Lost in a Mall
Seemingly random thinking took me back to a day when I couldn't have been more than seven years old. Saturday morning. Up early as any excited child would be. My sister and I went to what had to be the biggest mall in the country at the time. Walking around to look at sparkly new things. To smell the preparation of menu items from around the world. To be hypnotized by a rainbow of ice-cream flavours amongst the bustle of individuals with unique purposes. Nothing quite got my attention like the toy-store, however, and it was at the window of that very one that convinced me to let go of her hand..
I pointed at the items in the orchestrated display. Still talking, I turned around - only to see a sea of unfamiliarity. Fearless I trusted that she would be around soon, so I entered the store to get a closer look.
Colours and sounds. Big boxes of treasure. Small packages of entertainment. But even the toy-store had limited aisles and soon enough, I got bored. A whole mall to explore - so why wait here?
It must have been hours.
The interesting stores were running out and I've seen enough. Even to a young me, the richness of this mecca ran out of potential. I wanted to go home and started searching for my sister. Clearly she wasn't interested in the cool stuff, so I entered the grown-up stores one, by one. So many people, very few alone.
The popular clothing stores yielded no results.
The restaurants had many patrons, none of them my sister.
The fountains churned merrily, yet not in a familiar voice.
A lot of walking and nothing really captivating lead me back to where I started. No sign of her.
With sager eyes, when I glance back, it was a pure miracle to happenstance around the corner that lead into the arms of my sibling. I don't think I've ever felt happier while getting the teary-eyed scolding of a lifetime. It was obvious the wavering yells weren't really in anger.
It may seem sad to need to belong somewhere. I think it's worse if it's not where you are.