Crippled by a Glimpse...

Have you ever tried to understand or imagine our planet by just glimpsing at a globe?  It's impossible to comprehend such a magnitude in such a short time so why do we try the same with people?

For instance, sixteen year old Violet, new to her school and crippled with only one foot, she knows that every time someone sees her, they will almost always try to imagine what she must be going through. Those people are almost always wrong. Violet lost her right foot when she was hiking six years back, she slipped near the top of a fairly tall mountain and the damage was so severe doctors couldn't do anything.

Even without a foot, she stood tall and beautiful. Her sleek, dark hair reached just past her shoulders. Kind, emerald eyes and well rounded figure made her almost irresistible. It was the incomplete leg that scared the crowds.

Violet could never understand why people were so fearful of her, she didn't snarl at anyone and she was certainly very friendly whenever someone asked her for anything.

Being disabled was only good for a few things like easy parking for her mum, but when it came down to living normally, by going out to clubs, doing sport and being in the school play, Violet wasn't the happiest crayon in the box.

She could participate in the odd sport like swimming and archery but acting was really her dream. She loved going to the Playhouse and reading Athol Fuguard but there was never a chance to be onstage, until her school had a talk on the subject of safety.

Having heard it a thousand times before when she was still able to hike, she zoned out.

No one had ever heard about her accident, nobody really cared before.  No one knew that the emerald-eyed girl had been sporty and adventurous before her wheelchair - if there was a before in their eyes. No one had asked, until the Safety Officer she called Mom asked her to share.

Past? Done. Present? Working on it. Future? Getting there.

Last night, as I slugged into bed three quarters asleep, I heard my phone ching. Dragging my hand from under my soft pillow and squinting in the foreign light, I looked at the message my best friend from the northern hemisphere had sent me...

"I might be moving again."

You may think: oh what's the big deal? It won't make a difference, you guys aren't even in the same hemisphere anyway, what's the big deal for you. But yes, this meager little statement woke my mind, brain, eyes, and heart. I'm very observant, so I saw that and thought she would've just brought it up in a conversation if she was just moving around the corner or to a different suburb, and it was 11.30pm a time she usually tells me to go to bed and refuses any less, and, the last thing, she kept it simple; too simple. There was no laughing, no "oh well", nothing just tension.

She then tells me that she's moving to California. This means:

1. There's no longer a 1 or 2 hour difference, it's now 10 hours.
2. Skyping will be a bitch and we can't just go to eachother when we need the other.
3. She's now going to be in a new place (sure she's vacationed there) and able to drive.
4. When she can't come to me, she'll turn to someone else and vice versa, time zones will be our enemy.

And there's many more silly excuses why I don't want her to go. Although, I want her to go:

• She'll get a much better education (no offense wales, but you suck).
• She'll be happier in the sun.
• She loves America and wanted to retire there anyway.
• I know it's where she belongs, even though she was born here, grew up in Wales, returned and returned once again back to Wales, she deserves to be American.

(If I'm sounding cheesy please virtually slap me)

So as I almost cried myself to sleep I remembered when I had said the university I wanted to go to, she chose to pursue that aswell. It wasn't something she had to think about, she just wanted it too.

The next day, the ENTIRE day, I learnt all that I could about the University of California. Everything looked amazing until i looked at the fees, oh my torn cows bum! My sister is currently at university and her fees come up to less than R 20'ooo but these fees for UC +insert scared face+ are just over $31'ooo which comes up to a lovely R 210'ooo. 

I felt like crying.. why the hell is america so expensive!!! I could never figure out why american parents were always scared for paying for college!!!

Well this morning, while procrastinating getting up out of bed, I realised that since I was born my parents have been managing a savings account for when I'm 18 and have to buy a car! So if I use that money for UniCa fees instead - I won't need to buy a car as I won't be driving it in SA anyway - then I can afford to go there! I can work a student job after class and over the summer holidays and I''ll have a loving family over there! Its perfect.. Except for one thing, my family over here.

They won't be too impressed if I just get up and leave em behind...

But first, to find out for sure that she is going then where she's going and if I'm still welcome into their family..
And people on't believe me when I say I overthink things.