Maria's Childhood Memories as Told to Her Daughter: Part One

For some, childhood memories are vivid and happy. Mine are like a dream in my mind for I had no childhood at all. I feel like I was always an adult.

While most remember playing and being happy as children, I only remember sitting on the doorstep of our house alone without any shoes or underclothes. When I recall this I am saddened at how unhappy I was always being alone, but it makes me a lot unhappier now when I remember it.

I was loved, but time was very scarce for my mother and father, so loneliness was the biggest part of my childhood.

My recollection of me sitting on the doorstep one day with the door open was a daily occurrence for me. On one such day, I heard a peculiar noise like a thud. I went into our house. The first room I came to was where my baby sister was sleeping. She was two months old. A big rock from the roof had fallen into the room and landed inches from her head. It nearly ended her life.

I don't think I spoke much at four years old because I remember grabbing my mother's hand and leading her to the bedroom. My sister was still asleep with the rock lying by her head. My mother looked up at the ceiling. My eyes followed her gaze to the gaping hole in our roof where the stone had been.

Whenever it rained, my father used to plug up holes in our roof with whatever material he had available, although, he never used stones again.