Chapter 21 Childhood Isolation
I had a congenital illness from childhood.
I couldn't jump, couldn't run; even walking a few steps made me gasp.
While other kids played wildly, I could only read books or play chess.
I often took sick leave every few days.
But I still liked going to school.
There was the youthful energy unique to my age.
Not the lifeless ceiling of the hospital.
Classmates were friendly to me.
They called me "young lady" privately.
They envied my family background, praised my upbringing, said I was kind.
But that was it.
They roughhoused with each other.
In front of me, they were always restrained, afraid of bumping me.
I had no friends.
No one wanted to be friends with me.
Later, my health worsened.
I had to drop out and stay in the hospital.
Besides taking medicine and checkups, what I did most was sit in a wheelchair watching the gradually withering tree outside the window.
My parents visited less and less.
They had a new child.
It was something to be happy about.
But I became even lonelier.
Finally, after the tree dropped its last leaf.
I slowly closed my eyes.
The tree could wait for rebirth next year.
But I would never see my seventeenth spring.