Member-only story
About Me — Dovie Nguyen
The girl who writes
The time when I was afraid to meet people
It was a rainy day, and in the morning, my mom told me her friend would visit us in the afternoon. This news was awful for me because her son would also come when mom's friend visited.
That boy was 2 years younger than me but bigger in physical terms. I don’t know if it is just what adults around me tend to do, or if it is a normal thing in Vietnam. But they like to compare kids at the same age together, from physical growth to grades in school. And I hate it every time people compare me to other kids. They would say things like I was too thin, not tall at all, didn’t look like a kid my age, and that maybe I was malnourished!?
Do you think I wanted to be born with a small figure? Of course, I don’t. So you don’t need to tell me how small I am.
I was so embarrassed every time it happened, felt like it was my fault. To the point, I couldn't lift my face to look at them.
That day, I ran out of the house after lunch, wandering around the neighborhood to find the children I often played with. But no one wants to play with me. One has to take a nap, the other is not home. Frustrated, I stopped at a neighbor’s house that I don’t usually visit because it had started to rain and there…
