The Perception

It was chilling evening and I was moving on a long straight road. Half constructed apartments were trying to register their presence in my mind but I was more interested in the loneliness of that road. No vehicles, no shops, no crowd…just the sound of chilling air, which was penetrating my skin to reach the bones of my body.
Suddenly, my legs stopped in front of a small park. Something forced me to move towards the park and I saw some kids playing in the park. Few more steps and noticed a little girl sitting on a wooden bench at one corner of the park. Something attracted me towards her. As I was approaching her, I noticed that she is not older than 5-6 years. I could not see her face because she was wearing a red woolen cap and looking downwards. At first instant I thought she is sleeping but then I realized that she is in deep thinking mode. Her small legs were stretched over the bench making a small part of her leg hanging in air.
As I sat on the same bench, she lifted her head and turned towards me. For few seconds, I was just lost in the cuteness of her face. Dark black eyes, small round face with pinkish white cheeks. The red cap covering her head and ears was making her even prettier. She was quite and did not speak anything; rather she closed her eyes and moved her head downwards again. I dint know why but a thought came in to my mind and I started a conversation.
I: Why are you sad little girl?
She (in sweeter than her face voice): I am not sad, I am thinking
(Impressed; this wasn’t the kind of answer I was expecting.)
I: What are you thinking?
She: I am thinking about a friend of mine, actually, the best friend of mine.
I: Ok. So he/she is not with you and you don’t have anyone else to play with (I made a guess)
She: I have lot of friends but I don’t want to play with them. I am waiting for him and if he comes, we will play otherwise I will go home (she said in her careless voice)
I: So where is your friend? Why did not he come? Where does he live? (I was wondering why I am asking so many questions to this small kid)
She: I don’t know. I met him here few days back. He was alone and he was white. When I saw him, he was hiding under that bush. Probably, he was afraid of something. Then I helped him to come out. He was small and he also had a cute small tail. He was not dirty like other doggies on the street. I gave him my toffee and he kissed me on my shoes. Then, we became friends and we started playing. Everyday, in evening, we used to play for hours and then I stopped playing with my old friends.
(I was not expecting that she is talking about any puppy or dog but I did not change my expressions, rather, I became more curious.)
I: Then?
She: We had become best friend. We enjoyed each others company. I even left playing with all my friends. Then one day, I went to my grandmom’s place for few days. When I returned, he was not here. I searched for him but I could not find him. I was sad and I cried. Every evening, I came here to search him. Yesterday I saw him playing with some other kid. I went to him but he ignored me. I stood there for many minutes but he did not come to me. When I returned to home, I cried again and mummy told me that she would bring me another puppy. But now, I don’t like any other puppy.
I: hmmm, that is sad. But how can you consider him your best friend when you know that he left you and now he is playing with someone else?
She: He is my best friend because I like him. May be, he left me because of some reason. May be he was hurt because I left him for few days or he met with some problems when I was not here. Right now I am thinking that whether I should go to him once more or not. May be he will recognize me this time.
This was a strange explanation which I could not understand, probably because I can not think like a kid…..pure and honest. I was not even sure what I should say to that kid. I just smiled and get up to move. I noticed that the girl has again made the same gesture in which I saw her when I entered in park. Many thoughts were moving in my mind but I could not figure them out.