Chronological

Had to pick a specific structure for this story and make it part of the story itself.

First Pains

                Breathing is not working. Her lungs are not being supplied with air; she must find it herself. A man is hitting her in the back. The pressure inside hurts her. It hurts her a lot. Oxygen fills the small fragile form and the cry of life escapes her lips for the first time. She is healthy.

First Steps

                The child is gripping the edge of the living room coffee table, unsteady. Many times in her short past she has stood this way and been looked at with the hopeful eyes of her parents encouraging her. Taking a step back from the table one of her hands releases its grip and she teeters off balance, the remaining hand her staple support. Mittens, the kitten her parents had bought her when she was born so that she would have a playmate, strolls into the room a few feet from precarious little one. Forgetting all about the need for her balance and the help of the table she lets go and stagers after the kitten like those who leave the bar at close. The mirth of the child is mirrored by that of the parents. Later the child will be told of this day and shown the video, but she remembers none of it.

First Memory

                She is sitting in the fishing boat with a brand new Dora the Explorer floating fishing rod; just a father and toddler making history. The lake is serene and the air frigid but the father knew it would be like this and had bundled his daughter up with extra layers at the threat of his wife should the little one catch a cold. No fish were caught that day, nor any colds, only a memory.

First Day of School

                Friends: she would make lots of friends and try not to be shy. She would be polite and use her manners just as mother instructed as her double braid was weaved in front of the mirror that morning. She would behave and have fun and learn lots of new things, just as father had told her to do when he walked her to Ms. Multrud’s room.

First Friend

                She was too shy to do as father asked and talk to them. All of the other kids seemed so happy and were having such fun with the blocks and paints but she just couldn’t go say hi for some reason. She pulled at a loose string on her pretty canary yellow dress. She was very proud of this dress for it was pretty like the birds she was so fond of.

                A little boy sat down next to her and asked why she was all be herself. With a responding blush she looked down into her lap and pulled at another loose string of the dress. At the sound of a wrapper being opened she looked up and saw the boy licking a lollipop. He asked her if she would like to share it. She most certainly would love to share it. They took turns licking it and only stopped when Ms. Maltrud came running over telling them to stop that. A lecture on not sharing germs followed the scolding but she didn’t listen for she was smiling. She had made a friend.

Prom

                Together they had been able to rent a limo with two other couples: friends they had made along the way. The building they arrived at was alive with the beat of music and hormones were running through the air. This was a night of many scary firsts that were followed by seconds and thirds: a night of energy and compulsion of will: a night to be remembered.

First Night as One

His hands were firm and gentle on her waist as they swayed back and forth in the honeymoon suite. It had been seventeen years since they had shared the lollipop and scolding. He had seen the video of her first steps and heard her speak of the first memory. Seventeen years later and together they had created many firsts between them; with many more to come.