Her whole life revolves around one place.
When she was younger, it was her whole world. She crafted fantasies in her mind here; there didn’t seem to be any limits as to what she could do. The glorified plank her dad nailed to a tree felt like a castle. The ladder attached seemed bigger and stronger than it ever could be.
The room with a big bright green carpet held many fake school days—she was the teacher, and her sister was the student. The room the two sisters shared felt like a fortress adorned with bright pink walls and priceless items worth everything to them.
In the gateway to the “real world,” she and her sister would drive around in their fake red car, or scoot around on their mopeds. They would embellish the concrete with pictures of rainbows and smiles.
As she began to grow up, her life started to revolve less around this special place. She would be gone for hours a day with friends, or at school. Slowly she realized the plank nailed to the tree was not as vast as it once seemed. She covered up the hot pink walls, and they were replaced with a subtle blue. And the colorful concrete got washed away and turned into a plain grey.
It no longer had the same meaning as it did when she was younger. It was no longer a place to explore and create new worlds.
Still, even though the meaning of it changed, the feelings and memories did not. She is still filled with gratitude for the place that gave her somewhere to grow into who she is today. She looks back with fondness on the warm summer days that were filled with laughter and joy. The feeling of peace and safety as she walks through the big red door will forever remain.
She knows that even after a long hard day, she can walk through that door and be welcomed. It’s not the structure itself that created that feeling of belonging and calmness, but it is the people and familiarness inside that forged that feeling.
Her room is filled with achievements on the walls and decorations on the shelves. The light purple walls fill her with a sense of peace she doesn’t feel anywhere else.
Diamonds are the strongest naturally occurring substance found on the earth, and similarly to a diamond, the feeling of home will never be broken.
When she looks towards her future, she can’t imagine living somewhere besides her home. How will she ever find a place that fills her with the same level of tranquility?
She will be forever grateful for the grey house with the big red door.
