Emerald Tears

Angels

The magic book had sent me to 1847 where there was the great famine in Ireland. The book sent me to many strange places where my life was in danger. Now it sent me to a place where everyone was dying. This made me worry so much. I had hunger pains all the time and was feeling more and more weak. I was not so worried about myself. I was more worried about my little sister. She was only a little girl and she had more sadness and troubles than most people get in a lifetime. She was very pale and had no energy. She did not smile. I was so worried that she would be a victim of the famine.

There were so many funerals. It seemed as if it was a daily event. The landlord's son came to the funerals. I thought it was brave of him as his Dad did not have any sympathy for the Irish population. The landlord's son was brave enough to show up at these funerals despite that he knew that he was despised and hated by the people, even though he was just an 11-year-old like me. I suppose he lived a life of luxury while we all did not have a proper place to live and people died every day from starvation or sickness. We started to speak together and quickly became friends. He finally told me his name was Samuel. At the start, the landlord's son did not want anyone to know that we were friends. However, people noticed.

The landlord did not like the idea of his son being friends with an Irish peasant girl. That was not easy for my friend. His Dad was a stuck-up snob who thought peasants were not even human. I felt sorry for my Samuel. He was a nice person but his Dad did not like this side of him. My mother never said a word about it. She had bigger problems

A few days later, the landlord came knocking on our door again. He demanded that Mom pay the rent. Mom said she did not have the money. The landlord just answered that it was not his problem. Mom started weeping and begging him to give her a bit more time. It was sad to watch my mother beg and weep. The landlord told her to stop being so dramatic. He told us that he had a heart and we had one more chance. Maybe he thought he had a heart, but now I knew that it meant Mom would have worried and anxious about how long she had.

When the landlord went, I went for a walk. I met Samuel. I told him about his Dad visiting us. My friend did not know what to say. He understood that his Dad had a right to demand rent but also knew that everyone was suffering. He felt split and did not know what to think. Then he told me that he never had a friend until he met me. He knew we came from different social classes, but that did not bother him. I smiled and we started talking about everything nice and helped us forget about all the misery concerning the famine. I will be honest, it was nice to talk about things that made me forget how hungry I was. When we were about to go, my friend thanked me for being his friend and gave me a sandwich for my sister.

When I was home, Mom was mad at me for seeing the landlord's son. "You cannot be his friend," she explained, "He is a member of the upper class. We are in the lower class. Social classes do not mix or become friends with each other. This is not just something that is done. When you are friends with the landlord's son, everyone will think you just are a gold digger who wants something from him. They will think that he is soft and feels sorry for you. This friendship you have is not an equal one. What do you think the Landlord will think when he finds out his son is your friend? His anger will be directed at us. That wicked man is looking for any excuse to evict us."

Mom said what society had thought. A peasant like me should not be friends with a rich landowner's son. Samuel told me that his Dad did not agree with the friendship either. The thing is we did not aim to be friends. It just happened. I never asked Samuel to help feed our family or help with the rent. I knew he could make our life a whole lot easier, but I did not think it was right that he should help my family when so many families were also suffering. The one thing that Samuel did every time we met was to ask me to give a sandwich to my sister. I think it was hard for him to see her suffer so much.