Short Story: Girl

Girl and Mother walked hand in hand towards the boat, other people rushing past them. Girl was barely old enough to walk and was nearly knocked over in the chaos. She had learned quickly how to help herself, so she put out her hand to stop her fall. She felt tears building in the corners of her eyes, but knew by know not to let them fall. Mother shouted at the people pushing past them. Girl might not understand the words yet but she knew when Mother was scared or angry. Sometimes it was a mix of both. It made her feel pain in her stomach, she knew this was worry. It was different to the hunger she felt almost all the time. Girl had learned not to cry about that too, as it made Mother sad. Mother was sad whenever it rained, and scared too. Sometimes it wouldn’t rain for a long time and they could be happy for a while, even though there wasn’t much food. But then the rain would be hard and heavy and it seemed like it would never stop ever again and everything would be covered in water. Sometimes the water would come into the house and this made Mother very scared and sad, and it made Girl scared too. One day they walked and walked for a long time and Mother talked to some other grown ups. Girl didn’t like them, they used short angry words with mother and made them both cry. After that Mother said we were going to a new home. They walked for a long time, and Mother carried Girl some of the way until she was too tired. Girl was happy to see the boats at first, she had played with a small one once when she was a little bit younger. But there were so many people here by these big boats, and they all seemed scared and some of them were angry too. They didn’t seem to care that they were knocking each other over. Mother swept Girl up in her arms and held her tighter. Suddenly the were pushed forward and Girl thought Mother might drop her but she kept holding on. They were soon surrounded by other grown ups who surged forward on the boat, like a wave bringing Mother and Girl with them. Girl could feel the swaying of the water underneath them, it was comforting like Mother’s arms when she was rocking her to sleep. Mother seemed happy now, she saw a small smile growing on her face. The boat was still crowded and some of the other faces scared her, but Girl grew content in Mother’s arms. She felt her eyes grow heavy and tried to fight it. But Mother soothed her with soft words, that she hadn’t heard for a long time.

This is a short story that was originally written and performed for Hals Festival August 2025