Iterations

Once, she looked in the mirror.

She saw the flaws.

She sought beauty.

Searching... she found a child.

 

Seasons changed.

Life kept happening.

She grew. She shrunk. She grew again.

She frowned. She laughed. She wept.

She found love. She found pain. She found adventure.

 

All the while, she kept the child safe.

The child was to be untainted.

Untainted by life and the journey it brought. 

 

However,

She did not know the child knew pain.

She did not know the child knew sadness.

She did not know the child wanted to grow.

 

A new chapter started.

The child began to speak.

The child demanded to be heard.

The child demanded growth.

 

The woman, forced, took a step back.

No longer looking in the mirror.

No longer searching for something ever-changing

Or something that will never be or could be.

No longer protecting the child.

 

She looked the child in their eyes

And she said,

"Grow, you are free".

She showed the child the new chapter.

"It is yours", she said.

 

The child felt afraid.

The child felt thrilled.

The child was no longer bound to being a child.

The child was free.

 

This is where the child’s story continues.

This is where the woman stops searching.

This is where the child can adventure.

This is where the woman walks beside the child.

This where they become.

 

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Isla Skylark