A mom and her little girl had gone for a stroll.
“Don’t go near strangers,”
Said the mom, taking the haughty figure of a teacher,
Bending to the height of the little girl.
“Don’t take food from strangers, don’t play with strangers…”
And, with a deep sigh at last, “Don’t go near strangers,”
She commanded, with a deep hoarse tone.
They reached a busy, beautiful garden,
Filled with laughter and screams of joy.
But, in a corner was a man with a gloomy face,
To whom the fresh colours of the flowers
Failed to bring up the slightest bit of contentment.
The mom saw him and whispered,
“Don’t go near him,” secretly pointing at the man.
Amidst her talk, her phone gave a sharp ring.
“Sweetheart, I must take this call. Don’t move.”
In a hurry, she rushed to a corner.
But kids are always good at being kids,
For the little girl plucked a white periwinkle
And marched towards the man.
She offered it to the man,
And a friendly smile stretched out of his dejected face.
He gave her a candy wrapped in red,
And caressed her hair.
But the mom, seeing this from the corner,
Approached the scene in haste.
“I am sorry,” she said to the man.
The man said, “It’s fine, it makes me feel better.”
“Pardon?”
“I lost my little girl yesterday,”
Said the man in a tone of agony.
Dumbfounded was the mom,
Thinking how a little thing could make the day of a person.
Phuntsho Tobjur
6th Year, NNI
