| 9:01p |
Charlie
It was lunchtime at the daycare centre today, and amongst the tea and arrowroot bickies on the picnic table was a lovely white box of Belle Fleur chocolates. Someone asked, "Who brought the chocolates?" and Judy replied, "Charlie's mum brought them in." I was horrified, and exclaimed, "NO! She didn't!" And everyone nodded sadly. Because if Charlie's mum brought in chocolates, then that meant that the chocolates were probably a goodbye present. "No, no, no...he hasn't left, has he?" I asked. Someone then murmured that he had. "No, he couldn't have...I loved him so much, and I didn't even get to say goodbye!" I exclaimed. Judy tried to reassure me by saying, "It's sad, isn't it? All the good kids that you love grow up and leave and go to pre-school."
"What was so great about this kid, anyway?" my mum asked, once I got home. I tried to explain to her, but when I explained, Charlie just sounded like any other cute kid. He was so special, though. He was three, and he had these dark greeny-blue eyes and straight golden browny-blonde hair. Every time he came in, the first thing he would tell me would usually be something like, "I got 'Nemo' at home," or "I had my birthday," or "My dad gets back today." And he would tell me in little deep stutters. He would follow me around and give me hugs and try to tackle me, and when I read stories to the children, he would aim himself to land in my lap. He would tell me about the cakes he baked with his mum (banana cakes and "spinkle cakes"), and sometimes he'd show me slices of them in his bright yellow lunchbox. I'll really miss my Charlie. Sometimes I wish Peter Pan really did exist and that I could keep the kids exactly where they are now, so that I would never have to say goodbye to them, and so that we could keep playing together every Wednesday and Friday. This is why I need to keep being childlike myself, and to make sure that I play with my friends instead of simply socialising with them. It is slightly selfish of me not to want him to grow up, though, because I know that he will need to experience the world and that he does have to move on. Sometimes I really do forget that I work with children, because to me, they're just smaller people who are more pure and truthful and energetic. Oh...I'm going to miss little Charlie. I'd rather have him back instead that expensive box of chocolates. |