A Permanent Home

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Sitting at just one place all day felt like a pandemic had struck and we were all in lockdown. Though I could hear the glass door at the entrance purr as people moved in and out, the lockdown feeling didn’t just pass with any passerby. There I was, kept at a single place, like a showpiece, just seeing others being picked up, bought and taken to their new homes in their luxurious chariots.

My hope didn’t have much spark or expectations that something unusual would happen the other day. The sun rose normally, the flowers and the trees bloomed at their rapid pace, and the movement at my place continued as it did in the past days. For the 95th time, the gate whirred. As I awoke from my disturbed sleep, I saw a mother enter along with her son. They came straight away to the side I was displayed on and sat on the bench that was kept further away. I was about to fall asleep again, dreaming about owning a home, when I noticed the little boy staring at me, curiously. Then, silently, he walked in my direction and pointed an accusing finger at me. The mother came forward almost immediately and talked wisely to her son. After talking for a brief minute, she turned towards the manager sitting at the desk and she too pointed towards me.

The manager came to me and picked me up from my tip. At that moment, the spark in me that had been dead for so long rose to a flame, and I knew that I had found a home. I was carefully wrapped in the smoothest butter paper that removed the slightest amount of dust on top of me and then put in the most distinguished chariot that I had ever seen. It was all a dream come true, a desire that I had only felt in half disturbed sleep and broken dreams. I turned around to explore my ride home. Suddenly, a chill ran through my soul and a terror gripped me so tightly at my newfound discovery. I was staring back at myself!

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Published December 3, 2020

Written by Sara Gogna ~ Edited by Clara Reyes