Adoption Marriage

1 | my only friends

| Minjeong - 8 y/o

I don't understand what's wrong with me.

No matter what I do, everyone around me looks at me like I'm some kind of weirdo. I tried changing to fit in with everyone else, but it never works.

One day, I snuck behind one of the rooms to find out why and heard some kids talking about me.

"...That Minjeong girl is so scary!"

"She likes running around deep in the woods. I heard she talks to wild animals there like she can understand them!"

"Huh, but isn't that kinda cool?"

"Don't believe what you see on the outside, freshie! I thought that at first too, but when I followed her, I saw her devouring a bloody raw fish with a pack of wolves!"

"Eek! What a freak!"

So this is what they think about me... they're so mean.

Pursing my lips to stop myself from crying, I took a deep, shaky breath and walked away from the door. I didn't want to hear any more of their mean comments. It made me feel angry and sad at the same time.

Well, she did say the truth.

The caregivers told me countless times that it was dangerous for me to play around deep in the woods. But since I always came back safely, they decided to let me be.

"She's just a kid with a very curious nature compared to the others."

"Mhm, once she gets hurt and scared, she'll learn her lesson and grow out of it."

I heard them talking about me once, and I understood. But little did they know, I'm not going to let myself get hurt that easily! I used to get hurt a lot playing in the woods until I met Mr. and Ms. Wolf!

They were so growly and cold to me at first but warmed up after I visited their den every day. The day we started becoming close was when I asked for a fishing rod on my birthday and learned how to fish!

I snatched a huge chunk of bread from the kitchen and ran into the woods, my heart pounding with excitement.

At Mr. and Ms. Wolf's den, there was a river filled with fishies nearby, so I went there! Learning how to fish wasn't that hard for me since I watched a lot of videos about it on the internet. I'm so thankful for that kind caregiver who let me borrow her phone for three hours.

All I had to do was get used to reeling the rod, throw, and have patience. It took me three days to get the hang of it, and soon I was catching at least five fishies a day! In those three days, I made sure to pass by Mr. and Ms. Wolf's den to greet them, their four pups, and three other members of their pack.

By then, I think they got used to my presence. They weren't so growly and cold to me anymore. They even let me get close to them, unlike before when they would give me scary looks to stay away!

I know it's weird for an eight-year-old like me, but this was the only fun thing I could do. It was better than trying to fit in with the other kids who didn't like me. And thanks to being alone, I think I became much more mature and smarter! Now that I think about it, those kids are such dummies for believing what they see rather than asking for the truth!

I may be alone, but I have a cool pack of wolves who are beginning to warm up to me. The day we finally became friends was when I spent the whole morning fishing and decided to bring them each a fish at the den.

I did this for five days straight. Then one day, while I was watching everyone eat the fishies under a tree, Mr. Wolf approached me with a fish I caught in his mouth. He placed it on my lap carefully.