Arislan sat at the edge of the bluff, swinging his feet off the side. He looked at his shoes; he was one of the few children who had shoes, and out of them, probably the only one who wore them. He liked the way the brown leather felt against his skin, and the way they laced up his ankle just right. A tear rolled out of his eye and over his dusty cheek. His Nanny had told him that he was destined to great things, and he didn't know what that meant, only that it weighed greatly over her, and made her tired sometimes. Maybe it was why most of the other children in the small community refused to play with him. Sometimes they even called him names, and kicked him when they saw him sitting by himself. Arislan frowned and clenched his fist. He huffed and wiped his eye. Well, he thought, if he was destined for better things he certainly couldn't give into his sadness.

Why was he the only one he knew to live with a woman he called "Nanny," not Mother? He loved her more than anything, but somehow the term carried a significance that meant more than more fortunate children realized. A slight wind nudged his face and he looked to the sky. A perfect blue. Clouds sailed by and Arislan pointed his small finger and traced their outlines, twirling around the wisps.

"I wonder... I wonder what I shall become that makes Nanny so confident in me..." He laid on his back and rubbed a the yellow-white petal of the flower he had picked along the way. It was so beautiful, and so delicate, and so soft. Arislan crawled to the edge of the bluff and held the flower out his arm's distance away, and after a few hesitating seconds released the flower from his grip, and watched as it tumbled down. He noted the way the drifts of air made it seem to fall so slowly, floating. He had wanted to keep it, perhaps give it to Nanny, but he hardly felt up to facing the taunts he was sure to recieve from the members of the community, young and old. A final tear dripped from his eye and fell alongside the flower, down into the darkness, until it was eventually swallowed by it. With one last look at the sky and all it promised, Arislan took to his feet, and started the walk home.