“I Wait For The Sunset”

I wait for the sunset. I look to the sun to know when my life changes and all things become bright, beautiful and loving.

My name is Nerith. I am 3 years old. I have dark eyes and skin like a coffee with double cream. My hair is black and curly.

My home is wood and old scraps of tin. It is one room with 2 light bulbs. We eat there, play there and sleep there. I cannot run in my house. I cannot run outside. Lots of people live close by and I may snag my toe or a nail or some broken glass. I am not afraid to run outside. Should I be? So, I try to stay close to my mom and wait for the sunset.

My mom tries hard to keep me safe, but with so many close by it is a big job. She bows her head many times and asks God for help with me.

I try to tell her, “Mommy, it is almost sunset. Mommy, my life is so different at sunset. Just wait mommy, just wait for sunset. The hot day will pass, the burning of the sun will wane and my life will be sweet. You will have peace at sunset, mommy.”

So the day passes, slowly the sun begins to fade, lights begin to twinkle on the streets, the moon just begins its solemn march through the night. Mommy scoops me up on her hip and we walk down the dark alleys to NightCare.

Mommy and I come to the door and we are hugged and loved. I wore my tired shirt. My bottom is bare. My shirt is kind of sooty, but that is okay, my nannies will make my shirt like new again overnight. It will be clean in the morning.

“Bye mommy, see you when the morning comes!”

I am safe. I know what to do. I march in my bare feet back to my shower. The soap smells so sweet, the water cool. Then I get in my clean pjs. My pjs say “Spiderman”.

Next I go to the big room with glistening white marble floor and I play with my friends. We laugh and share (sometimes). We run on the clean, cool floor in my grand toy room.

I smell something else. My dinner is coming. It is warm and yummy. I ate it all very fast.

Then we sit in a circle and sing and clap. We all know the songs about the alphabet. There are lots and lots of songs. We clap and dance. I think Jesus claps and dances with us every sunset.

We all go upstairs to sleep. We say our prayers and lie down on a clean bed. It is quiet here. It is safe here.

I wait for the sunset. I wait to be safe, clean, fed and filled with joy and my mommy has peace.