“Please don’t leave me here..” 

“ Take ME with you.” I tightly did not let go 

of her thigh.

This... This… This was the decision that would have changed mi vida.

.

The airplane was a peaceful ride, 

My brother loved them at that time.

.

Here I was, 6, brother: 10, mom: 33. 

“We will go back soon in 3 months.”

3 became the number 6…

 the number 

12..

Can I even say 96…?

I’m still counting.

Being so little, it was a new world, to me at least. 

I was an alien. Something or someone that didn't quite fit in.

Third grade would change me.

“¡Vas a aprender Inglés!”

I’m learning a new language…?

I was scared and excited..? 

Nervous for what would come with this,

It took me 12 months to learn.

Apples…Three, Two, One, Hi, My name is Arely...

You get it, the basics.

The years flew by, siblings I got, and life was living.

And I wanted to give up.

2020, Grades plummeted, my Grandma’s death, Covid..,

P U B E R T Y.

It was a lot to handle, I felt lonely, yet happy. 

The feeling was like a loop, repeating itself so often.

I had to keep going. I was given the chances my ancestors would’ve killed for.

It’s been four years, and I can’t lie, sometimes It comes back to me

The feeling

The loneliness

The pain nobody knew I went

Through 

I still wonder to this day….

What would have happened if I never begged on my knees to my mom

 to take me here..?

What would I have become?

Would I have been a better version of myself?

Or would I even have seen my mom again?