It's Time For You...

Gloria Faye Brown Bates/aka Granny Gee as a little girl... a little girl who had gotten hold of scissors, and cut off her very long hair... not only that, cut off her little brother's hair...

It's Time For You...
By Gloria Faye Brown Bates/aka Granny Gee

The little seashell lay on the white sand near the water's edge
Waves flowed gently ... almost touching the little seashell
Soon, it would wash out into the ocean to be lost until the next time
It washed back up on shore to lie there ... again

One day a little girl was hunting for seashells
She ran here, there with her little yellow bucket, red shovel
What a pretty picture she made with her long, blonde hair
Blue and white shirt, blue shorts, white sandals

She saw a little seashell, thought it special enough to keep
It was added to her yellow bucket with three more seashells
Special enough for her to want to keep
To take home, place on her special shelf for treasures

She saw a clear glass bottle half buried in the sand
It had a cork in the opening... she saw a piece of paper inside
She pulled the bottle from the sand, popped the cork out
Tried to wiggle the paper out with her fingers to no avail

What could she use to pull the piece of paper out with
She saw a stick nearby, ran to pick it up
The bottle was lying on the sand where she laid it
She picked it up, put the stick into the bottle

She began manipulating the paper until it came to the top
Of the bottle... she pulled it out, opened it to read it
'You have 3 wishes'... the note said... 'use them wisely'
She sat down on the ground, laid back on a rise in the sand

As she lay there looking up into the blue, blue sky she watched
The big, fluffy white clouds shift, change shape
Her attention was distracted by the sea gulls flying above her
She listened to the music their voices made as they flew around

Three wishes... what to wish for, should she wish only for herself
Or make wishes to help others, make dreams come true
What to do, she looked inside her mind, searched around
For something to help make her decide what to wish for

There she saw an image of another little girl, who was poor, dirty
In her mind... without thinking, she wished for the little girl
Everything that would make her life wonderful, new home, clothes,
Shoes, new car for the girl's family... she saw the little girl smile

Her mind drifted, searching for something else, she knew not what
Her thoughts turned to an elderly woman who attended her church
She always wondered about the pain in the woman's eyes
What could be causing the woman to seem to always be hurting

She wished for the pain to go away, to see the woman's eyes light up
Be happy for the rest of her life, to never be sad again
Let go, let go ... let go of your pain, everything's going to be alright
I wish for only good things to touch your life, the little girl thought

Only one wish to go, what in the world could the little girl wish for
She began to wish for never-ending wishes so, she could do miracles
In others' lives for the rest of her life, she felt a special change
In herself... she became a miracle-worker through the years

Until one day, she... herself became very old, feeble
The thought came to her that she'd never wished anything for herself
She only wanted to help others, she never thought of her needs
Just this one time, she'd make a wish for herself

I wish, I wish I might... become a little girl again, start over
On the beach, looking for seashells... discover another wish bottle
Buried in the sand, so... that I might start over making dreams come true
The little girl got up from the sand, she was dressed in a blue, white shirt, blue shorts, white sandals

She began to run here, there... looking for seashells
Up ahead in the distance, she saw something sticking out of the sand
It was a clear bottle with a cork in the opening
She could see a piece of paper inside, she found a stick to pull it out

She read the piece of paper... 'Little girl, you will have a wonderful life'...
Not only that, you'll never know any pain, sorrow, grief
Because you just spent a whole life making miracles, dreams come true in others' lives, never thinking of yourself
Go now, little girl, keep smiling because you will never have to shed a tear

Never have to shed a tear for the rest of your life
You'll never know pain, sorrow or grief... you've been a good person
In your life before, usually 'bad' things happen to good people
In this one instance... only good things will happen to a good person.. run, embrace your happy life, little girl... it's time for you