Emiko stood by herself in the school yard. She had asked the other kids if she could play with them, just like Papa said she should, and no one wanted her to join them. They all would look away and pretend they hadn’t heard her. Emiko fingered the ball in her hands sadly, playing by yourself wasn’t much fun and certain games couldn’t be played without others.

 

            Emiko walked up to a wall and started tossing the ball at the ball and catching it on the rebound. It was a simple thing to do, but lonely.

                                                

            Loneliness was something Emiko had lived with all her short life. Her earliest experiences with it was when her Papa would leave to go get groceries or to go meet with a client. She would be home alone, often left in a play pen with decent selection of toys and some music playing on the radio. As she got older, her Papa would take her grocery shopping, but not to meet with clients because that was work.

 

            Emiko also felt lonely at her Grandmother’s house, even though there were people there. Her Grandfather was pretty sick and spent most of his days sleeping. If Emiko had the misfortune of being around her Grandmother, she’d have to live up to her Grandmother’s high and unreasonable expectations. Her Grandma often spanked Emiko if she stepped a hair out of line. Not to mention she always had to wear the most uncomfortable clothes.

 

            At school the other kids treated her like she was some kind of monster, forcing another loneliness on Emiko. Her Papa was the only person who actually cared about Emiko, he tried so hard to keep her happy, to keep her company. He taught her several things, like how to throw a football. And even when her Papa was tired, he’d cuddle up with her and read books to her. Sometimes the books would have pictures, sometimes they would not, Emiko loved her dad’s choice of books. Whenever Grandma read her books they were boring or dumb; Emiko didn’t know which was worse.

 

            Emiko didn’t understand exactly what her Papa had done when she had been born, but she knew he gave up his favorite thing in the whole world to take care of her: football. That’s why Emiko loved her Papa so much, he gave up everything for her and continued to do so. She didn’t know why the men in the funny suits kept on telling her that she shouldn’t live with her Papa anymore. Emiko knew they were wrong and told them so on a regular basis. The men never believed Emiko.

 

            Recently the men had been telling Emiko that it was looking like she would be moving in with her Grandmother soon. They kept on telling her how wonderful that was, how she would finally free of the ‘demon’. Emiko asked her Papa what the meant by ‘demon’, Papa had told her it was a name they were calling him and that it didn’t bother him, so it shouldn’t bother her. So, Emiko didn’t let it.

 

            Another ball came flying from the left, knocking her ball aside. Emiko simply reacted, managing to catch both balls before either touched the ground. She looked over and saw two of the boys from her class staring at her, stunned. Emiko cocked her head to the side, not sure what was so strange. She carried the balls over to the boys.

 

            “Here’s your ball.” Emiko handed them their ball. One of the boys took it numbly. “Umm… can I join you?”

 

            “What?” The other boy blinked, trying to figure out what Emiko had asked.

 

            “Can I play with you?” Emiko asked again.

 

            “We don’t play with girls!” The first boy announced, stuck his tongue out at her and ran off. His friend followed him.

 

            Emiko stared after them, sad inside, though she said nothing. She walked back over to the steps that led into the classroom. Emiko sat down and watch the other children play, chasing each other in circles.

 

            “Emiko-chan,” Anezaki had opened the classroom door and walked outside, “why aren’t you playing?”

 

            “Nobody wants to play with me.” Emiko admitted. “Only Papa does and he’s not here.”

 

            “Have you asked if you could play?” Anezaki asked her.

 

            “Yeah, they ignore me.” Emiko growled. “Papa says I should have friends, so I try really hard to make them! But nobody likes me, I can’t make anyone happy.”

 

            “I don’t think that’s true, Emiko-chan.” Anezaki protested. “You’re a nice girl, who tries her best, I’m sure there’s someone there that likes you.”

 

            “My best isn’t enough.” Emiko frowned, disappointed in herself.

 

            “An old friend of mine used to say that it’s always possible to exceed your best.” Anezaki told Emiko. “That’s why we have to keep on struggling, so we can exceed our best.”

 

            “That sounds like something Papa would say!” Emiko was staring in awe.

 

            “Sounds like your Papa is a wise man.” Anezaki observed with a smile.

 

            “Papa is the best!” Emiko beamed, proud of her Papa and the praise her teacher was giving him. “I’m going to try really hard!”

 

            The young girl smiled and turned around. Anezaki found something familiar in Emiko’s smile, something she could not quite place. That thought quickly left Anezaki’s mind as she watched Emiko ran out onto the playground again, asking the others kids if she could play. Even from afar, Anezaki could easily watch the girl get rejected by person after person. Anezaki frowned, she knew that Emiko was having trouble adjusting to school, but she had no idea the social problems were this bad. Emiko wasn’t at fault for most of the issues either; it was the other students that were choosing to isolate her.

 

            After another unsuccessful round of trying to make friends Emiko walked over to the swings and played by herself, looking lonely and sad. Anezaki felt like crying, seeing the young girl so sad.

 

            Before the teacher could stand up and do something, the bell rang, calling the students back into the school building for the last of their classes. Emiko, to no one’s surprise, was depressed and not interested in the lesson. Anezaki tried to pull the girl’s interest in, but Emiko proved to be insanely stubborn about it.

 

            “Alright now we’re going to draw pictures.” Anezaki announced, pulling out paper. The children cheered, happy to get to draw. Emiko even perked up, her brown eyes holding the most excitement they had had all day. Emiko started drawing her Papa with renewed vigor and joy.

 

            Anezaki smiled, glad to have finally found something that would cheer the girl up.

 

            Little did Anezaki know, an hour later, when school ended, Emiko would become truly lonely for the first time in her young life. She would be moving away from her Papa, forever if the men in the suits were right.