I sat on my usual bench in the park and began my routine of people watching. I sipped on my hot chocolate as I watched kids play in piles of leaves. There were two little boys who kept messing up one of the piles a little girl was trying to make.

“Stop it!” the little girl cried.

The two boys giggled and continued to kick the leaves around.

“Mommy!” the little girl yelled.

Her mother rushed over and so did the mothers of the two little boys. Instantly the boys were scolded and pulled away. Satisfied, the little girl resumed to making her pile of leaves.

Next, I noticed a girl around my age sitting under a tree. She held a sketch book on her lap and stared at it disappointingly. She tilted her head to the side, almost approvingly, but quickly shook her head and erased her drawing. She bit her lip as she began to draw again.

A woman yelling at a boy on his skateboard to “watch out” caught my attention, but it quickly drifted back to the girl under the tree. The girl wore a beige dress and a red sweater with knee high socks and brown ankle boots. Her brows were knit as she stared intently at her sketch book. After a few minutes she finally stopped. She held the book up and narrowed her eyes. She let out a frustrated sigh and tossed her book onto the grass. She put her head down and buried her face into her arms.

I decided to get up and talk to her. I was curious to see what she was drawing that proved to be so difficult. As I got up she grabbed the book and tore out a paper. She crumbled it and threw it on the grass. With a defeated look in her eyes she got up and walked away.

I made my way over to the tree and picked up the crumpled paper. When I opened it a small laugh escaped from me. A leaf with the caption “I can’t draw” was on the paper.