Tall Enough To See

• Noah Provan, Grade 11, Christian Outreach College
• Short Story
• 2014

Excellence Award in the 'The Text Generation 2014' competition

Sometimes, just sometimes, I wish that I was tall enough to see. You never know what you are going to be able to see. I hate being stuck down here, always being on the same level as people’s private parts and having to watch people’s feet when I go places. I'm stuck like this though, there’s really not a lot that I can do to change it. Occasionally, I smile and think about the things I see that other people don’t. I find money that people have lost and that instantly becomes something that can make my day, I see things from a different perspective, things from down here seem a lot bigger and intimidating which sometimes makes me feel small, but I'm used to it. People think I'm different. They think that I have something wrong with me. But, they don't understand that I'm the same as them, I'm smart, I'm creative, just… well, I guess, I'm not tall enough.
I feel alone in the city, the big, big city. I make the best of it and cruise around, doing my own thing. There’s a lot to see, lots to hear, lots to taste, lots to enjoy. Every day, I go to a small restaurant in the heart of the city, it will go un-named simply because I would still like to remain their most exclusive customer. I get my favourite take-away meal and head further down town to where my favourite busker plays my favourite frank Sinatra cover. I hang out down town for a while, and then I make my way back before mum comes home.
Often I catch myself thinking about what it would be like to drive a car, or live by myself, or swim without the helping hand of my mother. Having freedom and opportunity to do what I want, what I please, but I guess the restrictions of this wheelchair keep me from some of what I want. I have grown to love what I do and how I live, regardless of how people see me, or how I see them, from down here.