Emma: A Story of Kindness

Part 1

She wasn't the type of girl people bothered to notice.

She never wanted to be in the spotlight, there were plenty of others to fill that role. However, the spotlight would still turn to her. And did she seize the opportunity? Did she take a chance?

No. Her face paled and her heart clenched in her chest. She'd stare wide-eyed into the spotlight, praying for someone to save her. She didn't have to pray very long. There was always someone else ready to push her out of the way to get the spotlight they craved.

She spent her days alone, with music screaming in her ears as to block out the silence that surrounded her wherever she went.

Her mother grew worried.

They visited counselors and psychiatrists and a thousand other colorless rooms, with toys and degrees dotting the walls like broken Christmas ornaments. They always said the same thing.

There was nothing wrong with her, they said. She's just shy. She'll grow out of it. Their monotonous voices bounced off the colorless walls, becoming the melody she lived her life to. She thought it would always be this way.

Her world was void of kindness. A dark and shadowy place, where she lived by herself. She was fine with it. She was born into the shadows and she had no desire to seek the light of kindness. And then, the spotlight stopped searching for her. The world gave up on bringing her to the light and left her to drown in the darkness.

She didn't mind. 

For I never knew the light.

Only that changed the day a new girl came.

Her name was Emma and she had come from the land of sandy beaches and sunny skies: California. Her hair was a golden blond that fell down her back in curly waves. She liked to compare her hair to the waves of the ocean.

She never needed the spotlight, but it was as if the spotlight needed her, following her around like a dog on a leash.

On her first day, she sat next to me. I didn't think anything of it. She was just another new girl who would soon have friends and be a part of a life that I would never know. However, she turned to me with a bright and bubbly smile.

Hello there, she said through teeth clad by glinting metal braces and electric green rubber bands. I'm new, she said, stating the obvious.

I said nothing, still slightly shocked she was speaking to me.

My name's Emma, she said, introducing herself. What's yours?

She asked the question few had ever dared ask.

Allison, I replied, slowly.

Emma became a glimmer of light in my darkened world. A glimmer of light I began to chase after and my skin began to crave. We became friends. Her kindness was not one I'll easily forget. For she was the one who brought me to the light. So thank you, Emma.