New Wings
The sense of divergent surroundings in her stomach was not a new one. In fact that wariness and excitement of the unknown had become more comfortable to her than any other feeling. Perhaps that’s why this transition seemed to be easy for her. The packing, the planning, the anticipation, all of it she was accustomed to. Yet when family and friends asked if she was ready or excited about what lay ahead for her, her response was similar if not always the same, “It just seems weird.” Even though this feeling was comfortable and similar to situations she had been raised in, something was different. But what?
She watched as her father carried her new life into a slanted room. An empty bed and matching dresser and desk were the only items in the small, white walled area. Her mother began to unpack the gray sheets and white down comforter. Carefully she made up the bed, placing exotic pillows in a symmetrical fashion. They helped her fix up the rest of her belongings until the blank room was filled with dazzling strings of lights and the sense of a new home.
Were they really going to just leave her in this new environment? In this place filled with young dreamers and adolescents trying to find their place in this world?
The answer was yes.
Through tears and hugs, they embraced their little girl and sent her into the world to find and create a life for herself.
It still didn’t feel real. As she walked around the little city past the sounds of clusters of people in rooms of knowledge, she felt like this was where she was supposed to be. Yet she couldn’t shake that difference in the feeling, this vague sensation of unbelief. Unbelief that she was old enough to be in this situation. Unbelief that she was, in a sense, now on her own to do and act as she wanted. She now possessed a freedom divergent from any she had ever known before. The possibilities for her journey were endless. For the first time in her life she had numerous open roads ahead of her and she now had the honor of choosing where she wanted to go.
Looking around at the brick buildings and athletic fields, her stomach again was filled with excitement. A frenzy of butterflies twisted in her abdomen, like a little bird jumping out of the nest for the first time hoping that their wings will hold them up. By coming here she was standing on the edge of her nest, scoping the area to see if it was safe to courageously leap into the unknown.
But that’s what she did. She mounted up on the peak of her comfort zone, spread her wings and took the jump.
And she flew.