I was walking one windy morning around a park. Simply being carefree, I trod the quiet path around the park feeling the soft breeze around me. Standing still at a point, I let my eyes wander on the wide vicinity. Flowers danced and trees moved from side to side with the breeze. Picnickers occupied the grassy area and filled the place of soft bustles and laughter.
At a little corner, two children, one was sitting and the other was standing, caught my eye. There was a bundle of candles on the girl’s hands, matches on her feet and a stray white dog sitting near her. She was a child of about four, dark-skinned and dirty. There were streaks of blonde on her tousled hair; an effect brought by her long exposure under the sun’s heat while selling candles. The little boy was about a year older than the girl. He was skinny and dark. He had a fresh wound under his nose and had teary eyes. He was wearing dirty, faded clothes and blue slippers which partly covered his dirty and calloused soles. I had the idea that they could be siblings.
I secretly moved to a place where I can see them and hear what they were talking. The girl talked to the boy about something, something she seemed to be proud of for she spoke mightily with a dreamlike gaze fixed upon her company. It was about herself and her dreams. The boy was just standing, not paying attention to the girl. He was looking at something and without saying a word, he hastily left the spot where he stood and headed to another boy whom I thought was his playmate. The girl stopped and cast a lonely look on the boys. She kept silent for a long while. As I watched her from afar, I could clearly see the unbridled loneliness. She was not happy. Then, she looked at the dog beside her. She moved her fingers along the dog’s dirty fur. The dog opened its eyes and stared at the girl. It seemed to have liked the girl’s soft touch. The girl continued to scratch the dog’s ears and spoke in a low voice, soft and childish with a slight shiver as she mouthed her words. The dog watched her and moved its head like a nod. Pleased, the little girl smiled. She then began to talk about her self and her seemingly elusive dreams.
There was something in her voice, it might be the shiver that makes it resound in my ears. In my mind flashed a cinema of the many people in the world and unto this very girl I was reminded of the beauty of real closeness and intimacy. We were brought up in this world as humans, supreme over the animals, yet we fail to be rational enough as humans to heed the words others say and the silent groans of another’s heart. Just like the young girl, each one of us needs someone to hold on, someone intimate, someone human…