Misalignment | ✔

neither

The sun feels nice
on my face
after a bike ride
full of wind
and chilled air.
I close my eyes
after a while
and listen to the sounds
of the birds overhead
flying towards the south,
and the wind
in the trees around me,
and the crunch
of dead leaves underfoot
as someone trods on them.

"Hi,"
that someone says
as I open my eyes again.
It's a little girl
of probably no more than
nine or ten years.
Her hair is pulled back
into two neat braids
and her lips
are currently formed
into a cheerful smile.

"You look sad,"
she observes
when I say nothing
in reply.
"What's wrong?
You can't be sad
when the weather is so nice
and the birds are singing
and the sun is shining
so bright."

I don't want to answer that -
so I ask instead:
"Are you all alone?
Where's your mother?"

"I don't know."

She doesn't seem to care,
which is strange to me,
considering that I would be
quite concerned
if I lost my mother
in the middle of a park.

"Hey,"
she says suddenly,
interrupting my thoughts with
a serious look.
"Are you
a boy or a girl?
I can't tell,
and I'm sorry
if that's mean,
but I don't want to
be rude and call you
the wrong thing,
because Mom says
that being rude to strangers
is not a nice thing to do."

That came out of nowhere.
I can't even say anything
for a moment,
I'm so
shocked.
This little girl -
this naïve,
innocent little girl -
might be more considerate
than most of the adults
I've met in my
whole lifetime.
Maybe.
I can't say that
her question didn't
weird me out
just a little.

"Would you believe me,"
I say on impulse,
without a
second thought,
"if I told you that
I am neither?"

She stares at me
for a moment,
processing the idea.
"You can be
something that's not
a boy
or a girl?"

"Yeah."

She stays silent again
for a long moment
before shrugging,
as though she'd
never before
considered the possibility
of it.
Sometimes, I wonder
if anyone else besides
Tumblr users
has considered it
before.

Before she can answer me
audibly,
a woman rushes up
from behind,
looking both worried and
very relieved.
It must be
the little girl's mother,
whom she lost before
and didn't really
seem to care about.

"Camryn,
don't do that again!"
she admonishes,
though her daughter
doesn't seem too affected
by her outburst.
"You scared me
half to death!"

"I was just
talking
to this nice...
person,"
the girl responds
with a frown and a sigh -
and I can't help but to be
relieved,
and maybe a little happy,
that she seemed to believe me
and didn't call me
either male or female,
but instead
a more neutral term.

"We have to get going,
Camryn,"
her mother insists,
and promptly tries
to drag little Camryn away.
I saw the way she
looked at me
when she first saw me with
her daughter,
so I can understand
why she wants
to get away
so quickly.
I wish I didn't.

"What's your name?"
Camryn asks,
pulling away from
her mother,
who now looks quite
impatient.
"'Cause you know mine
now,
so I have to know
yours."

"Cam,"
I say,
feeling a little sheepish.

"It's close
to mine!"
she crows excitedly
as her mother firmly
grasps her arm again,
scolds her for dallying,
and drags her away.

They soon disappear
altogether
from my sight,
away behind
the park trees -
and I can't help
but to be thankful for
young, free-minded children
like Camryn
who haven't yet been set
against people like me
by the rest of
society.
The world would be
a much friendlier place
if there were more people
of her opinion
within it.

×

We need more Camryns in the world, seriously. Even indifference is better than flat-out opposition, in my opinion... But I digress.

Misalignment has jumped up to #213 in poetry and I might cry. This is just so insanely amazing, wow. I know I say this probably too much, but thank you guys SO much for your support! It means the world to me that this story (and the topic it addresses) is getting so much attention already!!

As always, if you liked this chapter, please feel free to vote or leave me some feedback below! I'd love to hear from you guys!!!