadowed area
That the girl did not want to go
But She told the girl it was okay
And they went

She walked to the fallen body of the child
And with her free hand
She gently raised the child
And the child stared at Her
Until she could no longer see for she wept tears of joy

The girl looked at the child in surprise and shock
But did not know what to do
The child looked at the girl is ecstasy and fear
But did not know what to do

She took each in a different hand
And pushed them softly together
Into a hug long overdue
And the girl and the child became one once again

As one once more
The girl who could embrace the child she once was
And could still be
Threw her arms around Her
And covered her eyes from the world
Not from fear
But because she never knew how bright the world could be