Through the Eyes of a Child

Through the Eyes of a Child Jimena Licitra

*

Susana Rosique

To Sonia, who paints her daughter’s eyes green every day.

To Gabriel, Gonzalo, and Olivia, who teach me every day what a happy childhood means.

- Jimena Licitra -

Through the Eyes of a Child Text © 2015 Jimena Licitra Illustrations © 2015 Susana Rosique This edition © 2015 Cuento de Luz SL Calle Claveles, 10 | Urb. Monteclaro | Pozuelo de Alarcón | 28223 | Madrid | Spain www.cuentodeluz.com Title in Spanish: Con ojos de niño English translation by Jon Brokenbrow ISBN: 978-84-15784-52-4 Printed by Shanghai Chenxi Printing Co., Ltd. july 2015, print number xxx All rights reserved

Through the Eyes of a Child Jimena Licitra

*

Susana Rosique

William was a happy little boy whose eyes were bright green, his favorite color. He lived in a green house with a pretty little garden decorated with paper flowers; flowers that he’d made for his mom and dad every year since he was born, and which smelled wonderful.

When William got up in the morning, his dad would get his favorite

breakfast ready for him, and his mom would fill his backpack with bananas with his name written on them, sandwiches with funny faces, or homemade cookies in the shape of a heart.

But one day, William split in two.

It happened all of a sudden. One night, his mom and dad sat down with him on the couch to tell him a story. But instead of being a story, it turned into a nightmare, and in the morning, when he woke up, William was torn into two pieces.

He wasn’t William any more. He was Will and Liam.

Will stayed with Mom, and Liam stayed with Dad.

Will and Liam each had their own house. Will stayed in the green house,

which was now a very dark green indeed.

But Liam moved to a huge blue apartment right at the very top of one of

the biggest blocks in the city. From there he could see the green house, far away on the horizon. It looked like a small, dark green dot.

Hidden pages

AUTHOR’S NOTE I am one of those children whose parents separated, and I had to live between two homes. My mother lived in a small apartment, while my father lived in a house with a garden. Everything about my life was in two halves: half of the weekends with one, the other half with the other; half of the holidays with one, the other half with the other; half of my clothes in one place, the other half in another; half of my brothers and sisters in one house, the other half in the other. I have half brothers and sisters on both sides, but they’ve always been complete brothers and sisters to me. When I grew up, I realized that the fact that my parents had split up and hardly spoke to each other didn’t mean that I’d been split in two, even though sometimes I felt like two different little girls.

The idea was lingering in my mind, until I was finally inspired by a little girl with green eyes. A little girl who, in the same way as William, seemed to have been split into two different children; one who went off with her daddy, and another who stayed with her mom. It was as if she were meant to share out all of her love in equal measure. As if the silence between her parents had marked out a dividing line that a part of her couldn’t cross. Mommy’s little girl didn’t take her experiences with her when she went to stay with her daddy; Daddy’s little girl left everything that lived in her second home right there.

Sooner or later, all of us who are children of parents who have separated join our two halves back together again. Sometimes we do it on our own (it takes us longer, but it does happen), and sometimes thanks to our parents communicating with each other. Feeling whole again allows us to feel happy, even though our parents have separated. We have to remember that they are the ones who have split up: not us, the children.

William was a happy little boy who lived with his parents in a green house with a lovely little garden, decorated with paper flowers. But one day everything changed. It was as if he’d been torn in two and turned into two different kids: one who went with his dad, and another who stayed with his mom.

Through the Eyes of a Child reminds us of the importance of communicating, and that after a change in a family’s structure, a child can feel “whole” again and grow up happily . . . even though his parents have separated.