The Lost and What Was Found Annie Chopra

The clear breeze that I could not feel but I could see, the smell of the gateways closing, the rush of checking in on time, and having to fit so much in little suitcases. As a young girl, that was my story every year, an adventurous trip from one country to another- sitting in the airplane, looking at my father laugh as we said “Huff, we made it". This was my childhood and my growth, always looking for new experience in different places at a fast pace to catch up to life. Who would have known that one day it would all be a broken road to walk on alone.

I remember looking out the window from the Dubai airport, tear filled eyes with flashbacks of all the times that my dad’s hands were in mine, his protectiveness still embodies me. Silently I let the pain surrender to reality; I looked towards my brother and my mother. realizing the responsibility at hand- forgetting that emotions existed, my thoughts were like a rabbit in an unknown forest. All I knew were cliched statements reminding me that strength comes from within and being lonesome can lead to great explorations.

Ambitious, strong-willed, the persistent dreamer- when I looked at my reflection on that window, that was the person I saw, because this scar bearing skin and this...