Mary W Brown

A New Day

Mary Ann was awakened by the sound of birds. She struggled to open her eyes. It felt as if she has been asleep for a hundred years. The clatter and squawking of the birds drove her to fight through her stupor. She had to see what made the birds carry on so. After much effort she was finally able to see that she was in her childhood room, in her childhood bed with her favorite sheets, the yellow ones with the white daisies and she had to fight the urge to just snuggle in and go back to the beautiful peaceful sleep from which she came. But those birds sounded an urgency. She had to get up. After much effort she was able to sit on the side of her bed and look around to take in her surroundings. Her posters of the Jackson 5 and Prince were on the wall. Her cheerleading megaphone was sitting in the corner with the black and gold pom poms sticking out of the mouthpiece. She smiled at the thought of the last time she used them at a pep rally and the football game later that Friday night. Mary Ann was the only black cheerleader on the squad and Captain at that. She was popular in every sense of the word. But what made her loved by all was her kind heart. She was good through and through. Her genuine goodness shown through in everything she did. People just wanted to be around her. She was funny and adventurous. She seemed to thrive on helping others. And despite the fact that she was from the one of the poorest families in a town with lots of rich white families and a few rich black families. She always rose to any occasion and stood out as a natural leader. But that all seemed so long ago. Or was it?