back when i was a sophisticated young woman

I was a mere 7 year old girl. For all I knew, I was a sophisticated young woman. I was in the first grade and that was a huge step for me, from kiddies' kindergarten to THE "First Grade". My head was up in the clouds. I loved this new life, flipping my hair back like the big kids (Note that I had really short hair back then that couldn't even be pulled into a pony tail.)

So this "sophisticated" 7 year old accompanied her grandmother to the store. My school was in my own neighbourhood. A balloon-vendor was passing by, when she stopped him. This terrified me. My heart was shouting, "Noooooooo.... dontttttt". She asked me if I wanted one. I said, "No" without any hesitation, which she misunderstood for my selflessness or something. To my horror, she insisted and bought one for me. This grownup girl was now stuck in public with a childish balloon in her hand, wishing no one from school would see her with that hideous sac of air, which was now shackled to her wrist. 

The little grownup girl had her childhood chained to her wrist like she was a prisoner in her childhood, from which she had previously believed to have escaped.

Then my grandmother added, "See.. I'll buy you these things if you come with me more often". I continued to sink as the balloon dragged me down.