Peppers Memoir

This is a memoir about a young girl I got the chance to talk with many times. She was drawn to me whenever she saw me, for no one else would give her the time of day.
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Her life was a sad tale, and she wore it on her sleeve well.

He was old, and a complete stranger, he said all the right things to her that she didn't expect to hear.
And the words brought more than one tear.

The life she had as a child, left her scared to forever be one.

I could see that her smile hid so much.

She wore a locket around her neck that said 'Emily', but that was not her name.
And the picture inside it was of someone she did not know.

All she had to her name was $5 in her pocket,
that used to belong in the pocket of the girl sleeping next to her on the bus.

She had many faces that hid many memories.
She would speak of them, but only if you were willing to listen. And most people weren't.

Her real name, I'm still not sure if ever truthfully told me that.
I know her as Pepper.

She once told me of a pointing someone did of her. She said 'It took my tragic life to finally make someone listen, and to have them say that they'll always remember me.'

She found father figures everywhere, she said they made her feel safe and needed in the world.
She never mentioned the money.

I pray that wherever she is now, that she finds her place in the world.
At least one that truly makes her feel, and is safe.

People told me to stay away from her,
that she was crazy and only wanted to use me.

My heart told me that I was meant to talk to her,
if only if it was for her to feel what it was like to have a friend

I wouldn't have been surprised or hurt if she had taken from me.

She was a lost and confused soul, and I was the only one who took time to see through to her heart.

We are all lost souls in one way or another, or at one time or the next.
Why is it that the people who scream out for love and attention the most,
are treated as if they have the plague.

When we talked, I could tell that I had been the first real conversation,
that she had had in a very long time.

And when she cried, I knew that they weren't tears of pain,
but of hope, and gratefulness.

Sometimes all someone needs, is simply acknowledgment from one person,
that they are still alive, and that someone cares that they are.

When I think of Pepper, she makes me feel more alive,
She taught me how fragile life is, and how important and necessary it is to share it with one another.