I Am.

• Eliza (paige) Maher, Grade 11
• Short Story
• 2014

I am 7. if I put my mind to something, I could do it. I could dive into my backyard pool and decide in this moment, I am a mermaid.
I am a young beautiful mermaid. I would glide through my pool. My mind flooded with thoughts of the deep, my sliver scales shimmering in the sun, my golden hair flowing in the water, soft like silk.
I'm not a mermaid any more. I am dancer. My bedroom is now my stage. As I perform, my adoring fans are screaming my name. Sweat is dripping from my face and my mothers clothes are falling off but I don't care. I prance around my stage like a leaping lion, I own this.
Someone needs my help. I acquire my cape and my mask. I am the greatest superhero the world has ever seen. Villains bow before me like a mere servant would do for a queen. My superpowers are anything I desire them to be. I can soar through the air like a fighter jet on a mission. I am that fast that I could race around the world a thousand times and you wouldn't even know.
I am now 37, and a mother of two. Every day I watch my children become anything they want. Just as my mother watched me when I was splashing in the pool, or jumping on my bed or running around the house fighting crime.
My children are dreamers. I am proud.