A GM and a Tear.

Over the weekend I spent an entire day with a girl I normally don't talk to. She is a very cute 9 yr old, but she's also very needy and that gets kinda old. I made a new friend though. It wasn't a good day to be hanging around anyone because I was feeling rather abstract and philosophical. I've found it tends to drive kids off, and that's what I intended to do but she stuck it out. I taught her how neat trees can be and how blue the sky was. I taught her how to enjoy tea and how nice it is to just walk barefoot in the grass. We didn't go anywhere, but still she needed the company.

It was a loong day. I remember when I laid down to look at the sky and clouds. She took her shoes and socks off and laid down too. Her head on my stomach. Perpendicular, like. I smiled and let it go on for 2 or 3 seconds and then shooed her off, but just for a moment it was nice.

Now the sad part...I learned about her home life. Her parents work incessantly, and her step-father can be physically abusive. She was clearly not lying and she's clearly afraid of him. I understand her needyness now. She has a need for someone to care about her and make her feel safe. Its not as bad it could be, I've heard much worse, but its bad enough to her and that's where it counts. I couldn't stand hearing her talk about it, I nearly cried trying to tell her about how wrong it is to beat a kid. Once she was a pain, but now we would talk as long as she wanted to.

Being a friend to a child can be very important...