Adults

Once upon a time, there lived a little girl. You know what, she’s a simple and plain-looking little girl. Yeah, you probably found her familiar and might have read about her. But she’s still that ordinary girl. That evening, she was on her way to her favourite spot in the park to wait for the ice cream seller. She walked past those beautiful trees that lined the street, it felt like spring…a gust of wind sent some flowers and leaves waltzing in the air. The little girl stretched out her arms, her palms opened wide, wanting so much to feel those flowers and leaves. The evening breeze got her smiling…

She was really glad that it’s the weekend, it was certainly a long-waited weekend. She couldn’t wait to get out of school that Friday. It was examination period and she hated it! She did not like examinations, she did not like being assessed, she did not like to be placed in some kind of position or ranking…sometimes, she wondered why adults came up with all these. Are they really that important in life? Do they really matter? Her good friend was working so hard for her examinations that she had hardly enough sleep for the past few weeks, she had also stopped playing in the playground for quite some time…

The ice cream man came, the little girl always loved to see the old man’s smile. She greeted him and bought her favourite vanilla ice cream in a cone. The ice cream man sprinkled some chocolate rice on top of her vanilla ice cream and said, “Just for you, little girl, have a good evening.”

The little girl chuckled in delight, she had topping for her ice cream again! She said thank you so loudly that it nearly scared away the birds who were chirping nearby. She skipped to her favourite corner under a huge tree to savour her ice cream. As she licked her ice cream, she looked at the people in the park. There were joggers and there were others who were taking a stroll…Sometimes, she wondered why adults were the way they were, why couldn’t they say or express openly or directly what they like or do not like, what they love or hate? Why must they always say things in a confusing manner? Why do they talk like that?...The little girl wondered if she’s going to grow up and be like one of those adults. She’s puzzled by the kind of life adults have…

As she finished her last bit of the ice cream cone, she saw the old lady with her dog strolling into the park. The little girl was so happy to see that golden retriever, she knew she would always get to see it when she’s in the park. Well, that’s probably one of the reasons why she loved to go to the park. The old lady would faithfully walk her dog every evening. One could easily feel the close relationship that the dog and its owner shared. The little girl was envious of what both of them shared…She longed to have her own dog but she knew her mother would never agree to that and she would probably get a lecture on responsibility from her mother again.

The sunset was really lovely that evening, the little girl took out her pink little notebook from her little bag and tried to draw the setting sun. She took out her box of colour pencils and started to use red, orange and yellow to add some life to the picture. As she finished her last bit of her picture, it was getting dark and it was time to go home. Most of the people in the park had gone home. The little girl kept all her things in her little bag, could not really bear to leave the park. But she’s certainly looking forward to the next weekend…