Goodbye

It was a mild night in February when a little girl decided to leave her home. Her parents had gone out that night and wouldn’t be home until an hour later. So, she had decided to use the time to explore her new neighborhood freely. They had just moved there and therefore knew very little about their surroundings. As she made it to the pavement outside her home, she excitedly began skipping along the sidewalk as she had never felt such a sense of independence as she now did. Not only was she out past her 9 pm curfew, but she was by herself. As she curiously looked at all the houses in her neighborhood, it began to dawn on her that she had traveled so far for so long that she had no sense of direction of how to return home. Not only that, but she had no sense of time, either. With tears forming in her eyes and her feet slowly dragging on the cement, she saw a boy seemingly around her age sitting on the opposite side of the sidewalk. Out of desperation, she cautiously crossed over to him and began questioning who he was and why he was out so late. The boy never looked up and merely muttered that he did not have a family. As a soft rain began to fall, he slowly stood up and made eye contact with the girl. Though somber, he made a small gesture with his hand that motioned that he wanted her to walk with him.  

For what seemed like forever there were no words exchanged between the two of them. Only small glances that said more words than sentences could. After some time, they introduced themselves, still walking in a light rain that thumped on both of their jackets. Even though they did not know each other well, they knew that they were one of the same, children with seemingly no direction. Later that night the police, who were notified by the girl’s parents, eventually found her with the boy. She was ushered into the car to be taken home. A sense of relief rushed through her body. But sadness also loomed over her as her watery eyes glanced over the boy’s face. She knew in her heart she wouldn’t see him again. His eyes were still fixated on hers as his gaze softened just enough to communicate a “goodbye”. With no words she understood him. The entire night she understood him more than anyone else ever had. It mattered in the moment, but not now, not as the car drove off, forever separating the girl and the boy.