Scene: Emily is sitting in a chair reading magazines. A little girl in a red sweater skips over.
Girl: Hi! [very cheerful]
Emily: Hi there.
Girl stares at the magazines and giggles to herself. Emily continues reading, smiling.
Girl: My name is Annalisia [I really couldn't tell, so this is a guess.]
Emily: My name is Emily. It's nice to meet you.
Girl: It's nice to meet you, too.
Emily: How old are you?
Girl: I am four years old.
Emily: That's neat. What do you have there? [pointing at little toy in her hand, which turns out to be a small fake bird with a little harness]
Girl: This is my pet bird!
Emily: Oh, what's its name?
Girl: [thinks for a long time and fiddles with the bird's pink & yellow tail feathers] Its name is Pink....because it has a pink feather!
The little girl's mom comes over and asks her if she wants a stamp on her hand from the librarian. "Can you say goodbye?" she asks her daughter. Her daughter complies.
This encounter totally made my day. I love how bold she was, so unafraid to come over and strike up a random conversation with a person she didn't know. When she said hello to me, she said it like she knew who I was and was excited to see me. It was so neat that her mom just let her talk to me while she checked out the library books...she wasn't worried about her, since she could see and hear everything I was saying. She asked her daughter to say goodbye. But what I can't get over is just how uninhibited that little girl was. She wanted to talk to me, and she wasn't afraid, even though I was a stranger. I want to channel some of that freedom and energy. And I'm grateful for this encounter in my Monday afternoon.
