Dear Little Girl...

Standing on the corner of a very busy and dangerous world,

Dear Little Girl,

I see you standing on the corner of a very busy world.

At the intersection. All alone. Wondering which way to turn. Questioning which street will lead you all the way back home.

Little girl, what is your name?

I cannot hear your small voice as you whisper it to me. The traffic is too loud. The people are too impatient. Everyone is rushing. No one is looking. Very few are listening.

SCREEECH! Rubber tears across cement.

A frightening smash in the center of the road as a yellow taxi crashes into a black SUV. The fiery hiss of smoke and steam. The creaky sound of bent car doors being forced open. The screams of people shocked, hurt, haunted and worried.

Little girl you seem so unbothered, so unworried, so undisturbed by the carnage in this city.

I thought you were lost and yet you seem so content, so at peace, so assured.

Little girl you confuse me. I still cannot hear your name. I want to take care of you. I want to make sure that you are okay. You remind me so much of my daughter Rose.

I still cannot quite catch the sound of your name.

Your voice is too quiet. Speak up little girl.

I look down at you, my own eyes filled with terror and dread for I am afraid of this world and the future that it offers our little boys and our girls.

What is your name little girl?

You grab my wrist.

Your grip impossible strong for a child of your age and yet there is kindness in your strength.

I find my eyes drawn into yours. They are strong. They are deep. They are pure. They are innocent. They are filled with love.

I more I look at you, the less alone I feel.

I’m not so lost now in this big frightening city.

I can almost hear your voice. I can almost catch your name.

“Come closer” you say.

I can hear you now. Your voice is kind. It is soft. It is sweet.

I bend lower. You press your lips to my ear.

“My name is Hope. Do not be afraid Daddy. Everything is going to be okay.”

G x

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