She

Once upon a time,

there was this girl.

She prolly grew up a little different.

She bit her nails, and had short red hair.

She tried to be like the others but got into a lot of trouble.

The teacher made her walk in circles and say "I will be kinder. I will obey. I will be better."

The girl would tell her class exciting stories, about her grandpa and his elephant farm, about her older native American Indian sister who took her dancing. About her horse, Teddy.

She convinced a boy in her class that his face had been erased,

and got pebbles stuck in a boys ear, and got stuck in the tire swing all recess.

She eventually grew up a little more, and started liking boys.

particularly this one black boy.

She would practise jump-roping to impress him.

She would be friends with his friends, and master the monkey bars.

She would refrain from playing make believe like she wanted.

(but secretly she would, after school.)

She would learn how to spell really well, and win a spelling bee,

and beat him. He liked her back. They would watch each other,

but never talk to each other. She really liked him.

She then moved to Mulan land, but it wasn't like Mulan.

She saw pigs sleeping in trucks,

and heads of black all around.

She would make friends, but they wouldn't speak English very well.

She would be patient, and teach them.

She learned a lot in that land, she learned how to be agreeable,

while being herself.

She carried on, growing up, growing taller.

She would coordinate her outfits with headbands made of glasses,

and disco ball necklaces. She would try to find herself through her friends, but that didn't work.

So she tried something new.

She started to say what she thought, no matter how silly she sounded

when she explained why she thought that's how molecules were formed,

or why she thought Frodo wasn't truly a hobbit.

She was different, but she got along.

Then she moved back to the land of Snazzy Tunes, and Einstein Bagels.

She loved it, but of course, still missed Mulan.

She kept growing. A fresh start. Maybe a little different.

She drifted for a while, but found openings and fit.

She learned how to control some of her weird ideas,

not control maybe, but share them in a more normal light.

She realized the magic of paper.

She started filtering and fine tuning her odd thoughts

into images, and colors on paper.

She loved paper. And loved her hands.

She didn't know before then that she could draw what she

was so desperately trying to say.

She made more friends, and lost a few because that's just what happens.

She grew up in the gospel, and learned more than she didn't.

She tried to be herself, through her clothes, through her drawings, through her actions.

The girl found out much about herself.

She found that she often was moody, but was also happy.

She also found that she could do hard things.

She keeps discovering, and keeps growing.

She loves herself for who she wants to be,

and tries, as everyone does, to love herself for who she is.

Love,

She