A little girl in pigtails and a bright pink shirt with butterflies, sits on her porch and swings back and forth to the rhythm of a song inside her head. 

“Jeong-geul-eul tong-gwahaja

deul-eoonda gaja

neup-e dodalhamyeon

ag-eoga naobnida!”

She bobs her head with the beat. 

Her mom comes rushing out. “What are you doing? Get inside!” She grabs her daughter, runs inside and locks the door. “What were you doing? You know you can’t be outside singing that song.” She turns to a whisper. “They will hear you.”

“Why can’t I sing like the other kids?” She sat on the floor and pouted. 

“Because we don’t get to decide who makes the rules or who chose why they should be laws, if we could it would be a democracy.” 

Later a knock on the door. The mother opens the door and sees a soldier eclipsing the sun. 

“Your daughter shouldn’t be out at this time” He bellows in a monotone voice. 

“Yes sir, I understand” says the mother looking down at her feet in shame. 

“This is just a warning.” The mother thanks him.  

The soldier leaves, as does the panic in the mother’s face as she closes the door. 

***

A little girl sits on a log outside watching the water flow through the rocks on a stream. She plays with the blades of grass under her feet. She sings,

“Let's go through the jungle

let's go by creeping

when you reach a swamp

crocodiles come out!”

Her mother comes outside and smiles as she watches her daughter play with the grass some more and shows her mom three pieces she braided together. 

“Beautiful.” Her mother smiles and grabs her daughter’s hands and tells her dinner is ready. 

When she walks through the door, her father bellows, “my princess, your royal highness.” He bows down to her. “Your mac and cheese.” He hands her the bowl with a smile. 

She giggles and runs off to sit down in her favorite seat.  As he gets up he gives his wife a kiss on the cheek. They all sit and eat dinner.