it didn't seem quite wrong, as everyone insisted it must be, that the little girl hadn't
tasted life as of yet, even now at age three. it seemed.. almost unfair, but what had she missed, really, i found myself wondering and
questionable answers were all i could find. she'd been locked up in there, they said.. away from light, away from other children, her skin was so terribly pale.. i thought it was
beautiful. she had cried when they brought her into the day, and i found myself wondering again if seeing the sun was worth the pain it caused her. light.. just
light, i thought to myself.. nothing more or less than
a glowing place in the sky.
they said, with no small amount of anger, that her mother must be punished for what she had done to the poor child. i couldn't see it.. what poor child, i asked myself, because i knew no one else felt this way.
there was no thoughtful response to my mild self interrogation. i watched the little girl through tinted glass, and my heart ached as she sat and stared at the blocks they'd given her. of course, she did not know what to do with them,
these were not her toys, these were the toys of a contrived worlds child. i saw her lay down and smile when she curled up on the floor, head laying gently on
tiny hands. they scribbled a note about how she must be so tired, so happy to be out of that horrible place. i watched
eyes darting beneath closed lids and knew she was not asleep but instead,
dreaming awake, such painfully alive, real thoughts..
i couldn't say, of course, i'd have been
dismissed without a second word or so much as a moment of consideration. it was inevitable, i suppose, that she be slowly introduced to the "
proper" way of things, and at some point she might even be allowed to see her mother again. they took away her universe so abruptly, i was quite sure she hadn't figured out just yet what might be going on. i found it peculiar, but somehow it was almost comforting that through all of this, she had not once been even slightly frightened by all of the things
she'd never known. but then, it was to be expected.. she had no reason to be afraid,
she did not know the world.