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Survive
A man says to himself walking home with tears streaming down his dirty and weathered face
"How will I feed my family it has already been two days, the little ones haven't eaten more than a slice of bread each."
He's so deep in thought he isn't noticing all the horror he's passing by like people hanging from the light post or blood all over the streets from the conflict of whatever sort is happening in his hometown. This is blocks from the neighborhood in which he grew up.
He does, however, notice a loaf of bread fall from a wagon passing without a thought he picks it up puts it under his shirt and quickly proceeds home.
He's just about home, literally steps away when he sees another man with a wagon crying; he lost the bread he worked all day for. He knows this is no coincidence and instead of being selfish he walks over to the crying man and tells him what happened. The crying man hugs him and exclaims "both of our families will eat tonight!"
He splits it up and they both go about their way. This is the way the story should have ended, instead when the man walked over to the crying man and explained he looked up and scowled at him. He took from his bag a very big knife and stabbed the man to get his bread back.
The man with the wagon succeeded and left in a hurry. The other man started to stumble onto his door front, he couldn't believe what he had just done.
He was now dying over bread he could have just kept but in his mind, he thought the crying man would see it fit that he shares the bread. If it were not for this man's selfless act of returning it he wouldn't have had it at all.
The man with the wagon was in fear that the other man would want something he didn't have to give to get the bread back and so in an instant he acted faster than the other man could by handing him the bread without any request just that he would pay it forward.
The man's wife ran to his side crying not understanding what had happened to her husband just moments ago. She felt guilty for being angry that he didn't have any money or food with him.
The more she sat there in despair the angrier she became that inside was the rumbling sounds of her children's tummies and the whimpers of pain to follow suit. The sounds were the only thing she could hear. It's like she was fine-tuned to hear only the pain in her children's cries from the pains of hunger and malnutrition.
Hours later she and her kids were inside by the fire, eating beef soup and the sounds of their rumbling tummies were no more.
Their whimpers were now smiles and giggles, "mommy how come daddy left us this food? Why didn't he eat with us, wasn't he a hungry hungry hippo too?" Said the littlest one in a silly voice.
The mother kept her composure any slight emotion could lead the children to believe she was lying to them. They could always tell the few times she tried to fib because she never lied to or misled them. (Clearing her throat)
"My little babushka sometimes in life the universe sends us a gift and many are blinded by ignorance, those are the people left in their homes with whimpers and rumbling tummies. If you are not blinded then you can see the gift behind the gore. Our food keep is full and your tummies will continue to be full as well at least until I can find work; through work, money to provide the things you need. Your daddy wanted to be here but because he can't he wouldn't have wanted it any other way."
We will share with the neighbors and Nana & Papa so that the gift that was given to us by bad judgment, good timing, a stroke of luck, and pure sacrifice for true love does not go unappreciated.
Months later the family has flourished and is stable, not hungry, but the mother's children are sad. They ask her for the millionth time "will daddy ever be returning home?"
A single moment flashes in the mother's mind to when her husband was nearly lifeless. The man just before he died wrote on a piece of paper "survive", right or wrong that is what she did. In an instant, she was brought back to the table of her children awaiting her answer.
"Daddy never left, everything we have is because of his sacrifice, and our hard work as a family.
He isn't coming back physically but he never left in the first place. He's within all of you, your smiles, frowns, and all your ups and downs." Said the mother who loved her kids enough to survive.
© All Rights Reserved
"How will I feed my family it has already been two days, the little ones haven't eaten more than a slice of bread each."
He's so deep in thought he isn't noticing all the horror he's passing by like people hanging from the light post or blood all over the streets from the conflict of whatever sort is happening in his hometown. This is blocks from the neighborhood in which he grew up.
He does, however, notice a loaf of bread fall from a wagon passing without a thought he picks it up puts it under his shirt and quickly proceeds home.
He's just about home, literally steps away when he sees another man with a wagon crying; he lost the bread he worked all day for. He knows this is no coincidence and instead of being selfish he walks over to the crying man and tells him what happened. The crying man hugs him and exclaims "both of our families will eat tonight!"
He splits it up and they both go about their way. This is the way the story should have ended, instead when the man walked over to the crying man and explained he looked up and scowled at him. He took from his bag a very big knife and stabbed the man to get his bread back.
The man with the wagon succeeded and left in a hurry. The other man started to stumble onto his door front, he couldn't believe what he had just done.
He was now dying over bread he could have just kept but in his mind, he thought the crying man would see it fit that he shares the bread. If it were not for this man's selfless act of returning it he wouldn't have had it at all.
The man with the wagon was in fear that the other man would want something he didn't have to give to get the bread back and so in an instant he acted faster than the other man could by handing him the bread without any request just that he would pay it forward.
The man's wife ran to his side crying not understanding what had happened to her husband just moments ago. She felt guilty for being angry that he didn't have any money or food with him.
The more she sat there in despair the angrier she became that inside was the rumbling sounds of her children's tummies and the whimpers of pain to follow suit. The sounds were the only thing she could hear. It's like she was fine-tuned to hear only the pain in her children's cries from the pains of hunger and malnutrition.
Hours later she and her kids were inside by the fire, eating beef soup and the sounds of their rumbling tummies were no more.
Their whimpers were now smiles and giggles, "mommy how come daddy left us this food? Why didn't he eat with us, wasn't he a hungry hungry hippo too?" Said the littlest one in a silly voice.
The mother kept her composure any slight emotion could lead the children to believe she was lying to them. They could always tell the few times she tried to fib because she never lied to or misled them. (Clearing her throat)
"My little babushka sometimes in life the universe sends us a gift and many are blinded by ignorance, those are the people left in their homes with whimpers and rumbling tummies. If you are not blinded then you can see the gift behind the gore. Our food keep is full and your tummies will continue to be full as well at least until I can find work; through work, money to provide the things you need. Your daddy wanted to be here but because he can't he wouldn't have wanted it any other way."
We will share with the neighbors and Nana & Papa so that the gift that was given to us by bad judgment, good timing, a stroke of luck, and pure sacrifice for true love does not go unappreciated.
Months later the family has flourished and is stable, not hungry, but the mother's children are sad. They ask her for the millionth time "will daddy ever be returning home?"
A single moment flashes in the mother's mind to when her husband was nearly lifeless. The man just before he died wrote on a piece of paper "survive", right or wrong that is what she did. In an instant, she was brought back to the table of her children awaiting her answer.
"Daddy never left, everything we have is because of his sacrifice, and our hard work as a family.
He isn't coming back physically but he never left in the first place. He's within all of you, your smiles, frowns, and all your ups and downs." Said the mother who loved her kids enough to survive.
© All Rights Reserved
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