Old version of yourself

LOSING THE OLD VERSION OF YOURSELF

A girl, probably 17 years old, was heading to school as usual, walking toward the bus stop.

“Is she coming to school today? She didn’t tell me yesterday…” she wondered.

While waiting for the bus, she always patted a puppy.

“Oh, there you are,” she said softly, smiling.

The bus arrived.

“Today is lovely,” she thought.

She got on. “Hi,” she said casually to the others, like she always did. She took a seat, but an old man was standing nearby. She quickly stood up.

“You can sit here,” she said.

“I’ll buy some vegetables on my way home,” she thought as she held onto the rail.

At the next stop, a couple got on the bus.

“They are so sweet… I think… They both work in the same office. Both are hardworking,” she thought.

She had never talked to them, but she knew from their daily routine—their office bags, their timing.

“You didn’t eat breakfast. Make sure to eat during your break,” the wife said.

“You too,” the husband replied.

The wife got off at the next stop.

“They must be living a great life… I see them together every day,” the girl thought as she stepped off the bus.

“There she is.”

Her best friend was standing there, waiting for her. They greeted each other and walked toward school.

During break time, she noticed her best friend wasn’t talking much.

“Did I do something wrong that upset you?” she asked.

“No, why would you?”

“Then why are you not talking to me?”

“You’re just overthinking.”

On the way back home, she bought some vegetables.

“Mom will love it if I make her a salad,” she thought.

She reached home.

“Mama, I’m back.”

She put her bag aside.

“I’m making a salad,” she said.

No reply.

Her smile faded for a second.

She quietly took the vegetables and started preparing the salad. They ate in silence.

After dinner, she went upstairs and stared at a photo on the wall—her and her mother wearing the same dresses.

“It wasn’t that long ago… why has time changed so fast?”

She paused.

“Or us…” she whispered.

The next day, she went to school again.

She reached the bus, sat down, and arrived at school. Her best friend was already in class.

“The bus was late, so I came early,” she said.

The girl nodded and sat on her chair.

On her way back, she stopped in front of a grocery store. She stood there for a moment… then started walking again without going in.

She looked ahead, her steps slower now.

“People change so quietly,” she thought.
“They don’t say it… they just become distant.”

She held her hands together.

“And maybe… I didn’t even notice when things started changing.”

Her voice grew softer.

“Or maybe I did… and I just ignored it.”

She took a deep breath.

“And if everyone is changing…”

A small pause.

“…then what if I’m losing the old version of myself too?”

She kept walking.

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Live the life you truly want, not the one others expect from you. Don’t let people change who you are just to fit in, because in the end, you will be the one left with regret when this time has passed.