the day a little girl ended quarantine for me

„Hello“ – said a tiny little, high-pitched voice behind me with such force, I stopped reading the story about the well C and I were marvelling at mid-sentence and turned around. A little girl, not older than two, was walking towards the cobble-stone steps we were sitting on, as fast as her wiggly feet allowed her to. She stopped in front of me and stared me in the eyes. “Hi” I said, smiling at her, “do you want to sit here with us?” As I padded my hand on the spot next to me, I realized that we were still facing a global pandemic and that her parents probably wouldn’t like their daughter getting too close to a stranger – probably never, but especially nowadays. I looked around to find her parents’ furious faces. There they were, on the other side of the pathway, but instead of furious faces, I saw huge smiles and laughter. “She loves making new friends – finally she can do that again, with the regulations being lifted and all. It’s giving us so much joy to watch her like this”.

As the little one sat down next to us, played with my beaded bag handle and looked at the pictures we held in our hands, we struck up a conversation with her parents. They came a little closer and we talked about the scavenger hunt C and I were on, about what we had already learned by exploring the city in a completely new way and about how their daughter’s beautiful habit brought people together.

Because this is what it was, in the end. After two months in isolation and fear of the invisible threat, this little girl showed us the importance of openness, community and kindness. By walking towards us like nothing had ever happened, like no invisible boundaries had kept us from each other. Leave it to a little kid to teach you that, just because we need to be careful and keep a safe distance between each other, we can still be kind. We can still be open to the wonders of the world. We can still meet strangers and share a short moment together, being happy about the sunshine, the birds and about each other’s company.

I walked home with a huge smile on my face that day. And have been smiling at every single stranger I meet ever since. Just because we’re physically distanced, doesn’t mean we have to be socially. Let’s not forget, let’s still be careful. But: Let’s also be kind, let’s also smile at each other and say hi more often. You never now what might happen next.