Dating : Through the Ears of a Child

Five years later, they gathered around the dining room table to have a family meeting. She assumed it was about the pot that fell out of her bag somewhere in the house. It wasn’t. As they were about to speak, she could see the bag behind the television stand. They hadn’t even noticed.

Cara, your father and I are separating.

Cara stood up. She had been waiting for this moment for as long as she could remember.

Are you okay honey?

She went to her room and returned with a piece of paper and placed it carefully between them. It was that blank page from five years ago. But it wasn’t actually blank. It had all the meaning in the world.

What is…

She went back to her room and left them there, with the paper. She could hear them crying. Together, they were crying. It was the first thing they had done together in years. At that moment, they knew that she knew. All along, she knew.

They had always thought that they were doing what was best for her. That when she got old enough, they would do what was best for them. But they never stopped to think about what it looked like, and felt like, to her. They weren’t good actors. The truth hung in the air, year after year. And she watched it lay stagnant in the breath of that house.

Through the ears of a child, the truth is heard.

Cara laid on her bed, listening to music, smiling. They would finally all have the chance to be happy now. She didn’t have to tell them this. They heard her.