I need to write my thesis, or continue writing it. But after five days straight, I just feel like throwing myself out of the window. So, this drabble will help me to keep my sanity.
Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin is not mine
Only a Child
She's only a child, they say.
One that has seen death; has lost and yet, has learned to see the bright side of life. She's only a child that is not a child anymore, she says.
Barely in her teens, she prefers to bounce when she walks. A trait from her childhood that has remained and will always remain until she decides that there's another way to quicken every step she takes.
She likes to eat a lot but then she's guilty because she doesn't want to gain weigh. So she exercises, more than usual, more than she should. And although she feels almost sick afterwards, it pays off because she keeps her slim figure and gets the praises from her master, her okashira as he commends her dedication to a deadly discipline with an almost imperceptible nod.
During the weekends she enjoys walking around the market. She likes the colorful ribbons, the silky kimono; the smell of sweets and the sound of laughter as she walks around and has a day for herself.
She knows there are boys looking at her, surreptitiously, as she sends messages from one end to another. She knows she's cute, pretty even, but she only has eyes for one man.
And she sighs like a teenager in love, and she laughs like a mother whose baby has walked for the first time, and she cries like an old woman when she realizes that her days may be counted. Nothing is safe or secure now.
So they say that she's only a child because of the innocence in her eyes. They say she acts like one because she's too full of life. But this child has survived and keeps surviving in troubled times.
She survived, and even a grown up man would struggle to find the courage she has found.
But she's only a child, they say with saddened eyes.
One that doesn't give up, she says.
The end