She's Growing Up
The youth of a girl in suburban America.
She is 3 years old
She goes to daycare and sits on the slide
Watching the other kids
She decides that she likes watching
It helps her learn
She is 5 years old
A couple kids in the next town over die
A man brought a gun to school
They start doing lock down drills
Just in case
But they promise it will never happen again
She is 7 years old
Her dad starts telling her that her belly is getting big
That she needs to exercise more
She looks in the mirror and sees that it’s true
She doesn’t like to eat much anymore
She is 9 years old
She tries making new friends
They seem nice
But they take her work
And laugh at her
They start running from her
She tries to chase them but can’t keep up
She is 10 years old
They start implementing dress codes
"You can’t show your shoulders
They distract the boys"
She doesn’t understand why they would
Boys have shoulders too
They don’t distract her
She is 12 years old
The new teacher looks at her funny
She thinks it’s because she looks sad
She smiles, but the look doesn’t change
As she’s leaving, he grabs her shoulder and squeezes a little too hard
She doesn’t walk near him in the halls anymore
He is fired a month later
A girl said that he touched them weird in class
She is 13 years old
The world starts shutting down
A virus is spreading
She isolates herself completely
When she is allowed out
Panic starts taking over
She can't breathe around new people
So she avoids them
She is 14 years old
The men on the street start whistling at her when she walks by
She learns to cross the street and ignore them
She also learns how to throw elbows and slip out of their grasp
Just in case they get too close
She is 15 years old
She still likes to watch
The schools broke their promise
She still doesn’t like to eat
She has few friends
But those she has, she cherishes dearly
She wears a uniform now
But even still men look at her funny
Her panic hasn’t subsided
The men never stopped whistling
She can’t even walk alone in broad daylight
But at least now she knows why
She will be 16 years old
She hopes she makes it that far
About the Creator
Tess Borowski
Even though I'm young, I still have my own view of the world that I would like to share with all of you. Writing is one of my largest passions, and I hope to learn and grow as I experiment with my style and experience this platform.
Reader insights
Nice work
Very well written. Keep up the good work!
Top insights
Excellent storytelling
Original narrative & well developed characters
Eye opening
Niche topic & fresh perspectives
Heartfelt and relatable
The story invoked strong personal emotions
Keep reading
More stories from Tess Borowski and writers in Poets and other communities.
Something's Got to Give
I know writing this won’t change anything. I know that even though I want everything to change so bad it never will. I sit down and watch movies and read stories about people that suffer through so much hate in this world I cannot even comprehend it.
By Tess Borowski4 years ago in Poets
Do You have a Support Network?
Life is harder when you’re on your own. Human beings are social creatures, and we usually feel better when we have support from a strong social network around us. For most people, it’s our families that hold us together like glue.
By Elizabeth Woodsabout 5 hours ago in Psyche
Comments (1)
so true yet so sad