The Beginning of a Perfectly Sunny Day

Somehow
She lifts her head up
And shakes around her hair
And carefully she reaches round her bed
To a window shade and opens it
And she lets all the light of the morning flood in
She blinks as she looks around the room
All the lovely flowers she has accumulated
Pink…red…blue…and purple
Purple was her favorite
And she grabs a purple flower
Gently plucks it from its stem
And fastens it carefully to her free flowing hair
And she rises from her bed
And she stretches and yawns
And she loosens up her limbs
As she heads to the closet
To pick out a lovely spring ensemble
Perhaps the white and dress
With all the frilly lace
So innocent and so charming
As if she were still a little girl
She giggles as she puts it on
And she grabs some purple jellies
And places them on her feet
As if she were Cinderella
With her glass slippers
Going to a big splashy ball

She finds her wide-brimmed lavender hat
And tosses it playfully onto her head
And again she giggles
And she looks in the mirror
And does a little hoppy dance
Around the room
She hoists herself back up on her bed
Stands upright
Looks out the window
Into the bright sunshine
And blinks again
And takes a flying leap
Off of the bed
And onto the floor
Wheeeeeeee!!!

She skips over to her bedroom door
Carefully opens it so as not to squeak
And she walks out into the hallway
To see a row of people standing
On either side of her
All dressed in black
And wearing somber faces
Some are weeping into tissues
Faces she know so well
Mother father siblings
All kinds of family
And friends so many friends are there
And teachers and neighbors
And the people she’s worked with
Over all the years
All the faces that have made up
The collage of her life
And she walks down the hallway
And looks at them all rather strangely
As they don’t even try to speak
Or even look her way
Whatever could be wrong
On this perfectly sunny day?
And she starts to whistle
And starts skipping to the door
At the long hallway’s end
She could see the sunlight
Peeping through the cracks
Inviting her to explore the other side
Won’t you come play with us?
And she opens the door quickly
And the sun surrounds her
Bathing her in a bright orange glow
Swirling around her twirling her hair
Lifting her way up into the air
The flower from her hair falls out
And it lands on the sidewalk
As she is carried off into the wind
Giggling all the way
Wheeeeeee!!!