She drove through a little village pub on one side and the grocery store on the other. The place had mixed feelings of familiarity, nostalgia and apprehension. She drove through the winding country road, past the graveyard she instinctively made a sign of the cross. The ocean surrounded her, creating a tunnel of natural beauty.
She passed a church, then another pub, and she spotted a long white house in the distance, bringing back an even more substantial feeling of familiarity. Parking by the roadside, she stepped out and stood before the house, feeling a flood of emotions, sadness, familiarity, and curiosity.
Nearby, a little girl in a green velvet dress with a white ribbon in her hair caught her eye, sitting amidst a patch of grass. The sweet scent of summer grass filled the air, accompanied by a distant radio sound discussing the weather.
She walked towards the little girl. The little girl looked up, the woman was struck by how familiar she looked. She said Hi, and the little girl shyly said hello. She noticed the little girl’s sweet smile and the sadness in her eyes. The little girl looked closely at her; the girl’s smile grew brighter; the sadness in her eyes disappeared she said, “You made it.” Confused, she sat beside the little girl and asked her what she was doing. The little girl said she was making daisy chains and asked if she would like one. She said, of course, she would be honored to have a pretty daisy chain. They sat quietly as she handed the little girl daisies to make her chain. When the chain was made, the little girl wrapped it around her neck and said, “This is a special gift for you” The little girl hugged her and said she had jobs to do. The woman walked towards the house door as the little girl walked away, turning around to wave and smile again. She had a strong feeling that the little girl would play more and be less sad.
The door was unlocked. She lifted the latch and slowly walked through the dark hallway to another door. She opened this door and saw a woman at a kitchen sink with her back to her. The woman had dark hair, mostly covered with a bright scarf, that had seen better days. The woman slowly turned around and smiled like the little girl, with the same sadness in her eyes. She offered her a cup of tea. The woman poured them a cup of tea and sat on the opposite side of the table. They shared a cup of tea and plain biscuits, somehow reminiscent of a time long past. She took a biscuit and dipped it in the tea. She tasted the sweet, warm biscuit, looked at the woman sitting opposite her, and asked a poignant question about love. “Did you ever love me?” she asked. With a hint of melancholy, the woman confessed her struggles to express love due to her own hardships. In her thoughts, the woman reflected on the little girl and understood that she had encountered her younger self, who was so pleased to see her return. This reunion allowed the little girl to be liberated from her sadness and reclaim her childhood innocence. She could play now and not be burdened by adult fears and concerns.
She felt a weight lifted, knowing that love and resilience endured despite past hardships. The woman looked at her intensely, the sadness gone from her eyes, and said, “I have a gift for you.” She handed the girl a bright-colored brooch and asked that she wear it close to her heart to remember her. She wanted her to have a bright-colored beautiful brooch to remind her of how much she loved her but could not find a way to show it. Moved, she expressed her admiration and love for the woman. She looked at the woman, and felt a warm feeling of peace that she had never felt before.
She bid farewell to the woman and hugged her. She did not look back as she walked towards the door because she somehow knew she and the little girl were going to be Okay. The woman knew she had taken a journey back to her past not to shut the door on it but to open a door that could only be unlocked with the affirmation that the love she felt she never had was there all along.