Deep Puddles and Plain Looking Girls

In a town where it rains all the time and the sun is rarely spotted through the clouds, there lived a little girl. She was approximately 11 years old and was just beginning the sixth grade. The little girl was plain in appearance but bursting with imagination, a trait nobody cared to recognize because she was so terribly plain. She had light brown hair and light brown eyes and went about her life in the town as unnoticed as the sun. Her parents often forgot about her. She had no friends, and even teachers couldn’t remember who she was.

            This little girl was not sad, however. She did not need anyone to make her happy except herself and her closest companion. When she was nine, she had taken in a baby fox who she saw drowning in it’s burrow with no sign of a mother. Since they both had spent their lives generally unnoticed, they developed a close bond. Every day they went for a walk together, and the little girl talked to the fox about things nobody would listen to otherwise. She discussed things like politics and philosophy, but dedicated most of the conversation to creating interesting stories for the fox and planning their lives when they finally got away from the town.

            As the fox was her only friend, she valued it immensely. One day, an exceptionally rainy day, it had down poured for six hours and was not slowing down. School was cancelled due to flooding, so the little girl and the fox laid down for a nap. When she woke up, the fox was gone from her arms. The rain had not ceased, but she set out to find her friend anyways. Her parents didn’t notice when she left the house and nobody paid any attention to the 11 year old girl hopelessly wandering through the rain. She called to the fox, and finally heard it’s yelp of return across the street, in a little park surrounded by lush green trees.

            She ran to the noise with dedication and speed, only to trip on a stick and find herself chin deep in a puddle. Due to the incessant rain, maintenance to the park was minimal, and it was not unusual to find large holes caused by erosion, digging dogs, or children making their way to China. This particular hole was about five feet deep. The little girl was not yet that tall, and as nobody ever cared to teach her, she never learned to swim. The water was cold and deep and she struggled to stay afloat.

            The fox ran over to where she tread water, fighting not to drown. She pleaded with it to get help, but all it could do was cry and try to come closer to her. “Run for help!” she screamed. But the fox wailed and did not move away, only towards her. The little girl realized the fox did not want to leave her side, as each was the only companionship the other had ever had. The fox stepped closer to the hole until it too was stuck, drowning. The rain fell so hard; it washed away their cries. They clung to each other, and after about thirty minutes of fighting, they gave up and sank to the bottom of the hole.

            About a week later, the sun appeared. The floods receded and the earth was dry and calm. The girl and the fox lay together at the bottom of the hole. It was not until this day that her parents had noticed her disappearance, followed by students and teachers.

            They discovered the little girl and the fox at the bottom of the hole in the abandoned park. As the sun shined in the hole, everyone noticed her plainness. The fox was plain also. And like the park, nobody had paid either of the two any mind. Now, people sobbed the loss. But these people meant nothing to the little girl and the fox. They died together and with their death, left behind a world that never paid any attention.