The Girl in the Dark

The cool breeze dried the girl’s tears quickly as she gazed out the open window. In the great expanse of the sky, her eyes fixed in on a single, bright star. Gradually, she intensified her stare, and the star’s radiant light appeared to pulse rapidly under the pressure.

“Where are you, God?” Her words flew out from her mouth in heated exasperation but seemed to run cold as they made their way into the night air.

Her words were the last sound to fill the open space until the stars faded into the periwinkle morning sky and the sun stretched its rays across the horizon. It awakened the dozing birds, and their gay chirpings spread throughout the city. Perhaps it was because of the lightheartedness of the birds’ singing that the girl now felt more at ease, or perhaps it was simply from a good night’s rest. Either way, a heaviness still lay on her heart, yet she mustered enough spirit to face the day.

The girl slid her feet off the bed, making contact with the cold hardwood floor. After changing into her favorite faded blue jeans and wrapping a woolen cardigan tightly around her, she was almost ready to go out. She grabbed a pair of spotted white sneakers, tied one shoe on after the other, and stepped out the door.

Light greeted her playfully, tickling her skin, and she squinted her eyes as she headed straight into it. Along the path stood a towering maple tree, its leaves arched over an empty cement lot. Well, empty except for a crowd of children playing foursquare. Their giggles bounced in all directions and with higher volume than the ball. Her stoic face couldn’t help but crack a small smile at the sight.

Soon, she came to a clearing, the mild hills highlighted by the vibrant, green grass. “Aarff! Aarff!” She jumped inwardly at the terrier’s high-pitched but surprisingly intense bark. The dog came bounding up near her. Wiggling uncontrollably between her legs, it began to attack her—with kisses from its lapping pink tongue.

A young man wearing dark sunglasses and bright blue shorts also came running at her. “Heel, Poppy!” he called out. The dog immediately calmed down at the command of its owner’s voice. “Sorry about that,” he said, now directing his attention towards the girl. “She’s a spirited little pup, and she’s still learning that the world is more than one big play pen.”

With that the two darted off again as quickly as they came. As they did so, the girl admired the apparent camaraderie between the two. While the man peered down at his dog and fondly ruffled her fur, the dog barked gleefully and waggishly pounced on her owner. Maybe they weren’t one of the same kind, but they clearly still shared a tight, unbreakable bond.

Finding her way back to the apartment, the girl took one more quick glance at the vivacious city, before slipping silently through the door. After only a few moments of sitting around in her apartment with just the walls for company, she drifted back outside to the beckoning sunshine. The blinding light seemed to have mellowed down. Now, it calmly highlighted her patio chair and the book she left laying open on top of it. She eased into the chair and picked up where she had left the story.

Before she could get too far, though, in a nearby apartment, a gentle swaying movement caught her attention. Lifting her eyes up from the page, she saw an elderly couple dancing affectionately. The older gentleman kissed the woman once their feet slowed from a steady rhythm to standing in place, and then he disappeared back into the building.

The woman leaned against the deck’s metal rail and peered out into the city. In surveying the landscape, she noticed the girl curiously spying on her.

She let out a deep chuckle and called out, “Well, hello, neighbor!”

“Um, hello,” replied the girl, a little flustered and a fresh tint of red now marking her face. She quickly looked back down at her book. She never should have been so nosy.

The woman didn’t seem to pick up on her I’d-rather-not-talk cue, though, and asked, “Whatcha reading? You always look so intent on whatever it is you’re reading.”

“Always?”

“Oh, yeah!” The woman nodded. “I’ve seen you plenty of times sitting on that deck of yours just reading away. I wish I had that kind of focus. But, nope, not me. I get distracted so easily when I’m out on my deck. There’s just so much bustling going on in the city below, ya know? Like just this morning I saw you walking down there.”

The girl was taken aback by this last comment. “You mean, you noticed me?”

“Of course, honey. I know you. We are neighbors after all.” She smiled as she said this but then paused, as if a thought had suddenly occurred to her. “I just don’t know your name. Would you mind telling me, honey?”

“Miranda.”

That night, as Miranda sat by her open window, looking out at the night sky, tears no longer marked her face but instead a joyous smile. She thought back on the carefree children she saw earlier, laughing as though the best thing in the world was foursquare. And she thought of the terrier and her owner—the kinship between the two. And she thought of her neighbor. A woman whom she had never paid attention to before but who knew her—who could pick her out of a crowd in the city.

The star that had captivated her attention the previous night twinkled before her once again. However, Miranda let her gaze shift from the star to scan all the celestial bodies in view. Then, she looked upon the city—to the park and to the people passing by.

“God,” Miranda prayed, speaking openly with no specific direction in mind, “I still don’t understand where you are. But I know that you are here.”