One Smile
Audrey Peng By the light of a stranger is how I’m alive By the light of a stranger is why I now thrive You see, my friends, a long time ago, I had nothing in my life besides my sorrows Thoughts of suicide came and went like a guest So out of rage and frustration, I changed bit by bit Slowly, my grades slipped from a B to a C Eventually, those few Cs fell down to a D And with some time, all that stressing in vain, Those Ds disappeared and an F took their place So after one late and dark night of pondering, I went to a park myself, aimlessly wandering The moon was full, but my heart was not As minutes passed, I questioned what I had I was failing my classes, I didn’t have friends My family hated me, and I wanted this to end But suddenly, a shadow loomed over me A light flickered and moved in the breeze I jumped up and faced the person, my mood still sour Just who would shine a light during my darkest hour? It was a little girl, not much older than seven or eight She asked me something I never thought she’d say With a worried expression came, “Are you okay?” This girl didn’t know what was going on then She was pretty young, her innocence was not even an act But that one question she had made me break down “Am I okay? No, but I’m really glad you asked.” The girl just smiled and sat next to me Without a moment’s silence, she began to speak: “Mommy and Daddy take me here every day. And almost all the time I find a stranger who’s upset. They come here because it's their only known escape. So it’s the least I can do to make them smile today.” Those words were a blanket, they made me feel warm From then on, I opened up, I let out the storm I talked it out with my teachers and met some new friends To my surprise, they understood and we tied up loose ends I emphasized the struggle I was facing each day And ‘cause of that little girl, I smiled again My grades slowly rose from an F to an A Thank you, little girl You just made my day |