Childhood is never lost.

Assalamu Alaikum,

It was just after 11:30 in the afternoon, the sun was already overhead. But there was still a soft coolness in the village air. As I went across the yard to feed the cows as usual, I went to the open field. As I was putting the straw and chaff in front of the cows, my eyes suddenly fell on the dirt road next to me. I saw children from a few nearby houses playing with ropes tied together. Some were holding two ends of the rope in their hands, while others were jumping in the middle.

The laughter of some and the screams of others were all a picture of lively joy. Watching their game, I stopped as if time had suddenly stopped. Not only their game, but my own childhood flashed before my eyes. I also used to play ropes like this, barefoot in the afternoon sun after school. Running and laughing on the dirt ground, everything seemed to come alive before my eyes. How long have I not remembered those days, but today this simple game took me to a time far away.

I saw my daughter standing among the children, her eyes filled with curiosity but her face was a little proud. She was watching their game intently, sometimes taking one step forward and then stopping. My daughter was still young, so the older children did not let her join in the game. Seeing this scene, my heart suddenly felt a little heavy. I was exactly like that one day. I was also young and could not join in the adults' games. I remembered my mother's words, when I was just as young as my daughter, I would also stand and play.

My mother used to call the older children in the neighboring house and say, "Would you like to let my daughter play for a while?" She really wanted to. That mother's voice still rings in my ears. Today, I am standing in the exact place where my mother stood one day. Times have changed, people have changed, but the feelings have remained the same. I looked at the cows, they were eating peacefully. Around them, there were rice fields and banana trees, and a few cows were roaming around in the fields. Many times, we do not realize how many stories of life are hidden in this familiar scene of the village.

The sound of children laughing, the sound of ropes falling to the ground, all together, a song of a lost day was playing around. After a while, one of the older children looked at my daughter and smiled and said, "Okay, let her play for a while too." My daughter's eyes sparkled with joy. She ran into the game, and at that moment my eyes got wet. Unknowingly, it seemed that childhood is never lost. It hides in the folds of time. On such an afternoon, in a rope game, inside a mother's mind, I stood silently and watched everything. I decided in my heart that I would not let these feelings be forgotten.

I will keep these moments in the pages of letters, in my diary, or deep in my heart. Because one day my daughter will grow up and she too may miss her childhood terribly after seeing such a scene on such an afternoon.