I Knew A Little Girl

I knew a little girl one time who loved fairy tales. In the days before DVD or VCR or even cable, her whole year hinged on the one night every year that Cinderella came on TV, watching Leslie Ann Warren shy away from her wicked step-mother and step-sisters, but proudly step up and dance with the prince with such stars in her eyes, wearing such a beautiful gown and, of course, glass slippers. This little girl I knew would wait breathlessly for one other night every year to watch the Wizard of Oz. She dreamed of the beautiful colors in Oz, and Glinda's gown, and, of course, those Ruby Slippers. Heartbeats absolutely suspended to watch these 2 movies - the music, the colors, the costumes, and the stories - and the little girl I knew was starry-eyed for one more year.

I knew a little girl who loved to play with baby dolls. Oh, she had several, but her favorites were the dolls that did nothing but lay on the bed and wait to be picked up and loved. Their bodies were soft, except for plastc arms and legs and head, but they were babies. And she loved every one of them and carried them with her as much as she could.

I knew a little girl who loved to sing and dance and roller skate and hula hoop. Very active was the little girl I knew. Sitting for more than 5 minutes was pure torture. One of her favorite games was to spin around and around until she was dizzy, then try to walk through the house without bumping into anything. Sometimes instead of spinning she would start in her mother's bedroom with a hand held mirror and hold it chest level, turn her head down and try to walk through the house by watching the ceiling in her mirror. She also loved to dig in the sand in the back yard of her house. Her parents periodically bought a load of sand, intending to spruce up the yard, but the little girl I knew was in the sand before any yard work could be done, digging tunnels and holes that became swimming pools.

I knew a little girl who knew how special a princess was as the daughter of a king, and she knew that there were more princesses than anyone knew. There was a princess that lived in the box of cotton swabs in her mother's dresser drawer. If she plucked the cotton off the stick and pulled it and curled it with her finger, then put it back on the tip of the wooden stick, she could talk with the princess. She even saw princesses in the trees. In the world of trees, the grand ladies all had to stand on their heads and the leaves were the beautiful ball gowns.

I knew a little girl who loved to draw and create. Reams of paper in school were used to make dresses for grand ladies that needed something special to wear to the ball. The little girl I knew had boxes of paper dolls and she lovingly drew and colored and cut out each gown for each doll. She gave names to every single one of the paper dolls, and was constantly scouting her mother's magazines for another grand lady to add to the collection.

So what happened to the little girl I knew? She met Prince Charming. But she stopped moving so much, preferring to sit in one spot. Oh, she still loves the fairy tales and stories of princes and princesses, kings and queens. She still loves the Land of Oz and the Ruby Slippers. But this little girl has reached middle age. She is now the grandmother of 2 other little girls and a little boy. But I think the original little girl is still there.

Nandy Ekle