❝AMONG THE MIDST OF THE EMOTIONS RISING
in his soul and trying to regulate his heart rate
and his breathing, paul couldn't help but wish
for one thing: god, i hope i remember this
tomorrow.❞
𝐩𝐚𝐮𝐥...
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The year was 2005.
Gwen Stefani was on the radio, 'That's So Raven' was on the television and Paul McCartney was six years old.
The brightly multicolored walls of the Bright Sun Daycare Center surrounded him and his gaggle of little friends. They were all gathered around the gigantic and thick television set in the corner of the room.
Paul was beating his friend, Bill, at a rather heated game of Mario Kart.
"Go, go, go!" the boys around them chanted and Paul was sure they were all cheering for him.
You see, Paul wore self-confidence like a second skin. While teachers taught him how to count and say the alphabet, Paul's mum and dad told him to believe in himself -- and so he did.
Paul was turning and turning and holding his breath so much so that his cheeks were going red. He had never felt this much adrenaline in his life and it really didn't help that his friends were chanting his name.
What happens next was a moment that will live on in Paul's mind for the following decade.
Just when the boys' cheers and chants were reaching ear-deafening levels, the screen on the television switched from Mario and Wario racing in their pixelated vehicles to the pastel Care Bears floating around on their clouds and sharing kindness.
"WHAT?" all of the boys yelled out, with Paul's voice ringing out louder than the others.
Their sacred male bonding time had been infiltrated by a group of girls. Their leader was a 3-foot-tall girl with her hazel eyes glistening with mischief.
"Miss Mona says it's our turn with the telly." she spoke, voice coated with enough sugar to give Paul's teeth cavities.
The boys turned to their baby-faced leader, expecting an answer.
Taking a shaky breath (who was this girl and why did she take all of his self-confidence?), Paul looked the girl up and down. "Who are you?"
"What does it matter? It's our turn." she reiterated.
To punctuate her words, the other girls added a nasally 'yeah.'
Paul moved his head back and thought his next move through.
The boys behind him were glancing at him through eyes bright with anxiety. They'd chosen the McCartney boy as their unofficial leader and they all knew this was the time for him to show his true colors.
