The trees swayed in the light breezes.  The grass was a beautiful, bright green color and there was not a cloud to be seen in the blue sky.  The flowers sprayed their aromas throughout the park.  Birds chirped their melodies and the squirrels scurried up to their homes, eager to munch on their acorn stashes.  Mothers slowly pushed strollers with precious cargo, enjoying the view.  Dogs happily wagged their tails, and jumped up with glee when their masters threw frisbees to them.

In the distance were two girls riding their bikes side-by-side.  Their long hair swished back and forth in the wind as they giggled, seeming not to have a care in the world as they rode past the park.  Business people hurriedly passed by with their tight suits on and leather briefcases in hand, ready to get the day over with.  Cars breezed past.  Some had a destination in mind, some were just simply driving taking in the scenic view.  Under a nearby bridge which had been vandalized, a man poured all of his anger and pain into his artwork.  A college student briskly walked past him struggling with her book bag while at the same time trying to hurry to her next class.

In the park was a playground that was happily being played on.  Brave, adventurous, little boys climbed and jumped off the equipment while their mothers stood off to the side, worried they would get hurt.  Little girls swung on the swing sets, feeling as if they could fly.

But there was one little girl, in particular, who was different from all the other little kids.  She played off to the side all by herself.  Her name was Anna.  All the other kids thought she was weird, so they wouldn’t allow her to play in any of their games.

That was fine with Anna as long as she got to play with her toy unicorn.  She slid it through the dirt, made it jump over rocks and brought it up over her head to fly.  At one point, her unicorn made a leaping jump into the air.  That’s when Anna noticed someone out of the corner of her eye.

Anna turned and brought her unicorn down, somehow finding the woman on the bench fascinating.  The woman had her head down in her hands, her hunched shoulders and sobs racking her body.

Sensing something was wrong, Anna made her way over to the woman and tapped her on the shoulder.  The woman slowly brought her head up and stared into Anna’s dark blue, questioning eyes.  The woman’s name was Kiersten.  She had dark, long, brown hair, and wore a black T-Shirt, black pants, and a large dark blue hoodie that concealed the baby bump that was slowly fading.  The only thing that people didn’t know was that the baby that caused the bump was no longer there.  Kiersten’s face was tear-soaked and black eyeliner ran down her cheeks.

The thing that captured Anna’s attention the most was Kiersten’s gray eyes that smoldered with pain and anger.  Kiersten sniffed, snapping Anna out of her trance.  Wanting to help, but not knowing what to do, Anna simply held out her toy unicorn, hoping Kiersten would accept it.

“What is that?” Kiersten asked, sniffling.

It’s a unicorn,” Anna answered in her little six-year-old voice.

Smiling, Kiersten hugged it to her chest and winked down at the little girl.  “Never seen one up close before.”  Anna giggled, happy she was able to make the woman smile.

“Beautiful,” Kiersten said, smiling sadly down at Anna, causing Anna to blush.

“Get away!” Anna’s mother scowled down at Kiersten, picking up Anna and rushing away.  Anna glanced over her mother’s shoulder and waved at Kiersten, not sad about not having her unicorn, only happy that she got to help someone out.

“I’m sorry,” Anna mouthed as she waved, somehow knowing what Kiersten was sad about.

Kiersten waved back, then glanced back down at the stuffed unicorn toy.  She smiled softly and stood.  Wiping her face on her sleeve, she walked out of the park feeling like the little girl had given her the strength to face the cruel world again.