“What's your biggest fear?" Asked the
exhausted, dying woman.
"Being alone, my destiny -
the future,
I am afraid
of what is to come of my life and whether I will be remembered
after I die. Beyond all else
I fear constantly the opinions of others
and what people say about me.” The girl whispered.
"I will give you my true advice -
live now, laugh now, be who you want to be,
or forever regret caring too much"
The woman replied solemnly.
"If only it were that simple..." The girl
started.
"But child,
it is.
Be who you want to be, for nothing is simpler than
that" The woman interrupted.
"It isn't simple, I care, I can't
help it"
The girl choked.
"Look me in the eye... You want to enjoy your life. Just
stop. Reflect.
I beg you
remember this...
"You is kind. You is smart. You is important."
The woman recited, as if reading a child the rhythmthic drone of
a favourite bedtime story.
"I is kind. I is smart. I is important" The
girl experimented tentatively.
"And
don't you ever forget it."
The woman croaked. As the last tendrils of life released her, she
was happy, she lay still - at peace, with the knowledge she had
passed on the words that had saved her over and over
again.