(Photo: Cameron Stow on Unsplash)
They said she was wanton.
That from a child she’s been, capricious.
Her mom would sigh. Her father, frown.
They loathed how she refused to bow.
Ungovernable. Resisting.
She was, to them,
A moral stain.
A failure
In contrition.
They had stopped speaking to her
Till she had learned submission.
The wayward daughter of the tribe.
The one who lost
Her compass.
Only they none of them knew
That,
In shunned space,
She finally
Found
Life scrumptious.
For Sammi’s Weekend Writing Prompt: wayward in 77 words
Na'ama Yehuda 
Good for her on finding her own self. Those wild spirited ones are always hard for parents to deal with… They won’t conform so are seen as not as good. Such a shame.
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Especially when one is raised in a closed community (let alone a closed-minded community), where lack of conformity is seen as a threat and therefore shamed or called a failure … Very much a shame. And … here’s to finding our own selves and letting others find theirs. In kindness. In patience. In compassion all around.
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As is so often the case. It’s hard for parents to accept, nevermind celebrate a child’s differentness. How many once-confident and children are stifled?
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Again, exactly! I think people confuse manners and social skills, with complete conformity and compliance … when they are absolutely NOT the same. One can help raise a confident child who is considerate of others, though that also means that the requirements ought to be fair (i.e. not complete blanket compliance to EVERYTHING, which becomes, in essence a stifling complete control by others).
Off the soapbox I go … 😉
xoxo
Na’ama
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Wonderful speech on said soapbox 🙂
xoxo
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(Voices in the back of the crowd: “oh, no, she’s encouraging her!!” 😉 )
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Tee hee 😉
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😀
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So often those that are ‘different’ or choose there own path are cast aside as wayward or difficult. Good on her for sticking to her own way 🙂
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Indeed, so true! And … amen to her!
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This is a beautiful and poignant approach to a very old story.
I like the way you take the reader down through a path which becomes unhappier with every step, until the girl takes one step which leads her to her own sunshine filled world.
A most uplifting approach. Well done
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Thank you! I’m glad this resonated! And … I think that it was also the drastic move by those who decided to shun her ’till she shaped up’, that allowed her, inadvertently perhaps but no less effectively, to find space to breathe freely. 🙂
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Indeed. Suppression often has the reverse result intended.
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Sooner or later, especially on some … I agree!
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This is one side of the story. It would be interesting to read what she thought of her upbringing told in a similar way.
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Indeed! Perhaps one day we’ll have to tell it, eh? 😉
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Na’ama Y’karah,
Oh many stories come to mind. You’ve given her a voice. Wonderfully written.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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PS…I finally posted mine. https://rochellewisoff.com/2021/05/02/weekend-writing-prompt-wayward/
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Saw, read, commented! 🙂 xx
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You’re faster than I. 😉
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Not in the water, I ain’t! 🙂
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🖖🏻😎
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😀
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Thank you, Rochelle! Yes, so many stories, right? Different communities/families/groups, same kind of forced conformity that some cannot abide … and the community cannot allow … We also know that the results are not always as positive. Glad this one was! 🙂
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Beautiful, both in underlying message and in the penning
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Glad you liked! Thank you for the positive feedback! 🙂
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Always. 🙂
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🙂
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