Our Times

I remembered running down the streets feeling like a bird soaring my wings in the high sky. My friends and I would play games that we invented. We did not have much to use, but what we had we made worth of every item. There were empty cans, rubber bands, old worn-out shoes, soil, old rice empty bags. The list can go on. When I played those games on the street, I felt an endless joy that I never wanted to end. We would play passed sunset until there was pitch-black darkness.

I remembered when we played on the streets, there was no one to yell at us. When we screamed there were not any parents to shut our screams. The streets were not only for play but also where we gathered around. We would have a big bonfire pit and everyone would make the worth of the fire while it last. The bonfire pit was where we shared laughter. Us kids would cook tamarind seeds at the base of the fire. We would gather until the fire burns out into pitch-black darkness.

As a kid, the street was a childhood that I lived with. A part of me that gave me a sense of what life I wanted. I was a young kid who loved to play. A kid who lived in the present with what was given. The kid did not know what the future holds. The kind of future that the kid might not have thought of. Running and playing on the streets, feelings of being free, and enjoying time with your friends was all that existed for the young kid.

One day, the kid will grow up to realized that what existed in childhood will disappear. The kid will realize many things. The streets that she ran on were a temporary shelter with a dead-end at every turn. The feelings of being free like the birds will turn into the despair knowing she is in a cage. The items that were used to play with will be far less worth than pencils and papers. She will realize that no one yells at them because no one can guide them. There are no parents to shut screams because the parents know the reality is harsh. The big bonfire that was a place for the gathering will turn into a place of discussing hopelessness. The tamarind seeds will be the kid who will always be at the bottom of the mountains surrounded by gates. When she grows older, the kid will realize that the pitch-black darkness is a place only exist for her.

By Tay M.