Obedience only takes one cookie from the cookie jar. She doesn’t have many friends and walks straight home after getting off the bus.
She watches from the window as the other children on her street chase each other in the sunset. She never feels the warmth of the sun on her skin or lets the beauty of flowers on the side of her house occupy her thoughts.
Her desk is full of freshly sharpened pencils posed ready for use. She is sometimes late because she waits for the crosswalk to allow her to pass.
Obedience is only spoken to when others want something in return. She always raises her hand and never her voice.
She attends Stanford (her father’s choice) and marries a doctor (her mother’s choice).
She sits motionless like a doll as her husband dresses her up, shows her off, and shoves her back into the closet until the next time.
The flowers she once ignored become her only company as she continues to gaze out the window, wondering what it would have been like to play with the children on her street.
