That is when Rowan decided to keep going.
“I don’t have many friends, Adrian,” Rowan confessed after another day of little
progress. “Will you be my friend?”
The little boy wearing the Batman tee shirt looked up at her for the first time, saw
the sadness in the strange person’s eyes, and nodded slowly. She took his hand again. They
started to draw that day.
Snapping back from her thoughts, she shifted away from the picture on the bulletin board, turned the door handle, and walked inside the cheerful room. Adrian was
sitting with some other students, sipping from an apple juice box, when he jumped up and
ran to his art partner.
“Rowan!”
“Hi, Adrian! Are you ready to hang up your painting today?”
“Is it dry?”
“Yes, it’s dry.”
She went to the back of the room and picked up the painting, a perfect replica of
the little boy with a few extra brush strokes thrown in for character, and walked outside
the classroom with Adrian.
Together, they hung up the self-portrait and marveled at how good it looked on
display.
“Who's that handsome guy?”
Adrian jumped up and down excitedly.
“Don't be shy. You're a really great artist.”
The little boy laughed and smiled proudly.
Rowan stood on the second-floor balcony of her house. She was home alone. The
wind blew the sweet smell of fallen rain up from the concrete. She taped a letter to a large
helium balloon and rolled up a blank sheet of graphing paper, which she then tied to the
balloon with ribbon.
She closed her eyes, said a prayer, and let go.
The balloon slowly ascended towards heaven, closer to the one she would have to
wait so long to see. It bobbed and swayed, the sunlight reflecting off the synthetic string.
Each passing second alleviated the heaviness in Rowan’s heart.
My sweet little girl, I would have tried.
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