Chalk

A young girl, around age seven
Sitting on the red crumbling paint of a sidewalk curb
Dried chalk on her yellow sundress
Dark storm clouds rumbling above her pigtails
Cold raindrops land on her head and all around her
Her art disappears down the sidewalk drain
No one around, she lets her tears fall
Thinks about the things she can't change
So young to realize the world is vain
Her painted pink nails grip the bottom of her now soaked dress
She begins to draw
She draws and draws until the cloud fades away
Sunshine dries her tears
On the sidewalk a bright yellow sunflower
Big enough for everyone to see
From a distance she hears her grandmother
"Paige time to come home!"
She drops her chalk and runs two houses down
She walks up to a black door where her grandmother stands in the doorway
Her grandmother grabs her arm and drags her inside the dull gray house
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A young boy skips down the sidewalk
Trips on a crack in the pavement
Skins his elbow and sits on a curb with red crumbling paint
He checks the damage and sees that it's not too bad
He rubs his elbow on his worn black jeans
The feeling burns and he gasps in pain,
falling backwards
A cloud of chalk flies around his face
He quickly sits back up to see the artwork
A beautiful sunflower, bright and wonderful
The boy smiles and remembers his sister
Wishes she was here to see her favorite flowers drawn beautifully on this sidewalk
The boys picks up an abandoned piece of chalk
He begins to draw
When he's finished, the sunflower is in the hand of a stick figure girl
smiling up at a yellow sun
The boy drops the chalk and begins skipping back home
His father on the porch looking out at the yard
"Where have you been boy? You've driven your mother mad"
And he quickly walks into his house
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A teenage girl
Rolling down the sidewalk in her wheelchair
Tears slipping down her face
Remembering the things the boys called her at school
She wonders why God made her this way
In the distance she see's colors on the sidewalk
She rolls a little faster and slows as she approaches it
She stops the wheel on a curb with red crumbling paint
A girl who can stand, holding a bright yellow sunflower
The girl bends down and grabs an abandoned piece of chalk
She draws a wheelchair behind the girl holding the sunflower
Once she's satisfied she drops the chalk and starts rolling home
She goes up the ramp and to her door and her mother helps her inside
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A teenage boy
Angry at the world
Wearing all black on this scorching summer day
Sees a shade tree covering a piece of sidewalk ahead, and sits down on a curb with red crumbling paint
To his left he sees colors on the sidewalk
He stands and looks at the drawing
A girl in a wheelchair, holding a bright yellow sunflower
The boy picks up an abandoned piece of chalk
He looks at the beautiful girl and he decides to draw himself
He draws a stick figure boy
Holding the hand of the smiling girl
He sees a group of girls walking in the distance and quickly drops the chalk and scurries to an empty home
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The group of girls approaches the sidewalk art
Laughing and talking about their summer plans
One girl sees the art on the sidewalk
"Oh my gawd.. who drew that right in front of my house?!"
Another girl steps closer to look
"I think it's cute.."
The girl takes out her phone and takes a picture
The first girl walks up the steps and shuts her door behind her
By the time the second girl gets a good picture, the others are far ahead
She posts the picture online, and walks home in the midday heat
People on her profile begin blowing up her phone with terrible comments on her post, calling her names and saying the picture is not art
The girl unfriends almost every person on her profile
The remaining
A girl in a wheelchair
And a lonely boy who nobody talks to
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The young girl, the young boy, the two teenage girls, and the teenage boy rest by the curb with red crumbling paint in front of their picture
They introduce themselves to each other and admire their drawing
The teenage boy begins to speak
"We should all go to the park and play some games"
They all agree and happily go to the park together
After hours of fun they all decide to go to their homes
Each day they meet at the curb with red crumbling paint
They become great friends and include others in their games
Starting a revolution, Kindness is art.