Poppy/H.S

Chapter 1

I finally escape the hungry eyes of a man on the tube who has been making me uncomfortable for at least half an hour. When he got on the tube, he chose the seat across from me, watching my every move. I quickly leave the tube, running up the stairs to be met with my date for the night, the city of London. I always feel terrified walking around the city on my own in the dark, escaping the eyes of men I don't know. I can hear my Manolo Blahniks clicking against the concrete as the heels collide with the dirty post-rain concrete in a rush evening hour. The same concrete that millions of Londoners walk on, millions of shoes imprinting their own story on the pavement. I look around, checking both the left and the right side of the road, not trusting the green man who has lived in the traffic lights for ages. I clutch onto my bag, moving it closer to the front of my body in the fear of getting robbed while crossing the road, my arms colliding with strangers whose faces are blending into one. I wonder where all those people are going and where they have come from.

I'm happy to see the street getting a little emptier as I take the corner, getting closer to a park. What makes this park special is that not many people know about it. It's very rare to find a quiet place in a city that's always filled with deafening noise. I release the firm hold on my bag, a crooked smile making its way to my lipstick-coloured lips when I spot the playground further in the park. If had kids, this would be the place I would go play with them every single day, fulfilling the childhood dreams of my own. I could imagine setting on the wooden bench close to the colourful swings, watching a little me swaying back and forth. Instinctively, my eyes move around the playground, squinting a little to see in the dark. The playground is surrounded with trees, taking away even the little light left in a late evening.

My eyes land on a little girl standing on the deck of a playground slide that's attached to the swinging set. Her tiny hands hold onto the old brown railing tightly, looking down from the 6 feet height. Her tiny body is shaking with the fear of sliding down. She must be scared of heights. My eyes scan the wooden bench, the place where I would sit if my future kids were playing here. I'm disappointed to find the bench empty, realising the little girl is here all alone. I wonder if she got lost or if her parents left her there with no supervision. It's so dangerous to be out alone for a grown woman, let alone a little girl. Quickly, my heels shuffle on the gravel as I run in her direction. She hears the noise the gravel makes, flinching and closing her eyes.

"Hi, little lady friend. Everything alright up there?" I say looking up and smiling at the little girl. Her face relaxes a bit, looking down at me.

"Um, no, not really." She tells me anxiously, her cheeks turning red, making them look like apples, but the very shiny ones. Her apple red cheeks are stained with tears. Her hazel eyes are looking into mine with hope, but I'm sure they're stinging from the tears.

"I'm Valentine. What's your name, little friend?" I continue smiling at her, hoping to make her feel more comfortable around me. Her hands still hold tightly on the deck railing, but only now I notice how red her fingers are. She must be cold.

"My name's Poppy." She says, her voice shaking.

"Like the flower?" She nods, not saying anything else. "I love poppies, they're my favourite! They're so pretty, just like you, my little friend. You know, I grew up in Slovakia. That's a very small country right in the middle of Europe. The funny thing is that only about 5 million people live in the entire country. That's so weird when you realise that you would need to double the population of Slovakia to get the number of people who are just in London right now, "I stop my rambling when I see that Poppy looks more relaxed now, not too focused on the fact she's on the deck of a slide. "What was I saying? Oh! Well, when I was growing up in Slovakia, I spent a lot of time at my grandma's during the summer. She lived in this little village where I didn't know anyone except her. I was the only kid in the neighbourhood and never found any friends when I was visiting her. My grandma didn't want me to be sad, so she tried to take my mind off of it by taking me on walks and showing me around the village. She would always bring me to this field which was filled with poppies. It looked so beautiful, have you ever seen a poppy field, my friend?" I ask her when I notice she has stopped crying. She shakes her head.