Pearl stood at the top of the stairs, looking down. She was unsure and nervous. "Come on." Her brother beckoned to her from a few steps away, holding his hand out toward her. Those stairs looked awfully steep and the ground uneven. She didn't want to fall. She and her brother, Jackson were taking a leisurely bush walk and they were nearly at the end.
While Jackson was now 24, Pearl was only 18 and had graduated from high school only months ago. She was still finding her feet, figuring out who she was and what was next. Where she fit into the world and what she'd do with the rest of her life. It was scary, daunting. All she'd known for the past thirteen years was school, the routine, the pressure, the requirements and responsibilities. Now, she'd been kicked out so to speak into a scary world that she didn't know anything about. Suddenly she was an adult and had far more responsibilities then she had before. She was her own person, not the child of her parents. She was accountable for herself now. She couldn't hide anymore. This was it. There was no denying it anymore. This was Pearl's time. Her time to shine.
This step, Pearl realised, was kind of like a metaphor. A metaphor for stepping out of one part of her life and into the next. Jackson, as he held his hand toward her was symbolic of the support she had. It was a transition. A transition between two different phases of her life. She might be nervous, but everyone was when they were faced with something new. That was completely normal. It was ok to be nervous. It just wasn't ok to give in to the nerves, the fear. You had to rise above it and keep on going. Because the world wouldn't pause for you to get back up and get your breath back.
Pearl to a breath before she reached for Jackson's hand. 'This was it.' She thought. He leaned toward her and took her hand in his own, clutching it tight. She took another breath before she stepped down onto the first step. The first step of a new phase in her life. It would probably get easier from here, she realised. Because it was that first step that was always the hardest. Sure, she'd have her ups and down, some bad times and some good. But that was just like everyone else. The difference was that she knew now to embrace every moment instead of fearing bad things may come of it. Because by embracing, you were living. And now, Pearl realised, it was time to live.
