Please enjoy this excerpt by S. Van Horne. It is from her book Leaving Home book One of the Vow Series. Available every where. You can find all her books and info at
PLAYGROUND WORRIES
HAND IN HAND THEY WALKED OUT of the double doors that lead to the playground. The first day of school was a scary place for the two little girls who had never been to school before. Kindergarten was supposed to be fun; their mom had reassured them. However, the moment they walked into their classroom, they freaked out. The only blessing was that it was decided that the twins would be in the same class. Parents of twins would often try to separate them, but their mom knew that wouldn’t be a good idea for her little girls. So, after some convincing, the girls were allowed to share the same classroom that year.
Shania and TaLina stopped short of the blacktop area by the sandpit. Both adored playing in the sand, but weren’t sure if they would be accepted. The three little girls that were already there seemed to be good friends. They were in the same class as the twins, and seemed to be inseparable as they sat next to each other, and ate their packed lunches from home together too.
“Should we try?” Shania shyly asked her sister.
“Yes, I think we should. But you know you’ll have to take off your shoes, right?” TaLina murmured.
Shania froze. Nobody saw her feet. She couldn’t let them see the marks. They would think she was a monster or ugly. She wasn’t pretty like her sister was. They were twins, but they looked different. Their mom explained that the differences in their appearances was the result of them not sharing something when they were in her belly. The words were too big for little girls to understand just yet.
“Never mind . . . I think I want to slide instead.” Shania started walking to the other side of the playground.
“Want to join us?”
Pausing, Shania slowly turned back towards the sandpit to see one of the girls with brown hair looking at her. She took a moment trying to remember the name the teacher had called her.
“Umm . . . no thank you,” Shania murmured so softly it was barely heard.
“Why?” the blonde-haired girl asked, cocking her head.
Shania stood still, unsure what to say. Normally she would just walk away, but instead, tears started to form. She wasn’t sure how to explain what was going on with her.
“My sister doesn’t want to take off her shoes.” TaLina walked back to her sister and hugged her. Seeing the tears in her sisters’ eyes bothered her; she hated when she cried.
“Why don’t you want to take off your shoes? You have to take them off to play in the sand. See, we have ours off.” The other brown-haired girl held up her feet to show that her socks and shoes were removed.
“My sister doesn’t like her feet.” TaLina spoke up for Shania.
“Why?”
“Because her feet have marks.” TaLina huffed out.
“Marks? Why do they have marks?”
Shania was starting to get annoyed at the questions. She now understood why her mommy, daddy and older sister and brothers got annoyed when she and TaLina asked questi0ns.
“Because her feet were squished in our mommy’s belly. Mommy said she had cub feet—you know, baby bear feet,” TaLina whispered. “So, she had to have her feet cut and wear a cast for it to be fixed.”
The three girls in the sandbox looked at each other then back at the twins.
“What does bear feet look like?” Cassia was puzzled as she knew humans didn’t have feet like the bears she saw in her books.
“You mean like the bears in the Bernstein Bears books we read in class?” Jess looked just as confused as the rest of the girls.
“I don’t know. I just know that's what Mommy said.” TaLina shrugged her shoulders. "Sometimes her feet hurt, and she has to have them rubbed. Anyway, Yaya doesn’t like to show her feet 'cause of the marks and her toes don’t look like ours. They aren’t straight.”
TaLina sat down and pulled off her shoes. She looked over at the girls and decided that even if her sister wouldn’t join her, she was still going to play in the sand.
“Oh, that's pretty cool. My daddy says that if we were all the same we would be boring.” Megan reached over and picked up the shovel she was using to help her gather the sand.
“What does that mean?” Shania asked.
“I don’t know.” Megan looked up and gave her a big smile. “But I like how it sounds. Come join us.”
Looking back at the four girls in the sandbox, Shania took a moment to think. Would they make fun of her if she agreed to join them? One thing she'd learned was that kids could be mean. After a few moments of seeing her sister giggle with the others, she decided to take a chance. Slowly taking off her shoes and socks, she climbed into the sandpit.
“Yay, you joined us!” Jess clapped her hands; a huge grin on her face.
Shania smiled shyly and then sat down carefully, trying to conceal her feet from the others. However, she wasn’t fast enough and before she realized it, Megan had her feet in her hands.
“They don’t look like bear feet anymore. Your toes do kind of look funny, but that's okay because I like them a lot. I wish I could paint them a pretty pink color.” Megan mumbled as her tiny finger traced Shania’s big toe.
“Shania doesn’t like pink. She likes green because her favorite animal is frogs. Mine is a penguin.” TaLina giggled and smiled at the girls.
“We should do a makeover slumber party. I like having sleepovers.” Jess looked over at Cassia. “What do you think?”
“I think it would be a lot of fun. Let’s ask our parents.” Cassia stated, then stood to brush the sand from her dress.
“Wait, our parents only let us stay with family.” TaLina looked down at her hands.
“What about best friend’s houses?” Jess cocked her head at the twins.
“Best friends?”
“Yeah, best friends. That's what we are, right? We will be best friends forever, and when we get older we can buy houses by each other and have kids together and . . .” Jess’s voice was drowned out by a whistle blowing out in the school yard.
“Children, it's time to come in and have our snack. Please come and form a line in front of me.” The girls turned their heads and saw their teacher standing at the steps to their school.
“Did you really mean what you said about being best friends?” Shania asked while hurriedly putting on her shoes. “I’ve never had a best friend before . . . well besides my sister, TaLina.”
“Of course I did. We will have the funnest time ever. Let me give you my phone number and address when we get inside. I’m excited to have my first ever sleepover!” Jess took off at a run towards the line that was starting to form.
“Do you think she's telling the truth, Cookie?” Shania whispered.
“I don’t know. But I hope Mommy will let us stay with her because I think it'll be fun to do makeovers.” TaLina hurried up to catch up with their new friends.
Shania wasn’t too sure if their mommy would agree, but despite her hesitation, hope filled her. Forming new friendships might be just what she needed to come out of her shell. Excited for what was to come, she followed the other girls into the school.