I was excited about my first stage
performance. I looked pretty in the
pink dress. My mother got me matching

pink, heart-shaped ear rings. I touched
them often, feeling their softness,
and unable to contain my excitement

I was a princess in the play, and I felt
like one that day. With butterflies in
my stomach, I stepped onto the stage

I stammered a bit, and then said my lines
with flourish. I heard the claps and then
the praise backstage on how well I did my part

My head was in the clouds and I came hopping
and skipping to meet my mother. The bubble
lasted till I came home and took out the dress

My mother came to remove my ear rings and what
did she see! There was only one ear ring and the
other ear was empty. I frantically searched

everywhere the next day, and shed many a tears.
But the ear ring remained lost. One is carefully
stuck in my scrap book, the other one gone forever

(c) Vijaya Gowrisankar