By Ysabel Sanchez
“What are you?” he asked me on the playground, in front of the other kids.
“What do you mean?” I said, suddenly sweating. I hated not knowing the answer right away.
“What are you, like, what are you?!”
My 5-year-old mind raced: Girl. Smart. Shy. Short. Brown. New in town.
I settled on the most obvious (that had to be the answer, right?).
“Human…I’m a human.”
“Noooo. That’s not what I meant,” he groaned.
Shoot. Wrong.
“Chinese? Are you Chinese?”
I knew the right answer this time. “Filipino.”
“Hey!” The boy danced away laughing. “This girl says she’s a flamingo!”
I love the transition from the sense of threat to the light-hearted ending.
Children aren’t born hating. As the song says, they have to be carefully taught.
Got me m ! I love it!
Ohh, cute. If we could all just be flamingos! Haha. I loved this line: “What are you, like, what are you?!” Kids.
Really good. Love the dialogue
Aww, she’s only five! Human! I felt for her.
Great look at the playground 🙂