This summer has passed like no other for the little girl. There is no more laughter on the playground, no more afternoons running around in the golden sunshine. This summer, her tiny heart is learning to say goodbye — to the best friend she has ever had: a little dog who has gone away forever.

During the entire vacation, she did not choose to play, but chose to sit alone in the corner of the room — at the old wooden table, next to the old matchbox and a heart full of longing. With fragile matches, she began to build a small statue — the familiar shape of the dog who had once been her whole world. There was no special glue, no technical drawings, but every detail was attached by her with the most precious material: love.

Each match is a memory: the first time the dog fell into her arms when she was still a tiny baby. The winter evenings when she hugged it to sleep, warmer than a blanket. That whole heartbreaking day — when those eyes closed for the last time, leaving her with a nameless void.

The little girl didn’t need anyone to acknowledge this as “art”. Because for her, this was something much bigger than that — this was a memorial. This was how a little heart faced its first great pain in life. This was proof that sadness spares no one, even a girl who was only in third grade.

Adults might only see a small matchstick statue. But if they looked closer, they would see that love had existed. That loss had happened. And the strength of a child who knew how to heal herself with her own hands.

That summer, the little girl didn’t just lose a friend…
She learned how to keep that friend — in the most beautiful way possible.