The Foreigner (a close encounter of the third kind)

[Jelena]

The first question she popped out caught her new friend off guard; or... did it? She could not read people's faces that well back then, especially not a face like his, but however he behaved or whatever he said would not have mattered that much; she had already decided that the only interesting person she saw since they came here will become her new friend.

"Why are you black?"

"Wow, that's a good question; well, my mom was black and my dad was black; I guess that is why I turned out black, too..."

"I like you."

A lady came nearly running all the way from the other side of the hotel lobby, murmured something even she herself did not understand, and then started dragging her daughter away from the tall guy who was waving back to the little girl whose eyes were turning into waterfalls.

[Michael Brown]

Revisiting since you've so kindly commented on me. Still love this piece for its effectiveness. Post more please, I enjoy the way you write.

[Jelena]

Dan, thank you, I think you are right. I will let the story rest for a while, and then revisit those two attributes.

[Dan Djurdjevic]

This is a piece that resonated with me very strongly. I'm often struck by how my kids don't notice "differences" at all. Well executed! If I may make a small suggestion: I don't think you need both "tall" and "massive" in the last line. I absolutley adored your image of the girl's eyes turning into waterfalls.

[Jelena]

It is funny how sometimes things that make us better persons are very unpleasant and hurt for a long time.

I tried to capture this exactly as it happened, but strip the story of everything that is not essential; just leave the universally applicable parameters. I imagine that this could have happened at many places with different setup; also, much more likely 30 or 100 years ago than today.

Even when children do notice some difference, for them it really is skin deep.

[Michael Brown]

Because you described the unfortunately conventional attitude of white adults "back then" so well, I was able to get a clear picture of setting, outfits, facial expressions, etc. without your having to go into any detail on that score. Excellent, economic use of the words you fit into your well-told six sentences - that last sentence being tops!