War Upon the Sunrise | HS Side Story

Chapter Twenty-Eight

“Nanay, ikaw po, hindi ka po ba nagugutom?” the little boy asked his mother.

Clothes ragged, skin full of dirt, sitting on a wood beside a mountain of garbage, but with a huge smile pasted on his face.

“Ayos lang si Nanay, busog pa ako,” his Nanay answered with a soft smile on her lips.

“Okay po!” the little boy responded and ate the food that he and his mother saw on the trash can, probably a leftover thrown by somebody. “Nay, paglaki ko, maghahanap ako ng trabaho. Tapos bibilhan kita ng maraming pagkain. Bubusugin po kita, Nanay!”

His Nanay smiled and tousled his hair. “Aba, gusto ko iyan, anak! Magsisikap si Nanay sa pamamasura para mabilhan ka ng maayos na damit. Para kapag malaki ka na, maraming tatanggap sayo sa trabaho.”

The little boy nodded and smiled wide. “Opo, Nanay!”

Isn't it ironic? How the people like the little boy and his Nanay wished nothing but better food, yet blessed people still wished for more? How these people felt contented with a thrown leftover food on the garbage bin, yet others were just throwing all of it like it's nothing? Without thinking that other people are dying out of hunger.

How could rich people crave for more when people like the little boy only craved for food? He no longer even thought of studying anymore, because in his age, he already understood that his mother is incapable of sending him to school.

There's nothing wrong of trying to be better each day, but what's wrong is forgetting how to be contented.

Sometimes, we tend to mistook contentment from satisfaction. Satisfaction is the pleasure after getting what you wanted, contentment is the peace you feel of having what you needed.

I sighed and took the remote on the living room table. I turned off the TV showing the little boy and his mother. My heart breaks watching them.

I am not a good person. But I can't take watching people like that little boy suffer from poverty. It breaks me.

I stood up and went to the kitchen. My black spaghetti strapped dressed flows down my ankle as I walked.

I opened the fridge and took a bottle of water then drank straight from it. I rested my back on the closed ref and looked at the floor unknowingly, mind in haywire.

“A penny for your thoughts, Miss Lucy?”

I immediately looked at the person, crossed arms, looking at me with his blank eyes, wearing his suit.

I blinked and swallowed the water in my mouth. “Nothing, Nikoel,” I replied.

I opened the ref and put back the bottle of water. Then I faced him.

“You're early. I told you, I'm not going to work today,” I said.

“I know. But you might need help while you're here in your house, so I went here. Besides, I have nothing to do. You also might wanna clean your place, I can help,” he said, suggesting things I haven't thought about.

I smiled at him and chuckled. “You really wanted me to work, don't you?”

“No, Miss Lucy,” he replied.

I nodded and breathed in. I clapped my hands twice. “Alright! Since you're here with me already, help me check out my closet. I'll donate the clothes I haven't used to an orphanage. And we'll also buy groceries, clothes for kids, school supplies, toys, shoes, and books for them. Shall we?” I smiled wide at him.

He nodded right away. “Alright, Miss Lucy. Where shall we start?”

I smiled. It's nice to have someone beside me. It's nice to have Nikoel with me. Even though he doesn't recognize me as his friend, at least I can feel his presence beside me. That's what makes everything better.