Shadows on the Wall!

Whenever I think of being young, I see again those blue-misted mountains and hills, and the trees that paraded stiffly up and down the slopes, and I smell again the dry and dusty air that was mine to breathe daily. I see again the SHADOWS on the wall that blended so well with the shadows in my mind, and I hear again the unspoken, unanswered question of why? when? and how much longer? My thoughts took frantic flight, wanting to escape this prison, and seek out the wind so it could fan my hair and sting my skin, and make me feel alive again.

I yearned for those children out there who were running wild and free on the browning grass, and scuffling their feet in the dry, crackling leaves just as I used to do. Why was it I never realized when I was able to run wild and free that I was experiencing HAPPINESS? Why did I think back then, that happiness was always just ahead in the future, when I would be an adult, able to make my own decisions, go my own way, be my own person? Why had it seemed that being a child was never enough? Why had I thought that happiness reserved itself for those grown to full size? Where does one end and the other start?

PATIENCE! I coloured patience gray, hung over with black clouds. I coloured HOPE yellow, just like that sun we could see for a few short morning hours. Too soon the sun rose high in the sky and disappeared from view, leaving us bereft, and staring at blue.

Still, I was YOUNG, and hope has strong roots in the young, and when I collide with disappointments, I could laugh and pretend. After all, I am making my mark in the world.