The Child Within

I'm an 18-year-old 12th grader, which is practically an adult. I'm at the stage of life when I should keep all my childish urges aside and think about my future like a wise person. But I had a dream last night that made me realise something.

In my dream, I was in a really small park, but it had many interesting features. It had a small pond with a bench next to it, two mounds lying side-by-side that I would wanna climb, and a rocking bench between the two mounds. A cabinet stood at the corner of the park, which had many pieces of outdoor gaming equipment. The weather was nice and calm, and I wasn't alone at the park. I had my classmates, my friends along with me: Mahi, Kapil, and Kushab. A few students from the commerce section were there too: Abhinandan, an old acquaintance of mine, Lalit, the school captain and lastly Nandita, the class topper. I was happy to be at such a joyous place, and that too with my friends. While Kapil and Kushabh were just roaming around at the park, Mahi and I decided to play. We decided to play on a trampoline, but soon got bored with it and switched to a seesaw. Mahi went to rest on the bench next to the pond, but I didn't want to rest because who knows when I may get a chance to be at a park with my friends. I went to the cabinet and found badminton in it, but there was no shuttlecock. Though I don't know a thing about cricket, the next piece of equipment that I picked was a siesure ball and a wooden cricket bat. The ball was hanging by a rope so that I could tie it anywhere and play alone, but I took it to Kapil and Kushabh. Kapil was bowling, and I was batting, and unfortunately, Kapil got injured, so Kushabh took him to the bench to rest. I was worried yet wished to play more. It was then that Abhinandan, Lalit and Nandita showed up.

Abhinandan said, "Let's go, I'll play with you."

Abhinandan seemed excited to play, and me too. He took the ball, but as soon as he touched it, it turned into paper. He crumpled the paper and was about to throw it when I snatched it away. It turned back to a ball in my hands.

"What did you do?" I asked, "Didn't you say that you wanted to play?... You are so rude - your whole class is. I hate you all..."

Then I instantly recalled playing badminton with Lakshmi, my friend and their classmates earlier, and Riya, Gitika and Disha, my few other friends from the same class.

"Except Lakshmi, Riya, Gitika and Disha... Ya'll are so rude"

Everyone was gone then, and I was all alone. Then I heard a voice. It was Hanshika, a friend and classmate of mine; I was certain. I was happy and relieved again. I ran out of the Park gate, and my whole class was there, coming to the park, along with Bhumika Ma'am, our geography teacher.

Then I heard the phone ring. It was my mother, calling to wake me up and get me ready for school. I kept zoning out throughout the day. We had games period today. These days, most of my female friends prefer to sit in a corner and gossip rather than actually play. The boys in my class are quite athletic, which is obvious, and they are well acquainted with most of the games, while I can't even play a single game right. How would I? My previous schools never actually let us play, and I had to quit playing outside my house and break my friendship with all my neighbour friends. For that reason, I don't know any game well... but I wanna play nevertheless. My current school, which I joined last year, is a heaven to me. A school so heavenly that I never imagined. If I could, I would live at my school.

The dream connected me to the child within. Sometimes I wish I were a man in 1800; I would've chosen to be a writer because all I wish for is someone to hear me