04-14-05 - 12:36 a.m.

~A Smile You Did Not See~

Dear Hansel,

You stood there on the path after responding to your name. Your eyes glanced at me then went to the floor as your hands slid into your pockets. It was as if I was looking at a little boy then, a little boy who got caught doing something naughty and was expecting his punishment now. I felt no fear, yet my heart hurt with your vulnerability.

You spoke in a low monotone voice, glancing up only for seconds at a time then back to fixating onto the floor as my eyes were locked upon you. “How are you doing?” finally came from your lips. “Real good,” I told you with a smile you did not see.

I felt great sadness coming from your being, and I knew that this was all you could handle. I went back to my gathering in the wood, back to my new friends; those that were the same as I. I imagine you went through the locked gate to do what ever it was that my voice interrupted.

I had moved on, leaving you behind. I thought it would be better for the both of us. Yet there you had stood, unable to escape your political correctness, needing a hair cut as your boyish curls were showing. There you stood for as long as you could in the sadness, and I saw that it was only better for me.

With Love & Respect, Gretel