There once was a little girl, born into a world too harsh for her sensitive soul. And as she grew, it put her in a box that limited her growth and shape to the space she was in. She made it her own though, as the years went on she carved the walls creating images more beautiful than she ever thought possible of seeing with her own two eyes. Adding colour and more depth as she got older, until one day she broke through a piece of one wall, a ray of light snuck in and she was curious, never before had she seen such wonder and it created a flutter in her heart. Putting her hand to the light and passing through it seeing it dance along her fingers. Following it back to the source she drew her face closer to that crack. Trying to prepare herself she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and then opening them looking through the sliver in the wall. She saw another persons face, after a while she decided it must be safe out where this person was or they’d not be there, so she dug some more. Kind of concerned about her carvings she had spent her whole life up to this point on, but she decided that with caution she would chip away a big enough spot for her to sneak out and come back in if she needed to.so she did, in the corner she scraped away. It didn’t take long but her heart raced faster and faster as she got the hole almost to her size. She paused with a tiny bit left, realizing that yes she could go back in but what if it’s dangerous out there and she gets hurt? What if she meets this person face to face and they aren’t nice? What if she digs more and her whole box falls apart? The thoughts and worries running through her mind made her freeze. But then she saw something that broke her free from her thoughts. She saw more people off in the distance, running and laughing and rolling on the hillside. They looked so free and happy; even though she felt safe and warm and comfortable in her box she wanted to see what it would be like to run and touch the grass and see real people. So she broke the last bit off and took a step out. Looking around and seeing so much space, she decided to climb on top of her box and see what was around her. She wondered, as she climbed, if the others had boxes of their own as well. Getting to the top and standing tall she sees trees and animals, a lake and more people. She started to feel a bit overwhelmed by all of the new things she was seeing. She dreamed of things like this her whole life but never thought she would see them in person. She hopped down and walked over to the person she had seen through the crack, she introduced herself and asked their name, they replied by saying they already knew her name and have been waiting to see her leave the box she was in. She was confused why they knew her and she didn’t know them, she had never seen them, why would they know each other? The person noticed she was confused and explained saying, ‘you see, I have a box of my own, I go back to it from time to time but once I got out I realized how free I was. After that I met people and I actually know your family, well your brother mostly but he talks about you’. After he said this she was more lost than before, she talks to her family, they call and have connecting tunnels but how would this person know her brother. The person says that her brother had broken out of his box recently, he still goes back often to rest and such but visits this person quite a bit. Turns out they’re best friends. She decided that she likes her box but wants to get out as much as she can, to run and meet people and just explore everything she finds. This person she met said they’d be willing to help her and show her around the place, introduce her to some of their friends and even new people. They would go and explore the free space together! ~nicole.a.roberge
