1st Place - Kelli Nistler - "Untitled"

I used to believe that children were simply an annoyance that must be tolerated;  an ever-present torture device that one simply had no choice but to endure.  While cashiering at Target in years past, I'd grit my teeth in agony as the smelly little whiners shuffled through my lane, all the while fantasizing about packing them into boxes and shipping them to a far-off land.  In ninth grade, I tried to convince my parents that it was a good idea for me to get a hysterectomy.  That way, I couldn't give birth to anything, not even accidentally. I beg of you: put down the phone.  There is no need to report me to Child Welfare officers.  Because, you see, all of those thoughts swam through my head before this past summer happened.

Desperate for a job that would not require me to work in retail, fast food, or prostitution, I applied and was hired with St. Cloud Recreation to sell concessions and admission wristbands at the local pools.  At employee training night, before the pools were to open for the summer, my fellow coworkers that had been employed by St. Cloud Rec. in the past warned that not only would I be responsible for supplying hungry kiddies with Snickers bars, I would also need to play games with and mentor the emotionally needy kids in the area. "Uh-oh," I thought.  "I did not sign on to be a glorified baby-sitter.  I wonder what the going rate for healthy organs on the black market
is."

Not willing to give up paid and legal work so easily, I did that teeth-gritting thing and headed off to my first day of work.  Sure enough, there were children – swarms of them.  There were sisters Jennie, age 7 and Jane, age 12.  Every day without fail, their parents left for work and dropped the kids off at the pool shelter with minimal if any money for nourishment (not that there was any real nourishment to be found in my concession stand).  I tried my hardest to remain cold and removed, but when they began calling me "Auntie" and requested my companionship and hugs, this Grinch felt her small heart grow three sizes each day.  From there on out I was a goner. Jane had her birthday in August and already in June she had gone to the supervisor in charge of scheduling and requested that I work that day so she could spend it with me.  The never-ending flow of artwork they crafted filled the backseat of my car.  Suddenly, being number one on their list of favorite concession workers was the highest honor I strived for – having that rank bestowed upon me felt as though I had won the Nobel Prize or an Academy Award.

Seeing those girls, my "nieces," walk away from me on the day the pools closed for the season nearly wrenched my now massive heart right out of my chest.  I knew they would go on with life and forget about me, their summer aunt.  But I knew then that nothing would stop me from having some smelly little whiners of my own one day.  I had never been so grateful I had held on to my uterus.